ANKARA, Oct 14 (AFP) - Turkey's appeals court decided Thursday against initiating any criminal or disciplinary proceedings against its own president at the end of a probe into claims that he had ties with the country's most notorious mob leader.
The probe was launched in August upon allegations that a senior intelligence official lobbied Eraslan Ozkaya, the head of the appeals court, on behalf of the mafioso, Alaattin Cakici, who had secret to sell.
The decision of the court coincided with the extradition to Turkey earlier in the day of Cakici, who was arrested in Austria while on the run.
Cakici managed to flee abroad with a false passport in May, reportedly just hours before authorities issued an arrest warrant for him.
According to media reports, the appeals court dragged its feet in sending to related authorities a confirmation of a jail sentence ruled against Cakici for ordering an armed attack on a rival gang in 2000, which gave him the time to organize his escape.
A senior agent, aided by a contractor building a villa for Ozkaya, reportedly contacted the top judge and told him they would like to see Cakici remain at large for some time because he held an important secret that the intelligence agency wanted to obtain.
Ozkaya and one of his aides allegedly kept the agent and the businessman informed about how Cakici's file was being handled at the court.
Ozkaya's aide, Ercan Yalcinkaya, who also faces accusations of ties with other underworld figures, resigned under pressure earlier this week.