Posted on 10/12/2004 6:47:07 PM PDT by TexKat
An Islamic leader sought by Ankara on treason charges has been deported by Germany hours after a court cleared his extradition.
Muhammad Metin Kaplan, 51, was detained at an Internet café in Cologne and hustled into a Turkey-bound plane at the Duesseldorf airport on Tuesday although he formally had two weeks to appeal the decision by the Cologne administrative court.
Kaplan faces charges for masterminding a failed 1998 plot to crash a plane laden with explosives into the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern secular Turkish state.
Angelika Flader, a spokeswoman for the North Rhine-Westphalia state Interior Ministry in Duesseldorf said a plane carrying Kaplan had taken off.
German ban
Germany has outlawed Kaplan's Caliphate State group, which calls for the overthrow of Turkey's secular government and its replacement with an Islamic state.
Kaplan had foiled police attempts to arrest him in May by disappearing for several days after another court ruled he could be extradited.
Kaplan had been free since May 2003 after serving a four-year German prison sentence for incitement in the killing of a rival cleric in Berlin in 1997.
The Cologne court ruled that Kaplan remains "an identification figure for Islamic extremism" and that his interest in staying in the country is "outweighed by the public interest in an immediate deportation".
The court said that a pending appeal in federal court in Leipzig does not justify keeping Kaplan in the country and rejected his arguments that he was too sick to travel.
Pong
Frog-marched him right onto the plane and off with him.
Refreshing...
Ahh.. HULLOO!! Anybody in the "International Community" paying attention? Hellllooo!
I would love to be there when he gets off the 'plane in Turkey. What's it gunna be, red carpet or handcuffs?
I'm thinking the Turks might regard this as very rude. My guess is that his prison time...well...ever see Midnight Express?
"What's it gunna be, red carpet or handcuffs?"
That would depend upon who meets his plane.......
No I did not see Midnight Express...but Turkey wants to join the EU so I guess it won't be a red carpet arrival.
Looks like he's got enemies on both sides. Served four years in prison for incitement in the killing of a cleric in 1977.
Mind you, it all depends what sect the cleric belonged to. One thing the MSM always likes to leave out is they are killing each other for the Caliphate. Sunni vs Shia. The Succession argument that's been going on since mohammad died.
Mooslims hate each other as much as they hate us.
ISTANBUL, Oct 12 (AFP) - A leading Turkish militant known as the Caliph of Cologne arrrived in Turkey on Tuesday following his deportation from Germany at the end of a long legal battle, the Anatolia news agency reported.
A private jet carrying Metin Kaplan landed at Istanbul airport at 22:25 p.m. (1925 GMT), the report said.
Footage broadcast on the CNN-Turk news channel showed the 51-year-old Kaplan being escorted by anti-terror police into a van from the plane.
Cicek: Turkey Is Insistent On Kaplan's Extradition
ANKARA - Justice Minister Cemil Cicek stated on Tuesday that Turkey was insistent on extradition of Metin Kaplan, son of Cemalettin Kaplan, known as ''Black voice'' in Turkey, the head of the Union of Islamic Communities and Societies that was banned in Germany.
Following his meeting with German Interior Minister Otto Schily, Cicek told reporters that they discussed extradition of Kaplan to Turkey and he also brought onto agenda the same issue during his meeting with Schily in Rome.
Cicek said, ''we are insistent on Kaplan's extradition to Turkey'' and added that Schily was sincere in this issue.
But, German courts ''claimed that testimony of Kaplan taken by torture would be used as an evidence'' in their reasoned verdict not to extradite Kaplan, Cicek stated.
Cicek noted that he informed Schily about legal arrangements regarding crimes of torture.
He also gave information about the court decision that ''the evidence gained illegally could not be considered a base for verdicts,'' Cicek said.
Cicek said, ''Turkey has accepted trial of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). A positive decision of this court is considered a reason for a re-trial.''
Stating that Schily demanded some information and documents, Cicek said that those information and documents would be sent to Germany through diplomatic canals.
Asked if Turkey made a written commitment, Cicek said, ''no, we haven't made any written commitment and it is not possible to make such a commitment. We will not give such a guarantee because our procedure code doesn't enable this. Our procedure code was taken from Germany.''
