The Turkish government has seized hundreds of businesses. Many of the owners have fled to Germany. The government accused these owners of supporting the Gülen movement. The government says Gülen was behind the recent coup attempt.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/government-seizes-businesses-in-turkey/av-37084560
A judge in London dismissed the Turkish government’s request for extradition of businessman Akin Ipek living in the United Kingdom, portraying Ankara’s bid and charges as politically motivated.
Judge John Zani who oversees the case refused the application by the Turkish authorities, citing the high risk of mistreatment in Turkey if Ipek and three other Turkish nationals are extradited back to Turkey.
The Turkish government seized Ipek-owned Koza Media Group, with its newspapers and TV channels, in 2015. The government later moved to confiscate all of his companies and business assets worthy of billions of dollars as part of a massive wealth grab.
Ipek whose own brother has remained imprisoned for two years has lived in London for the past three years. But his self-imposed exile did not spare him from the wrath of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration, which incessantly presses the British authorities to extradite the businessman who formerly had cordial ties with Erdogan but later fell out.
The decision by the British judge came as a source of consolation for the businessman and for thousands of others living in the West. The constant fear of the overseas campaigns of the Erdogan government to get them back to the country keep Erdogan’s opponents on edge.
But the Western countries, unlike others with weak rule of law, refuse to cave in to Ankara’s pressure for the extradition of Erdogan critics.
“Great news: UK court ruled today that Turkish businessman Akin Ipek should not be extradited because the case was “politically motivated” and his human rights at risk if returned to #Turkey. @MilenaBuyum and @andrewgardner,” Richard Williams, Amnesty International Turkey Coordinator, wrote on Twitter.
While the development inspired new hopes and led to jubilation among human rights activists and Turkey’s purge victims, it ignited a fierce backlash from Ankara. Justice Minister Hamdi Gul reacted with fury, dismissing the court ruling as politically motivated. He said the decision cannot be accepted and urged the British authorities to rescind it.
European Court Slams Erdogan Administration For Imprisonment of Kurdish Politician
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) called on Turkey to release Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chairman of pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP), who has been imprisoned for two years and sharply criticized his ongoing imprisonment.
In an unusually blunt statement, the ECtHR portrayed Demirtas’s continuing imprisonment as politically motivated. While the court said Demirtas had been arrested on “reasonable suspicion,” the extensions of his detention lacks plausible justification.
In November 2016, Demirtas, along with other HDP Co-Chair Figen Yuksekdag, have been arrested on the charges of having links to outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
He faces dozens of years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors particularly charge him with instigating the violent anti-government protests in October 2014 when HDP supporters took into streets to protest the Erdogan government’s indifference to Islamic State (ISIS) onslaught on the Syrian border town of Kobani.
More than 40 people had been killed during Kobani protests across Turkey. Demirtas vehemently denies any role for the outbreak of violence. His imprisonment came when the Turkish government unleashed a massive crackdown on opponents in different quarters of the political spectrum, arresting tens of thousands of people, including HDP lawmakers and supporters.
Unlike its verdict and judgment on previous applications from Turkey regarding detention of journalists, the ECtHR invoked the 18th article of European Human Rights Convention in its recent decision, setting the stage for a potential diplomatic showdown.
The 18th article appears as binding for the countries against which the verdict was delivered. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outright dismissed ECtHR call for the release of Demirtas.
“[The extensions of detention] had pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, which was at the very core of the concept of a democratic society,” the top human rights court said in its statement.
“The Court therefore held, unanimously, that the respondent state was to take all necessary measures to put an end to the applicant’s pre-trial detention,” the court added, pressing Turkey to act swiftly.
In its articulation of the reasoning, the ECtHR referred to the “tense political climate” in Turkey, an element that “created an environment capable of influencing certain decisions by the national courts.”
If Turkey refuses to comply with the recent verdict, it would have grave ramifications for Turkey’s relations with the Council of Europe. Ankara may face sanctions in the case of non-compliance and even lose its membership in the Council of Europe, as the 18th article requires for the failing respondent states.
In a new round of crackdown, Istanbul police units have detained a number of academics linked with philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has been in prison for nearly a year, sparking criticism and condemnation from large segments of society, including leading business organization TUSIAD.
