site.bta Prime Minister Borissov Reacts to Reports that Istanbul Bombing Mastermind Had Been Arrested in Bulgaria

Prime Minister Borissov Reacts to Reports that Istanbul Bombing Mastermind Had Been Arrested in Bulgaria

Sofia, July 1 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Friday that the Bulgarian special services had done everything necessary in the case of Akhmed Chatayev, one of the suspected organizers of Tuesday's bombing and gun attack at Istanbul's main airport, who had allegedly been arrested in Bulgaria in 2011 upon a Russian extradition request.

Borissov told journalists in the National Assembly lobby that he would not comment on the decision of the Bulgarian court following Chatayev's arrest in 2011. The court reportedly refused to extradite the man to Russia because he had received political asylum in Austria in 2003.

The Prime Minister noted that in their actions the courts are guided by international conventions and agreements. "I can only comment on what the government did back then through its agencies: they arrested him," he said.

Meanwhile, the Austrian Interior Ministry discussed allegations circulated via the website of the Vienna-based newspaper "Die Presse" and a Bulgarian television channel, which said that an "Austrian connection" has been uncovered during the investigation of the Istanbul airport attack. The ministry's spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck told the Austrian news agency APA that the security services have not confirmed the information that Akhmed Chatayev, a Chechen man who arrived in Austria as a refugee in 2003, was involved in Tuesday's Istanbul airport attack. Grundboeck described as "media speculations" the allegations that Bulgaria had not extradited Chatayev to Russia because he had received political asylum in Austria. "We do not take part in media speculations, we adhere to the results of the investigation," Grundboeck said.

Tsvetana Delibaltova in Vienna contributed to this story.