Piers Akerman: Turkish ties on line over Australian terrorist Neil Prakash
AUSTRALIA’S most wanted terrorist Neil Prakash — currently facing terrorist charges in Turkey — presents a real problem for Australian-Turkish relations, Piers Akerman writes.
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AUSTRALIA’S most wanted terrorist Neil Prakash presents a real problem for Australian-Turkish relations.
Currently facing terrorist charges in Turkey, Prakash was last week protected from extradition to Australia where he faces other similar charges.
In a confusing exchange reported by our correspondent Ellen Whinnett, Turkish judge Ismail Deniz ordered the self-confessed Islamic State terrorist be released following the failure of the extradition request.
Judge Deniz then reversed course, decreeing Prakash be detained in Turkey where he would answer local charges that he was a member of Islamic State.
Prakash, formerly of Melbourne, was taken into custody by Turkish authorities after he had fled across the border from Syria in October 2016.
He joined Islamic State soon after arriving in Syria in 2013 and rapidly became one of the most high-profile Australian jihadists and was also deemed to be among the most dangerous.
With his command of English, he joined the small number of Western jihadis who specialised in recruiting young Muslims online to conduct terror attacks in their homelands.
In May 2016, he was declared dead after a US air strike in Iraq but he had survived and was planning his escape.
Six months later he was captured crossing into Turkey following a Western intelligence operation to track him.
Prakash has admitted to being a member of Islamic State — a punishable crime in Turkey — but has denied he was a senior member. That is for the court to decide.
Turkey’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmet Gokdenizler, has assured Australians that Prakash will not go free, telling The Weekend Australian that the court’s denial of Canberra’s extradition request was a bureaucratic snafu.
Our government was blindsided by the events with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull describing the decision by the Turkish court as “very disappointing”.
He said Australia would consider appealing.
If Prakash is convicted in Turkey of being a member of a terrorist group, he cannot be tried for the same crime in Australia — meaning Australian authorities would need to rely on other offences, such as foreign incursion crimes or planning terrorist acts, to prosecute him.
“I want to make sure that people answer to the crimes that they’re alleged to have committed and from our perspective there is therefore a desire to extradite him from Turkey,” Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said.
“We respect the outcome but if he is rotting in a Turkish jail, that’s fine by me.”
The best chance of overturning the Kilis court decision on the extradition is thought to be if an appeal is heard in the central court in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Australia has so far been agnostic on these claims, much to the dismay of the Turkish government. The Neil Prakash case now puts the Turks’ claims in sharper focus.
While respecting Turkey’s nominally independent judiciary, our government and diplomats have to consider the niceties of our relationship with the Turkish regime now dominated by strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won a sweeping victory just a month ago and amassed more power than any previous president in Turkish history.
Two years ago he survived a bloody coup attempt in which tanks, fighter helicopters and fighter jets attacked the presidential complex, offices of the National Intelligence Organisation, provincial police headquarters, and various national communications facilities.
The Turkish government believes that the coup plotters were members of FETO embedded in the Turkish armed forces and that FETO was established and is still actively led by Turkish imam Fethullah Gulen, who has his base in the US but has established branches internationally, including in Australia.
Since the mid-1990s, Gulen has presented himself and his movement as the enlightened and pro-Western face of moderate Islam and has encouraged participation in numerous multi-faith events.
The Turkish government believes these are mere fronts for FETO operating as recruitment and front-raising bodies for the anti-government organisation.
Australia has so far been agnostic on these claims, much to the dismay of the Turkish government.
The Neil Prakash case now puts the Turks’ claims in sharper focus.
Since the days of Ataturk, the greatest Turkish leader of modern times, Australians and Turks have enjoyed a surprisingly warm relationship.
Our loss at Gallipoli stands as a milestone on our pathway to nationhood and arguably national identity.
That is in large part because of the graciousness of the Turks in victory.
Each year, tens of thousands of young Australians make the pilgrimage to the site of our defeat — admittedly in part because of the powerful mythology reinforced by film director Peter Weir’s eponymous film, but unabashedly to also see at first hand the topography, if not experience the conditions, that the original ANZACs endured, and to unashamedly trace the steps of the many who acted so heroically in the face of such overwhelming odds.
But while our young people enjoy the hospitality of the Turks and not infrequently abuse the cultural norms of their hosts with their boozy activities, what are we doing to reciprocate the genial warmth the Turks have shown Australians since Ataturk’s memorable letter to the mothers of those who lost their lives at Gallipoli?
The answer is not a lot.
As our government presses its case for Prakash’s extradition it should also throw the spotlight on FETO’s activities through its proxies in Australia as a demonstration of goodwill.