The new wave of arrests took place as part of Istanbul police’s efforts to dismantle Kavala-affiliated NGO Anadolu Kultur. Law Professor Turgut Tarhanli and Professor Betul Tanbay are among the detained.
“It is very sad to begin the day with the news of detention of many academics at a time when we were talking the return of scientists to the country. We owe the productivity of the lands in which we live to our culture that has become a shelter of science for centuries. We cannot progress by denying this!” Erol Bilecik, the head of the Turkish Industry and Business People’s Association (TUSIAD) wrote on Twitter, expressing his dismay.
Kavala, a secular and pro-Western activist, was imprisoned last year. Despite calls from the international community, the Turkish authorities did not allow his release.
This video is about people who were tortured in custody after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Even though there is not any solid evidence against these people showing their involvement in the coup, they were detained, put in the jail and more importantly, tortured. Gokhan Acikklolu is the first person and a teacher who died under custody in Istanbul Vatan Police Directorate became the symbols of the police torture after July 15. There are more than 15 witnesses stating that Gokhan Acikollu died due to torture under police interrogation.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur Nils Melzer, there are allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in Turkish Police Custody including;
§ Severe beatings,
§ Electrical Shocks,
§ Exposure to icy water,
§ Sleep deprivation,
§ Threats, insults, and
§ Sexual assaults ”
The video was prepared by AST
Turkey’s global purge and the crackdown on Gulen-affiliated schools never show signs of abating. The latest attempt took place in Afghanistan on Sunday, with all the hallmarks of previous ones already displayed in various times in Turkey or other countries.
Early on Sunday, officials linked with Turkey’s state-run Maarif Foundation took control of two schools in Herat province of Afghanistan. In a submission to unyielding demands from Ankara, the Afghan Education Ministry already relinquished the control of a number of private Afghan-Turkish schools affiliated with the Gulen Movement to Ankara-backed Maarif Foundation earlier this year.
The decision set off a yearlong showdown between new officials and the families of students who were adamantly opposed to any takeover of the schools by Ankara.
Previous attempts to run schools hit a snag after families’ unflinching and stubborn resistance. But this Sunday, Maarif-linked officials came to the school, touching off a new episode of clashes between families and the Afghan authorities.
While Turkey’s efforts to seize Gulen-affiliated schools across the world mostly took place without much fuss, things in Afghanistan developed differently as families vowed to fight against the seizure as long as possible within their capacity.
The Sunday takeover resulted in a number of brief detentions, local media reported. Police and security forces laid a siege to all-girls and all-boys schools in Herat. A Turkish official working for
Afghan-Turkish school network divulged details of how the events transpired in schools with media.
Police blocked access to schools, assembled students to a gathering point and seized their cellphones to restrict diffusion of the news throughout media. They detained some teachers and students who attempted to resist those attempts.
When news of the crackdown filtered through social media and the local community, parents of students began to amass outside schools. The committee of student families was summoned by the provincial education bureau of the Afghan government in Herat for consultations and briefing. An official who talked to AST on the condition of anonymity claimed that the summoning served as a distraction as Afghan authorities descended on one of the schools’ principal office at the same time to finalize the management change.
They even held a symbolic ceremony for the commencement of new administrators. When police and security forces left the school, graduates, students and a group of families forced the newly installed Maarif officials out of the school after a brief scuffle.
Maarif directors took refuge in armed vehicles of Afghan security forces outside one of the schools. A melee followed thereafter as graduated schools displayed their fury against the takeover of the school.
This invited a large force of reinforcements as top education official in Herat sought new forces to break up the protest and suppress the resistance by families. The deployment of additional police forces within school sparked some clashes. The police forcefully detained many students.
As things escalated into some violent showdown, more than 400 people assembled outside the school to demand the release of detained students.
So far now, no Turkish teachers were taken into custody, something that always occurred in other countries where such school takeovers took place.
In first official remarks on the incident, Herat Governor’s Spokesman Jelani Farhad confirmed that security forces carried out a court order against Gulen-linked schools. He also acknowledged that the raid was conducted to change the school director.
But the official denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the whole takeover took place as part of an official agreement between the governments Afghanistan and Turkey.
Afghan-Turk Cag Educational (ATCE), an NGO that previously ran the schools, condemned the police raid, portraying it as a move incompatible with civil law, constitution, the criminal code of the country, not to speak of international norms.
