The Turkish citizen arrested in Greece last week has been named by Greek media as Ali Yeşildağ, a former associate of the Turkish President who is now a fugitive from the Turkish authorities.
A well-known Turkish businessman, Ali Yeşildağ, an alleged former associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and reportedly wanted in Turkey, was apparently the Turkish national arrested in Evros, Greece, the Greek media outlet LIFO has reported.
Yeşildağ was allegedly arrested on Friday last week, trying to enter Greece illegally. LIFO reported that he was taken to Komotini prison.
Yesildag was born in 1961 in Rize province, also President Erdogan’s birthplace. He was Erdogan’s cellmate and reported bodyguard when Erdogan was imprisoned in 1999 for reading a poem.
Yesildag and his brother, Hasan Yesildag, were involved in several crimes but maintained close ties to the Erdogan family.
Yesildag had several companies working in the food and construction industries and became a wealthy businessman while Erdogan ruled the country. However, for unknown reasons, Yesildag later parted ways with his own family, and with Erdogan.
This year he became popular when he published several videos on the YouTube channel of a Gulen-affiliated journalist Cevheri Guven. In the videos, posted days before the May 14 elections in Turkey, Yesildag claimed that he, his family, and the Erdogan family had all been involved in billion-dollar corruption schemes. His claims shook Turkish politics before the elections.
Greek media outlet Iefimerida reported that Greek police had arrested a 54-year-old Turkish man in Evros who was found to be under a pending Interpol arrest warrant.
According to the Interpol Red Notice, wrote Iefimerida, the subject on 5 December 1986, in the closed prison of Bursa, Turkey, murdered a fellow prisoner. Earlier, on 1 June 1985, in Istanbul, he had reportedly attempted to rob a store owner at gunpoint.
On 21 January 1985, in Istanbul, he had stolen a gun from a house with which he committed robbery at the expense of a store owner; and on 16 January 1985, also in Bursa, he had entered a store and robbed the owner, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and President Erdogan will meet in Athens on December 7 to discuss cooperation.
Source : BI