A prominent leader of Syria’s Kurdish community has been detained by Czech authorities on a warrant from Turkey.
Turkey’s official news agency and a main Kurdish-led political collation said on February 25 that Salih Muslim, the former co-head of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), was detained in Prague the previous day.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency also said Muslim was detained February 24 in Prague.
Czech police confirmed in a statement that a foreign national, aged 67, was in custody after being detained on February 24 based on an Interpol notice from Turkey.
"The police will take the standard steps in line with the law," the Czech statement said.
The TEV-DEM coalition, to which Muslim belongs, said in a statement that Turkey had issued an arrest warrant for him and condemned his detention as an “illegal act.”
The PYD, which Turkey considers a "terrorist group," is the main political Kurdish force in the north of Syria. Muslim stepped down as its co-chair last year but remains influential.
Ankara is filing an extradition request for Muslim, and a Czech court will decide whether to transfer him into Turkish custody, Anadolu reported.
