Seven Turkish citizens are feared to have been abducted by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) because of their links to the Gülen movement after they were abducted by unknown assailants in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to sources who spoke to naihaps.com, they were abducted in the early hours of Friday.
Mustafa Genç, his son Abdullah Genç, Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Necdet Seyitoğlu, Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı and his wife Saadet Taşçı were kidnapped. The kidnappers later released Mustafa Genç, Abdullah Genç, Necdet Seyitoğlu and Saadet Taşçı.
They were reportedly asylum-seekers registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and protected from forcible return to Turkey, where they claimed their lives and freedom were threatened because of their links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The incident led to fears that they had been abducted by the Turkish intelligence agency MIT, which has been responsible for using extra-legal methods, including renditions, to secure the return of Gülen supporters after official extradition requests have been rejected.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting supporters of the Gülen movement, inspired by US-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the 17-25 December 2013 corruption investigation, which implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigation as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan declared the movement a terrorist organisation and began targeting its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement after a failed coup on 15 July 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gulen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Since the coup attempt, MİT has carried out forcible return operations against more than 100 people with alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Recent cases include Koray Vural, a Turkish businessman who went missing in Tajikistan in September 2023 and was found in police custody in Turkey the following month.Emsal Koç, who also went missing in Tajikistan in June 2023, was found in police custody in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum when police contacted his family living in the province.
According to a 2023 Freedom House report on transnational repression, Turkey has become the world’s second most prolific perpetrator of transnational repression.
A wide range of tactics used by the Turkish government against its critics abroad include spying through diplomatic missions and pro-government diaspora organisations, denial of consular services, outright intimidation and illegal renditions.
