Çavuşoğlu: Turkey will pursue Muslum 'wherever he goes'

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey will pursue Saleh Muslum "wherever he goes" following the release of the former co-leader of the PYD/PKK terrorist group by a Czech court on Tuesday.

"Ankara will not stop chasing Muslum, the former leader of the PYD/PKK terrorist organization, wherever he goes. There are verdicts against him, and a red notice out for him," Çavuşoğlu said.

A Czech court ruled to free the former co-leader of the PYD/PKK terrorist group despite Turkey's extradition request.

"The court ruled Mr. Muslum will be released," a spokeswoman for the Prague Municipal Court, Marketa Puci, said, adding the ruling had taken legal effect as both the state attorney and the defence gave up their rights to appeal.

The ruling means the Turkish extradition request can still go forward and will be considered by the Czech state attorneys, and by courts if the state attorney finds it relevant.

In a statement by the Foreign Ministry, Turkey blasted the Czech Republic’s decision to release a former leader of the terrorist PYD/PKK, saying that the ruling violated its responsibility to abide by international law and to fight terrorism.

Muslum was detained on Sunday in Prague after Turkey called on the Czech Republic to arrest the ex-terrorist leader. The Turkish Interior Ministry has offered a bounty of nearly $1 million on Muslum, who it lists among Turkey’s most wanted terrorists.

Muslum is being sought on charges of disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state, homicide, attempted homicide, damaging public property, and transporting hazardous substances.

The PYD/PKK is a Syrian offshoot of the PKK -- designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- which has taken some 40,000 lives in its 30-year terrorist campaign against Turkey.