Austria set to extradite Cakici to Turkey

Cakici, who had earlier asked the Vienna State Court not to be extradited to Turkey, said he would not use his legal right to appeal the decision, Anatolia news agency reported.

"I want to return to my country and settle up with my state," he was quoted as telling the court.

When reminded by the judge that he still had the legal right to appeal once more, he said: "If it was before, I would not like to return, but now I do not want to use my appealing right," the agency said.

Cakici was arrested on July 14 in Austria, after fleeing from Turkey using a fake passport.

The principle obstacle for extradition of Turkish criminals captured in Europe was the death penalty clause in the Turkish Penal Code, but it was removed under the European Union-inspired laws.

51-year-old Cakici was carrying a fake passport and identity card when he was captured on a highway by Austrian special forces in the southern city of Graz.

Cakici, whose alleged ties to former Turkish premier Mesut Yilmaz played a role bringing down Yilmaz’s coalition government in 1998, was sentenced to five years in prison in June 2000 on charges of leading an armed gang.

Cakici who started his career with the Grey Wolves, a nationalist extremist group, was extradited from France to Turkey in December 1999 after ten years on the run. He was released from jail earlier this year, but another Turkish court later ordered his return to prison. Instead, Cakici fled the country. He has also been implicated in several extortion cases and homicides.