Turkish authorities detained a prominent figure from North Macedonia's far-right party late on Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in the murders of two people, one of whom was a fourteen-year-old girl, AFP reported.
The alleged mastermind behind the murders, Ljupco Palevski, was apprehended in Balikesir, a city in the country's northwest, after travelling via Serbia and Bulgaria, according to the police.
The bodies of a 74-year-old man from the centre town of Veles, who went missing a few days before a girl from the capital Skopje, who disappeared last week, and a girl from Skopje, who disappeared last week, were found on Sunday in the case that shook the Balkan nation.
“Colleagues from Turkey have informed me that the creator, planner, main coordinator and direct executor is arrested on their territory,” stated Oliver Spasovski, the interior minister of North Macedonia, during a late-night press briefing.
The police have identified four individuals, including the girl's father, who were complicit in both offences.
A family member "arranged the execution of the crime in order to extort money from her mother," according to Spasovski, who informed reporters that one of the detained suspects was involved in this plot.
Palevski heads a small, extreme right-wing political party and is a prominent public personality.
The ex-media mogul and billionaire has been actively supporting Russia in recent years.
The 74-year-old victim was a collateral victim in the abduction of the daughter, and investigators believe he owed money to one of the perpetrators.
