Talks between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as part of the normalization of bilateral relations after a tense several years have apparently resulted in the release of a Turkish al-Qaeda militant who was convicted and serving a life sentence in the Gulf state.

Mehmet Ali Öztürk, 54, from the Turkish province of Mersin, set up and ran a jihadist network in 2012 in Turkey and Syria and pursued projects in Iraq and the African countries of Malawi and Madagascar. He was one of many assets used by Turkish intelligence agency MIT in arming and training Turkmen groups in Syria.

Öztürk was detained in Dubai on February 20, 2018 during a trip with his wife purportedly to attend a fair on behalf of the family company, BLC Bakliyat Iç ve Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi, a food wholesaler based in Mersin. His trip was endorsed by the Turkish government.

Source: Nordic Monitor