ISTANBUL, Oct 24 (AFP) - Police in Ukraine have arrested an alleged Turkish gangster found guilty of multiple murder and linked to far-right political groups, Turkish media reported Sunday.
They said Haluk Kirci had been detained in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolayev on an international arrest warrant for murder.
Kirci was arrested in 1980 for the 1978 killing of seven young left wing activists in Ankara. Found guilty, he was given a 30-year prison term but released in error in 1991.
He was rearrested in 1996 in Istanbul but after a few hours in police custody took advantage of another error and escaped from police headquarters in unexplained circumstances.
Police caught up with him in 1999 in Istanbul where he was standing trial as part of a high-profile case that shed light on the links between the political far-right, organised crime and the Turkish security forces. He was given a four year term on top of his original sentence.
He was freed in March of this year but an appeal court decided he should stay behind bars. By then he had disappeared.
Police in Ukraine and Turkey could not be contacted to confirm the media reports.
10/24/2004 13:52 GMT - AFP