Turkey’s yearlong efforts were repeatedly foiled by a group of determinant families. The attitude displayed by student parents and NGOs defending education rights of the Afghan people offer some form of a solace in a country where civil society barely exists. In a repudiation of the perception that civil society is just a letter on paper, devoid of any substance, in Afghanistan, the families pledged to prolong their fight against Maarif’s brazen takeover.
A large-scale demonstration is expected to take place on Monday. Afghanistan, which goes through a decades-long war between Western-backed government forces and a resurgent Taliban, suffers a shortage of teachers and education facilities. In the face of depleted sources and tremendous hardships, the last thing Kabul needs is to alienate a group of volunteers and NGOs which, for their unswerving commitment to Afghan people, did not leave the country even in the face of a protracted and deadly war. Kabul should return the favor by ignoring Turkey’s norm-defying demand for the takeover of the schools, which have become beacons of success and advanced education.
We urge everyone to take action. Express your views or send attached letter or your own letter to following addresses:
You can find a sample letter at the following link.
You can find your U.S Senator at the following link.
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
You can find your U.S Representatives at the link.
https://www.house.gov/representatives
1) Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, U.S. Helsinki Commission
Phone: 202-225-1901
Fax: 202-226-4199
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @HelsinkiComm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helsinkicommission/
Chairman: Senator Roger F. Wicker
Address and Contact:
555 Dirksen 555 Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Main: (202) 224-6253 |Fax: (202) 228-0378 | Twitter: @SenatorWicker
Email: [email protected]
Co-Chairman: Representative Christopher H. Smith
Washington DC Office: 2373 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3765 | Fax: (202) 225-7768 | Twitter: @RepChrisSmith
https://chrissmith.house.gov/contact/zipauth.htm
2) Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
Phone: +1 (202) 225-3599
Fax: +1 (202) 226-5887
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @TLHumanRights
3) Congressional Afghan Caucus
Phone: +1 (202) 225-2411
Fax: +1 (202) 225-2013
Federal Caucus Member: Pete King, [email protected],
Federal Caucus Member: Bill Pascrell, [email protected]
4) United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC)
Phone: (+41) 22 917 9656
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @UN_HRC
Website: www.ohchr.org/hrc
5) U.S. Department of State
Phone: (202) 647-6575
Email: https://register.state.gov/contactus/contactusform
Twitter: @StateDept
Website: https://www.state.gov/
6) Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States
Phone: 202-456-6213
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @VP
7) Senator Cory Booker
Phone: (202) 224-3224
Fax: (202) 224-8378
Email: https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact
Twitter:@SenBooker
AFGHANISTAN
1) President Ashraf Ghani
Twitter: @ashrafghani
Phone: 0202104444,
0202104445
Hamdullah Mohib, National Security Advisor (Former Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United
States)
Twitter: @hmohib
2) Shah Hussain Murtazawi,
Acting Spokesperson for President’s Office
Phone: +93 (0) 728 998 907
Email: [email protected]
3) Salahuddin Rabbani. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Address: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan,
Malek Asghar St. Kabul, Afghanistan
Phone: 0093 (0) 20 2100372,
0093 (0) 20 2100371
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @mfa_afghanistan http://mfa.gov.af/en/form/contactus
4) Hamdullah Mohib, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States
Address: Embassy of Afghanistan, 2341 Wyoming Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008 Phone:
202-483-6410
Fax: 202-483-6488
[email protected]
5) Mahmoud SAIKAL, Ambassador and Permanent Representative Permanent Mission of
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in New York Address: 633 Third Avenue Floor 27A, New York,
NY 10017
Phone: 212-972 1212
Fax: 212-972 1216
@AfghanMissionUN
[email protected]
6) U.S. Embassy Kabul
Phone: (00 93) (0)700-10-8000
Fax: (00 93) (0)700-108-564 @USEmbassyKabul
[email protected]
7) DR. ABDULLAH ABDULLAH(CEO)
Special Assistant Ahmet Zahit Anwari
0093700291626
0093202106803
[email protected]
[email protected]
8) Chief of Staff Abdul Kahar Abed
0093744200000
0093700281980
[email protected]
9) Spoke person
Dr. Mucibur Rahman Rahimi
PH: 0093702103333
[email protected]
10) Ministry of Foreign Affairs
0093202100372
0093202100371
[email protected]
Social media posts on the raid:
"I am trying to tell the securty forces that these doings are the wrong,here is not the mountain,here is the school.but I can't find any responder. Police forces are wildly walking up to our children, to us the parents. What is this! We are so pleasant to the school. pic.twitter.com/nrpktwUSWJ
— Advocates of Silenced Turkey (@silencedturkey) November 11, 2018
