By: Advocates of Silenced Turkey
Since July 2016, the Turkish government went on to imprison hundreds of thousands of homemakers, mothers, children, babies, teachers, NGO workers, academics, judges, prosecutors, journalists and countless other victims. Erdoğan declared a “witch-hunt” against Gülen’s followers, attempting to convince countries through carrot and stick policies or more diplomatic means to join his personal fight and do the same to the Hizmet members within their borders.
Unfortunately, in some countries, the local intelligence agencies cooperated to seize Gülen followers, while in some others, Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MİT) did not even need to ask for permission to stage an operation. Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Cyprus, Gabon, Georgia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine are some of these countries. Freedom House states in their Transnational Repression report that “no other perpetrator state was found to have conducted such a large number of renditions, from so many host countries, during the coverage period—and the documented total is almost certainly an undercount”. [2]
Although ascertaining the exact number is not easy, AST has put together a List of Abduction Report , which includes 144 abductees’ names, professions, date of disappearances, place of the incidents, the current status of the persons and the details regarding the incidents along with a thorough discussion over the abductions and enforced disappearances within the framework of international law. [3]
Victims were abducted inside and outside Turkey through nefarious methods, brushing away even the most basic rights to fair trial and defense.
Here are some examples of the cases from the report: Isa Ozdemir, a businessman, was abducted from Azerbaijan in July 2018. He is currently jailed and pending trial in Turkey. İsa Özdemir was delivered to the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) by the Azeri authorities unlawfully. The European Court of Human Rights demanded Azerbaijan authorities to explain the reason for the rendition of Özdemir despite concerns that he may be subjected to torture in Turkey.
Arif Komis, an educator, was detained in Malaysia in August 2019. The police from the Malaysian Immigration Bureau detained Arif Komis, his wife and four children. Komis, the director and a teacher at Hibiscus International School, had applied for asylum and was under UN protection. Malaysia surrendered the teacher to Turkey, ignoring reactions against this decision in the international and domestic circles. He is currently jailed and pending trial in Turkey.
Very recently, Orhan Inandi went missing in Kyrgyzstan in June 2021. Educator İnandı, founder and director of the Sapat school network in Kyrgyzstan, went missing after leaving his house in Bishkek on Monday evening.He was last contacted by a friend at around 9 p.m. Attempts by his family to contact him all failed. He is feared to have been abducted by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement and is believed to be held captive and tortured at the Turkish Embassy, according to his family.
The veil of secrecy over the enforced disappearances has still not been lifted, and it will probably take many years for a full-fledged illumination of them. Those who were found were mostly traumatized after long sessions of tortures. Their physical and psychological conditions were devastated beyond description. Advocates of Silenced Turkey urges all relevant institutions of the International Human Rights community to urgently provide information to resolve questions and suspicions about the incidents. AST also urges the Turkish authorities to carry out a thorough, prompt, independent and impartial investigation on enforced disappearances and abductions.
