Ankara has applied for the extradition of Burhan Kus and Sadettin Akdas, who were being held in Baghdad’s Abu Gurayb prison until handed over to Iraqi authorities.
Under normal procedure, if it is proven that the two have committed crimes in Iraq they would first be tried in Iraq but Turkey has requested that Kus and Akdas be handed to Turkish authorities without going through domestic justice system.
Lawyers for the two suspects said that they would like their clients to be tried in Turkey as part of the trial of others alleged to have taken part in the planning and execution of the Istanbul attacks.
Both men are believed to have played a leading part in establishing an al Qaeda cell in Turkey.
The four bombings in Istanbul, two of which targeted synagogues, another the British consulate and the other the headquarters of the HSBC bank, killed 67 people and wounded more than 700.
Authorities said that Sadettin Aktas, Habib Aktas, Azat Ekinci, Gurcan Bac, Abdulkadir Karakus and Burhan Kus, all leading suspects in the November 2003 bombings fled to Iraq. Habib Aktas, a senior al Qaeda militant in Turkey, was killed in a bomb attack in Baghdad in September and Azad Ekinci and Gurcan Bac were also killed in a suicide bombing.