Updated 17:27 | Published at 5:06 p.m
After Aftonbladet’s disclosure of the leaked police report, the Kurdish fox has become domestic politics in Turkey.
Several opposition politicians are now demanding answers from the Turkish government and Rawa Majid’s citizenship may hang loose.
– From when the probability that he would be extradited was almost non-existent, it has now increased, says Paul Levin, Turkey expert.
The fact that Rawa Majid received Turkish citizenship despite being internationally wanted by Interpol has now become a hot political issue in Turkey.
Earlier this week, among others, the opposition politician Yunus Emre from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) as many as eleven questions to Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya in the Turkish Parliament, about the grossly criminal gang leader.
Several of the questions concerned Aftonbladet’s revelation that top-secret information about Rawa Majid and the Foxtrot network that the Swedish police shared with Turkish authorities was leaked and ended up in the hands of members of the criminal gang.
Citizenship can be revoked
The other questions concerned Majid’s citizenship, which he bought by investing in real estate in Turkey.
– How do you explain that Rawa Majid deserved the right to become a Turkish citizen despite the accusations against him? When Rawa Majid became a citizen of Turkey, were our authorities aware that he was internationally wanted by Interpol? Yunus Emre asked the interior minister.
According to SVT, a legal investigation against Rawa Majid is also currently underway in Turkey. The case concerns suspected falsification of records when the gang leader obtained his Turkish citizenship. He then allegedly used the name Miran Othman to hide the fact that he is internationally wanted.
And as Aftonbladet previously reported, Turkish authorities have established Rawa Majid’s identity through fingerprint tests.
If he is convicted in the case, his Turkish citizenship may be revoked – which in the long run may mean that he may be tried in Sweden for the several serious crimes he is suspected of.
“Perhaps one shooting is not enough”
Another reason why the issue of Rawa Majid has now ended up on the agenda within Turkish politics is believed by several observers to be the shooting that occurred in Istanbul on September 6, when five Swedish gang criminals were arrested.
According to Michael Sahlin, former ambassador to Turkey, the fact that Majid’s criminality has now begun to spill over onto Turkish soil may lead Turkey to take the issue more seriously.
– If these criminal individuals also start committing crimes in Turkey, I think that it can at least lead to Turkey prosecuting them for crimes committed there. Even if it’s not extradition, it’s at least a potential opening for them to be brought to justice, he says.
Turkey expert Paul Levin at Stockholm University agrees.
– In the past, his criminality has been a problem for Sweden. When it now affects Turkey, one can imagine that that calculation changes. So far, however, it’s a shootout, and the question is whether it’s enough to change the calculation.
Turkey’s interior minister has 15 days to answer the questions from Yusun Emre.
– It shows that things are moving. Also, the mainstream media has not yet reported much on this, it will be interesting to see if anything changes if this reaches a larger audience in Turkey, says Paul Levin.
He also adds that the debate about Rawa Majid’s citizenship has resulted in the question of who is granted citizenship in Turkey generally being high on the agenda.
– It has turned out that the leaders of organized crime from several other countries have taken refuge in Istanbul, which has resulted in several settlements and shootings, according to Turkish observers. This happened under the previous Home Secretary’s rule and now that he and his network are gone, it could open the door to a review of policy both on who to grant citizenship and when to revoke it.
Majid stays hidden
In November, the next hearing will be held in Bodrum, Turkey regarding Rawa Majid’s document falsification.
– I suspect that if he has falsified an application for citizenship, the decision could be revoked and he could lose his citizenship, says Paul Levin.
– It is unclear whether Majid obscured the information about his identity when he applied, or whether the Turkish government sees between the fingers in terms of previous criminality because it is an investment opportunity for them to get Russian oligarchs and other groups with purchasing power. Then you mustn’t forget that the Turkish system is deeply corrupt, so it could also be about Majid having the right contacts and bribes, says Paul Levin.
According to SVT feel Rawa Majid of the increased pressure. He is currently hiding in Turkey and is trying to escape the country before his citizenship is possibly revoked.
– From the fact that the probability that he would be extradited by Turkey was almost non-existent, that probability has now in any case increased. There seems to be a real possibility, says Paul Levin.
Aftonbladet has sought the Turkish politician Yunus Emre and Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) for a comment.
FACT The questions put to the Turkish Interior Minister:
1) Is Rawa Majid a citizen of Turkey? Are the claims that he changed his name before becoming a citizen true?
2) On what date did Rawa Majid become a citizen of Turkey? Did he become a citizen by buying real estate and if so for what amount?
3) Is it true that Rawa Majid was internationally wanted by Interpol?
4) When Rawa Majid became a citizen of Turkey, were our authorities aware that he was internationally wanted by Interpol?
5) What date did the Swedish authorities request that Rawa Majid be extradited?
6) What is the reason why Rawa Majid was not extradited to Sweden?
7) Is it true that Rawa Majid was involved in drug trafficking and was the leader of a criminal network called Foxtrot before becoming a citizen of Turkey? Has the Ministry carried out any investigations regarding it?
8) How do you explain that Rawa Majid deserved the right to become a Turkish citizen despite the charges against him?
9) Are the allegations in the Swedish media that secret information about the Foxtrot network and Rawaq Majid was leaked by Turkish authorities to members of the criminal network true?
10) On what date was the classified information shared with our authorities?
11) If the allegations are true, has the person or persons who leaked the secret information to the criminal network been identified? If so, what measures have been taken against the person or persons?
Read more FACTS The wave of violence in brief:
check September 6: Shooting against Swedish citizens in Istanbul.
check September 7: A woman in her 60s is shot dead in her home in Uppsala. The police later confirm that she was the mother of a gang criminal man.
check September 10: Shots are fired at a residence in Stenhagen in Uppsala. Nobody gets hurt.
check September 11: A 13-year-old boy is found shot to death in Haninge, south of Stockholm. According to the prosecutor, the murder took place in a gang criminal context
check September 12, morning: A 25-year-old man is shot dead in a stairwell in Sala backe in Uppsala. The man was not the intended target, according to the police.
check September 12, evening: A man in his 20s is killed during shooting in Sollentuna, north of Stockholm.
check September 13: New shooting in Stenhagen – the fourth in Uppsala in a week. Nobody gets hurt.
check September 14, morning: Shots fired at an apartment door in Norrköping. Four people are arrested.
check September 14, evening: A teenage boy dies after being found shot in Västertorp. That same evening, a terraced house in Jordbro, south of Stockholm, was shelled.
check September 15: Several shots at a residence in Norrköping. No information on casualties.
check 15 September: Explosion at apartment building in Upplands-Bro. No one is said to have been injured.
check September 16: A man in his 40s is shot to death in Råcksta in western Stockholm.
check September 17: Explosion at a villa in Nyköping.
check September 18: An apartment in a multi-family building in Handen south of Stockholm is shelled. In the evening, another apartment in Handen was shelled, and during the night of September 19, an apartment in Lidingö.
(Source: TT)
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