[OPINION] Erdoğan’s Turkey is too lawless to get even a mafia boss extradited

Adem Yavuz Arslan*

As a result of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s decades-long dominance over the media and use of aggressive propaganda strategies, both traditional and digital media in Turkey are now under near-total state control. Today’s Turkey, in this regard, is increasingly detached from objective reality.

A small number of critical journalists are quickly imprisoned when they cross the lines drawn by the regime. Meanwhile, the work of exiled Turkish journalists abroad is systematically suppressed by Erdoğan’s digital authoritarianism, leaving the Turkish public unable to access their reporting. Only a narrow segment of the population — those who are well-educated and tech-savvy — can reach reliable news about domestic and global affairs. But this group remains too small to significantly influence the political landscape.

As a result a majority of the Turkish population remains occupied with the agenda dictated by the regime’s sophisticated propaganda machine in what could aptly be called Erdoğan’s “Ministry of Truth.”

And yet beneath the surface, Turkey is rapidly deteriorating on nearly every front, particularly in areas such as the rule of law and democratic governance. The popular claim that Erdoğan has reached the peak of his political power after 23 years in office is starkly contradicted by this underlying decline.

Let me illustrate this with a striking example — something that could only happen in what political scientists call a “flawed” or “third tier” democracy.

Italy: We can’t even extradite a mafia boss to Turkey

Unless you are a journalist deeply entrenched in organized crime reporting or a law enforcement official, you may not have heard of the Barış Boyun criminal network.

In recent years the Barış Boyun Gang, which has operated across Turkey and the Balkans, made headlines for brutal motorcycle assassinations inspired by Colombian drug cartels. Originally a small-time gang operating in the poorer districts of Istanbul, the group and its offshoot, the “Daltonlar” (The Daltons), have evolved over the past decade into a major regional crime syndicate.

This evolution was made possible in part by the Erdoğan regime’s apparent tolerance — or strategic blindness — towards organized crime and the cocaine trade, especially as it increasingly flows through Latin America to Europe via Turkey.

Labeled a “new generation mafia,” the Barış Boyun organization has committed multiple murders in the Balkans and engaged in violent turf wars with rival groups. On May 22, 2024, Boyun was arrested in Italy as part of a joint operation between Turkish and Italian police. President Erdoğan personally requested his extradition from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Initially, a lower court in Rome approved the extradition. However, Italy’s Court of Cassation overturned the decision.

In its ruling, the Italian court strongly criticized Turkey’s judicial system. Yet the Turkish public remained unaware of this decision and its serious implications due to state censorship. It’s almost inconceivable: A man accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal gambling and multiple murders cannot be extradited to Turkey because of concerns over the state of its justice system.

Turkey: an 8th-tier democracy

The decision by Italy’s top court should come as no surprise.

Turkey’s democratic and legal institutions have eroded dramatically in recent years. According to the 2025 Democracy Report by the V-Dem Institute, a globally respected research body based in Sweden, Turkey ranks 139th out of 179 countries. It is categorized as an “8th-tier democracy,” a label denoting authoritarian tendencies, lack of checks and balances and poor protection of individual freedoms.

More alarming still, Turkey ranks even lower — 9th tier — on the “Liberal Component Index,” which evaluates respect for fundamental rights, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary and legislature. Most African nations now score higher than Turkey in these areas. Even Egypt, ruled by a military regime, and war-torn Libya are now seen as having better governance indicators.

Torture is common, prisons are inhumane

The case of Barış Boyun, and the international legal battle it triggered, reveals the deeply arbitrary nature of Turkey’s justice system.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has issued numerous rulings finding that Turkey engages in arbitrary detentions, torture and denial of fair trials. Even more disturbing, Turkey frequently ignores these judgments.

Amnesty International’s 2022–2023 reports confirm that torture and ill-treatment in Turkish prisons are widespread and systematic. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) noted severe overcrowding, inhumane conditions and degrading treatment in its 2017 and 2019 inspections.

Most recently, the European Commission’s 2024 report on Turkey documented significant backsliding in judicial independence, fair trial guarantees and fundamental rights. Reports from Human Rights Watch echo these concerns.

The Italian Court of Cassation held up a mirror to Turkey

In overturning the lower court’s extradition decision, the Italian Court of Cassation cited a June 18, 2024 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It found Turkey’s diplomatic assurances insufficient, stating that Ankara had failed to provide reliable evidence against Boyun. It also concluded that the Turkish government’s evidence was contradictory and inconsistent with testimonies from other suspects.

The technical details of this decision are damning in their own right. But the broader implications are even more serious.

As mentioned earlier, due to the regime’s media stranglehold, the Turkish public is largely unaware of these developments. Meanwhile, arbitrary arrests, torture and inhumane prison conditions are being closely monitored by the international community.

For countries with high democratic standards, such as EU member states and the United States, it has now become routine to deny extradition requests from Turkey, not only for political dissidents but even for violent criminals and drug lords.

Italy’s refusal to extradite Barış Boyun is a mirror held up to the Turkish regime. And what that mirror reflects is bleak.

*Adem Yavuz Arslan is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for the TR724 news website.