#Erdogan's long arms still operate in weak countries like Afghanistan. We call the international community not to allow Afghan-Turk schools to be politicized by Turkish Government. @hrw @AfghanEmbassyDC @AlonBenMeir #DoNotPoliticizeAfghanSchools
— Advocates of Silenced Turkey (@silencedturkey) November 11, 2018
Afghan Turk School (NGO) affiliated with Gulen Movement which is in the city of Herat Afghanistan was raided by security forces illegally and was transferred mafia-like style to Maarif Foundation of Turkey for Erdogans interest @amnesty #DoNotPoliticizeAfghanSchools pic.twitter.com/g4wXRA2oPu
— Advocates of Silenced Turkey (@silencedturkey) November 11, 2018
Students: "We are the Afghan -Turks. We are protecting our school. Damn with the betrayers" @HelsinkiComm #DoNotPoliticizeAfghanSchools pic.twitter.com/qrtBvz7yXV
— Advocates of Silenced Turkey (@silencedturkey) November 11, 2018
Shouting: "they are students. don't touch them don't beat them,please they are just children, don't strike the students" @UNHumanRights Erdogans long arms in Afghanistan. #DoNotPoliticizeAfghanSchools pic.twitter.com/4IrK0qte69
— Advocates of Silenced Turkey (@silencedturkey) November 11, 2018
HASHTAG
#DoNotPoliticizeAfghanSchools
PURGED BEYOND RETURNS
SEND A LETTER to COUNCIL OF EUROPE, VENICE COMMISSION & MEMBER OF CABINET
“On the evening of 15 July 2016, elements within Turkey’s armed forces attempted a violent coup. The coup attempt was quickly thwarted as thousands of people took to the streets and state forces overpowered the coup plotters. Hundreds died, and thousands were injured in a night of terrible violence. The government declared a state of emergency soon afterwards on 20 July 2016 with the stated aim of countering threats to national security arising from the coup attempt. While the state of emergency was initially declared for three months, it would be renewed seven times, and its remit broadened to include combatting ‘terrorist’ organizations. The state of emergency finally ended on 18 July 2018, two years after it was first announced, having ushered in a period of tremendous upheaval in Turkish public life.
During the state of emergency, the government had the extraordinary power to issue emergency decrees with the force of law. These decrees were used to enact a wide variety of measures, affecting diverse issues from detention periods and NGO closures to snow tyre requirements. Around 130,000 public sector workers were dismissed by emergency decrees. Those dismissed include teachers, academics, doctors, police officers, media workers employed by the state broadcaster, members of the armed forces, as well as people working at all levels of local and central government. Their dismissals did not include specific evidence or details of their alleged wrongdoing. Instead, the decrees offered a generalized justification that they ‘…had links to, were part of, were connected to, or in communication with…’ proscribed groups.
The arbitrary dismissals have had a devastating impact on those who lost their jobs and their families. They did not only lose the jobs they occupied; in some cases, they were entirely cut off from access to their professions, as well as housing and healthcare benefits, leaving them and their families without livelihood opportunities.
For a long time, these dismissed public sector workers did not have any recourse against their dismissal as they had no access to ordinary administrative or legal channels in Turkey. Following considerable domestic and international pressure, the government passed an emergency decree in January 2017 setting up a ‘State of Emergency Inquiry Commission’ (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Commission’) to review decisions taken by the emergency decrees, including the appeals of purged public sector workers. Amnesty International research, which involved a review of procedures and a sample of decisions taken by this Commission and interviews with dismissed individuals and their families, reveals that the Commission – by its very design – is not set up to provide an effective remedy to the thousands of public sector workers dismissed from their jobs by emergency decrees. The combination of factors – including the lack of genuine institutional independence, lengthy review procedures, absence of necessary safeguards allowing individuals to effectively rebut allegations about their alleged illegal activity and weak evidence cited in decisions upholding dismissals – resulted in the failure of the Commission to provide a recourse against dismissals, leaving more than a hundred thousand individuals – their livelihoods on hold – without a timely and effective means of justice and reparation. The Commission does not have institutional independence from the government as its members are largely appointed by the government and may be dismissed simply by virtue of an ‘administrative investigation’ on the basis of suspicion of links to proscribed groups. Thus, the provisions for
appointments and dismissals could easily influence the decision-making process; should members fail to make decisions expected of them, the government can just as easily dispense with them.”
