The two men who were extradited from Armenia to Turkey on January 19 had entered Armenia on November 22, 2023 through Armenia’s Bagratashen checkpoint on the Georgian border.

The RFE/RL Armenian service has learned from Armenia’s judicial information platform, DataLex, that Ercan Yilmaz and Ibrahim Kaymak had crossed the aforesaid border by posing as Bulgarian citizens and presenting false documents.

Moreover, an Armenian citizen by the name of Armen Mkrtchyan had assisted them in crossing the Armenian border illegally. According to the information in the case, Mkrtchyan personally took the false documents to Georgia so that Yilmaz and Kaymak could enter Armenia.

The Armenian court had imposed a fine of 3 million drams on Armen Mkrtchyan. Also, the court had sentenced Ercan Yilmaz and Ibrahim Kaymak to 11 months in prison for illegally crossing the Armenian state border and forging documents. They had already been in prison for a month before this verdict was announced. The court's decision stated that Yilmaz and Kaymak will be extradited to Turkey and their entry into Armenia is prohibited for 10 years.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ercan Yilmaz has been wanted for 15 years, with more than 40 arrest warrants issued for him, while Kaymak, who has been wanted for 6 years, has 10 warrants. According to Turkish law enforcement, Yilmaz is the leader of a criminal organization, and Kaymak is a member of this organization.