Pictured: Kingpin whose gang gunned down nine-year-old girl in London restaurant in drive-by shooting - as he is arrested in Turkey following international manhunt
A crime kingpin wanted for the murder of a man suspected to be behind a shooting in east London that left a nine-year-old girl fighting for her life has reportedly been arrested in Turkey.
A crime kingpin wanted for the murder of a man suspected to be behind a shooting in east London that left a nine-year-old girl fighting for her life has reportedly been arrested in Turkey.
The young girl was dining with her family in Kingsland High Street, Hackney, last May when a helmeted gunman riding a stolen motorbike fired five shots towards the restaurant she was in.
Its believed the young girl may have been caught in the crossfire of two rivals gangs known as the Tottenham Turks and the Hackney Bombacilar, which means bombers in Turkish.
Since then, a senior member of the Tottenham Turks, Izzet Eren, was shot and killed sitting outside a cafe in Chisinau, Moldova last summer in what is believed to be a tit-for-tat murder spree.
Rival crime boss Kemal Armagan, of the Hackney Bombers, is suspected of killing Eren and is already wanted for two other murders.
The Mirror reported that Armagan was arrested during a routine stop by police at the Aegean port of Izmir earlier this week.
While the gang leader is facing prosecution in Turkey, he is wanted in both the UK and Moldova, the newspaper reported.
Local reports, which identified him only as KA, said he was hiding in the city under a fake name.
Kemal Armagan (pictured) was reportedly arrested during a routine stop by police at the Aegean port of Izmir earlier this week
Forensic officers gather evidence at the scene in Dalston, east London. Police were called at 9:20hrs on Wednesday, 29 May to reports of a shooting near a restaurant in Kingsland High Street, Dalston, east London
Senior member of the Tottenham Turks, Izzet Eren (pictured), was shot and killed sitting outside a cafe in Chisinau, Moldova last summer
Armagan is also wanted for the murder of innocent shopkeeper Ahmet Paytak, 50, who was gunned down inside the Euro Food and Wines store in Hornsey Road, north London, in March 2009.
Eren was killed five weeks after the nine-year-old girl, who lives in Birmingham, was hit in the head by a stray bullet during a drive-by attack.
Eren, it is believed, may have been behind an attempt to kill three rivals from the Hackney-based gang as they sat outside the Turkish restaurant in Dalston.
According to reports, three men suffered gunshot wounds had links to the Bombacilar clan. One was understood to have recently been released from jail and was wearing an electronic tag on his leg as part of the terms of his probation.
The intended target, Beytullah Gunduz, 37, left the restaurant moments before the attack but was previously the victim of a hit when he was shot in the neck by a Tottenham Turks assassin.
In a suspected revenge attack, Eren died instantly when he was shot three times in the head on July 7 in Moldovas capital Chisinau.
He had been on an Interpol wanted list on suspicion of trafficking heroin, the Interior Ministry said.
The murder in broad daylight was carefully planned over several days, prosecutor Victor Furtuna told the Mirror.
The gunman allegedly flew to Moldova two weeks prior with an accomplice before they were met by the girlfriend of one of the men who acted as their diver, Mr Furtuna said.
A young girl was caught in the hail of bullets, with one said to have lodged in her head
Police forensic officers outside Evin restaurant, where the horror drive-by shooting took place
They are believed to have visited a number firing ranges around the city as they spent time monitoring their target.
After killing Eren at 11.31am, the gunman dumped his getaway bike in a nearby wooded area before getting into a rented car.
He then allegedly fled over the border using a fake passport to get into Romania hours later.
British citizen Toper Hassan, a former solicitor, is accused of being among the accomplices.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court last month as he fights extradition to Moldova, where he is charged with the murder. He was arrested by National Crime Agency officers and was later remanded in custody.
The feud between the two gangs is believed to have started after an attack on Armagan in a snooker hall in Tottenham in 2009.
The subsequent gang war has led to dozens of murders and violent incidents from North London to Turkey.
The killer, Ricardo Dwyer had been hired by the Hackney Bombacilars for the murder of a Tottenham Turks leader but shot the wrong target.
Mr Paytak and his son, who was hit in the leg, had no part in either gang and were truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Old Bailey heard.
Later that year, in Tottenham, north London Oktay Erbasli, 23, a prominent member of the Tottenham Turks was shot dead as he waited at traffic lights in his Range Rover when a hitman on a motorbike linked to the Bombacilar gang pulled up alongside him and opened fire.