Purged Beyond Return Report by AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, pp. 4-5, October 2018.
SEND A LETTER AS A DISMISSED PUBLIC WORKER OR DEFENDER
The Commission of Europe invited OHAL commission to Strasbourg in November about their political decisions and the violation of rights of the dismissed 130,000 public workers. We urge the dismissed public workers or their defenders to write letters to the commission, member of the parliament, President of the Council of EU and Secretary of Venice Commission:
In order to comply with the human rights standards that they profess to uphold, Turkish authorities should reinstate all the dismissed public sector workers and, in any cases where individuals are reasonably suspected of wrongdoing or misconduct in their employment, or of a criminal offense, any decision on their dismissal should be made solely in a regular disciplinary process with full procedural safeguards.
3 SAMPLE LETTERS FOR PUBLIC WORKERS
Below are the sample letters created for a dismissed teacher, doctor and public worker. Do not forget to include your own story by changing the related parts.
You can download TEACHERS SAMPLE LETTER here…
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Teacher_sample_letter.pdf
You can download DOCTORS SAMPLE LETTER here…
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Doctors_sample_letter.pdf
You can download PUBLIC WORKER SAMPLE LETTER here…
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/public_servants_Sample_letter.pdf
CONTACT INFORMATION TO SEND YOUR LETTER.
1) PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL
Donald TUSK
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/contact/general-enquiries/send-message/?IsPresident=true
2) PRESS OFFICE
[email protected]
3) PRESS CENTER
[email protected]
[email protected]
4) SECRETARY OF VENICE COMMISSION
Thomas Markert
[email protected]
4) RIAA OOMEN
Chairperson of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy: Bureau of the Assembly
[email protected]
5) BERNARD BRUNET
Bernard Brunet is currently Head of Unit “Thematic Support, Monitoring, and Evaluation” in the
European Commission (DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement
[email protected]
6) JOHANNES NOACK
Member of Cabinet
[email protected]
7) MEMBERS OF COMMITTEE on Political Affairs and Democracy
http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/AssemblyList/AL-XML2HTML-EN.asp?lang=en&XmlID=Committee-Pol
8) TWITTER
—-VENICE COMMISSION—-
@venicecomm
—-EUROPEAN COUNCIL—-
@EUCouncil
“PURGED BEYOND RETURN” 28 pages report released by Amnesty International about the
130,000 dismissed public workers in Turkey. You can reach the report from the link;
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur44/9210/2018/en/
NEED HELP?
If you need help to translate your story, AST volunteers in your local community will help you.
If you could not find an AST volunteer for the translation of your letter from Turkish to English to submit, you can send the Turkish letter to [email protected] until November 15. We will try to do our best to translate your letter by our volunteers and empower you to submit your letter to the relevant commissions and officials in Europe
Imagine you suddenly lost your job.
No one told you why.
You tried to file a complaint, but it didn’t help.This is the reality for tens of thousands of public sector workers in #Turkey, who are being #PurgedBeyondReturn. Read more in our report. https://t.co/8f3q6S7vJn
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) October 25, 2018
130.000’e yakın kamu çalışanın keyfi olarak ihraç edilmeleri üzerinden 2 yıl geçti. Bugün yayımladığımız “Dönüşü Olmayan İhraçlar” yaşamları mahvedilen binlerce ihraç edilmiş kamu sektörü çalışanı için hala adaletin sağlanmadığını ortaya koyuyor. https://t.co/HWbncpKqRV
— Amnesty Turkey (@aforgutu) October 25, 2018
New #Amnesty report on #Turkey Almost 130,000 arbitrarily dismissed public sector workers are failed by Commission set up to handle their appeals. Turkish authorities should reinstate all the dismissed public sector workers. #PurgedBeyondReturn pic.twitter.com/FQ6dxtfICT
— Human Rights Turkey (@HumanRightsTR) October 25, 2018
Under Erdogan’s brutal regime, Turkey’s democracy derailed, innocent people are tortured or even killed in prisons. Those who wish to flee Turkey have a challenging journey to take, likely to end up in death. Here is the story of Maden family.