Replying to a question, Cicek said that Schily stated that they were ''searching ways to extradite'' Kaplan, but that he did not know what that meant in accordance with the German law.
Upon another question, Cicek said that it would be meaningless to commit that there would be no mal-treatment because laws did not allow that.
Cicek said, ''there are court decisions. There is no need for guarantee for issues considered crime under laws.''
It was the duty of the state to ensure life security of Kaplan in case he was extradited to Turkey, Cicek stated.
Cicek noted that there was not any demand on imprisonment of Kaplan in a certain prison.
Stating that extradition of Kaplan to a third country did not come onto agenda, Cicek said that such a thing was out of question.
Yeah...guess not. Mind you, they're saying that testimony extracted under torture won't be admitted. That doesn't mean they won't do it.
That was quick! Thanks. So I gather the German wimps accused their own law-enforcement people of torture? A socialist has never met a terrorist he didn't like, hey? A private jet met by anti-terror police? Yummy yummy. Turkish jail for you Kaplan and good riddance. Turks don't use panties on heads - they won't ask you to humiliate yourself by posing naked. Insh'alla! ha ha ha.
And afterall you do not have to hang your dirty laundry out for the media to see.
Whoops, I got that wrong. The German defence was trying to prevent his extradition because he would be tortured in Turkey.
Now what would make them think the Turks would do such a terrible thing to someone who wanted to blow up the most important symbol in the entire Nation? Tsk. Tsk.
Extradited Islamic Militant in Court
By MURAD SEZER, Associated Press Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey - A court charged an Islamic militant with treason Wednesday for allegedly masterminding a failed 1998 plot to crash an airplane into the mausoleum of the founder of secular Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Metin Kaplan, dubbed the "Caliph of Cologne" by his supporters, was returned to Istanbul late Tuesday, hours after a court in his longtime home of Germany approved his extradition. His group, the Caliphate State, which calls for the overthrow of Turkey's secular government to replace it with an Islamic state, is outlawed in Germany.
Turkish authorities allege Kaplan plotted in 1998 to fly an explosives-laden aircraft into Ataturk's mausoleum, which covers an entire hilltop in Ankara, when thousands of officers, students and foreign dignitaries would be visiting the site for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the secular republic.
They say the plot was foiled when Turkish police arrested 23 suspected members of Kaplan's group the day before the ceremony.
Kaplan, who has denied the allegation, has declared a jihad, or "holy war," against the secular Turkish republic.
The Istanbul court charged Kaplan with "armed attempt to overturn the constitutional order," a charge that amounts to treason. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life imprisonment.
He was sent to a prison where he is expected to remain until the outcome of a trial. No date has been set yet.
German police detained him Tuesday at an Internet cafe in Cologne and hustled him to the airport in Duesseldorf.
Kaplan had asked the German court to reinstate his status as a political asylum seeker, but the court refused it, clearing the way for extradition. It gave Kaplan two weeks to seek legal recourse, but officials said he could also do that from Turkey.
Kaplan had served a four-year German prison sentence for incitement in the killing of a rival cleric in Berlin in 1997, but had been free since May 2003.
Kaplan took over Caliphate State from his father, Cemaleddin, who died in 1995. Cemaleddin fled Turkey after a 1980 military coup and founded the group in 1984 after gaining political refugee status in Germany with his family. German security officials say Kaplan has about 800 followers in that country.
His extradition had been delayed by German courts' concerns that his followers have been subjected to torture in Turkey and that he could face political persecution.
Kaplan's extradition was made possible after Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2002. Turkey has introduced measures to crack down on torture to meet European Union conditions for membership, but rights groups say torture still occurs in the country.
Turkey last year assured the German government that Kaplan would get a fair trial.
"We have guarantees to that effect from Turkey," German Interior Minister Otto Schily told ZDF television, noting the country's efforts to join the European Union. "Whoever wants to achieve that must, of course, fulfill 100 percent such legal guarantees. I am convinced that there will be no reason for criticism."
Kaplan's group was banned Dec. 12, 2002, marking the first time that German authorities used tougher anti-terror laws approved after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
No connection has been established between Kaplan's group and the Sept. 11 attacks. But German investigators have said that some members traveled to Afghanistan to meet with supporters of alleged mastermind Osama bin Laden in 1996 or 1997.
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