Milan investigators said Wednesday
that 19 people had been arrested in Italy, Switzerland, Germany
and Turkey in dawn operations involving hundreds of police
officers to dismantle an armed criminal gang that was allegedly
plotting terrorist attacks.
The suspects include the gang's allegedly boss, Baris Boyun, a
39-year-old Turkish national of Kurdish origin and one of
Ankara's most wanted men.
The suspects face charges that include murder, terrorist attacks
and being in an armed group for terrorist purposes.
Boyun was taken in custody from an apartment in the city of
Viterbo, north of Rome, where he was under house arrest after
being detained in Rimini in August 2022 under an international
warrant issued by the Turkish authorities regarding allegations
including murder, criminal association and arms felonies.
Boyun rejected the allegations and staged a successful legal
battle in the Italian courts against his extradition, saying he
was being persecuted for his Kurdish origins.
According to the warrant for Wednesday's operations, Boyun had
continued to lead a criminal network active in many parts of
Europe from a residence in Crotone where he had been under house
arrest.
Among other things, he was the alleged brains behind a planned
attack in March on a Turkish aluminum factory involving suicide
bombers that was thwarted thanks to information exchanged by
Italian and Turkish police.
The warrant said that, in a wiretapped conversation, Boyun had
boasted that "all of Turkey" would talk about what he had in
store.
In a wiretap from January 16, Boyun allegedly said that he had
told the "upper hierarchy of the PKK" that "we don't accept an
organization like this and we will found a new organization,
starting a new revolution".
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