Husband: Math teacher
Wife: History teacher
They were charged with terrorism and involvement in the 7/15 coup attempt. They chose to leave their country. Last year this time the family was drowned in the Aegean sea. Here is their story.
The video was prepared by Huddled Masses
On September 25, 2018 Erdogan’s Long Arms Aiming to Reach US Territory
Turkey Seeks to Target Erdogan Opponents on US Soil
Turkey’s long-running campaign to target and capture political opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan living abroad has taken a new turn after his spokesman threatened to conduct operations in the U.S., similar to the ones which took place in Moldova, Ukraine, Kosovo, Malaysia, Gabon and a number of other countries.
Ankara’s indulgence in risky and bold operations, in clear disregard and violation of international norms, have already aroused controversy and a state of tension with its allies and the countries where such kidnappings or captures occurred. As recently as in September, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) snatched a group of Turkish teachers critical of the Erdogan government from Moldova after collaboration with the local security agency.
Almost all incidents, without an exception, have stirred political controversy and intense partisan bickering among political parties within countries where Ankara’s long arms involved in controversial security operations to target opponents, mostly affiliated with Gulen Movement, a banned civil society group in Turkey.
Turkey’s assertive and robust push to get Gulen-linked people shows no signs of receding. And after Ibrahim Kalin, President Erdogan’s spokesman, stepped in to declare that Turkey may conduct similar operations on the U.S. soil as well, things would stumble into an uncharted territory and would inject a new layer of uncertainty into an already perilous and tense relationship between the two NATO allies.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara in late September, Kalin vowed that the Turkish government would never relent its campaign against Gulen people. “They will feel Turkey breathing down their neck,” he said.
He went on to say: “Relevant units and institutions will continue their operations in countries where Gulen Movement operates, whether in the U.S. or another country. The Turkish Republic will not let them rest.”
Turkey’s authorities describe the Gulen Movement as a terrorist organization and ascribe the blame for the abortive 2016 coup to the movement, without offering a convincing evidence.
The presence of Fethullah Gulen, the inspired leader of the movement, in the U.S. territory remains a lasting source of friction between Ankara and Washington. Turkey’s numerous attempts and endless demands for the extradition of Gulen from the U.S. have yielded no result so far today. Although Ankara sent countless boxes of documents and dossiers supposedly containing evidence to Washington, the U.S. authorities did not budge their position.
The U.S. officials say Turkey has yet to offer tangible evidence linking Gulen to the coup.
While Turkey’s relentless pursuit of Gulen people in countries with weak rule of law and corrupt governments is a well-known phenomenon, the hint from a senior aide to Erdogan about a potential attempt to snatch people linked with the movement from the U.S. soil is a first of its kind.
This evidently illustrates the zeal and ambition of the Turkish government to get their opponents from anywhere else with little regard for diplomatic ramifications. It also clearly reveals that Ankara, otherwise unanimously and collectively condemned and pressured by its Western allies, would never abate its operations to target Gulen people, even in the U.S.
Kalin’s threat comes on the heels of an ongoing dispute regarding the continuing imprisonment of a U.S. pastor in Turkey. Erdogan already unveiled his plan for a potential prisoner swap to get Gulen back to Turkey in exchange of Pastor Andrew Brunson. But his proposal was bluntly rebuffed by the U.S. officials in 2017.
Kalin’s remarks appear as no mere speculation or wishful thinking. Rather, his statement points to the existence of determination and a certain course of policy on behalf of the Turkish government to haunt Gulen sympathizers in the U.S.
In 2017, the U.S. prosecutors revealed a scheme involving Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor of President Donald J. Trump, to spirit Gulen away from the U.S. territory. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, former Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, Turkish envoy to the U.S. and a former CIA chief were also present during the discussion of a plan to smuggle Gulen. Flynn also lobbied on behalf of Ankara for the extradition of Gulen.
Against this backdrop, Kalin’s threatening remarks have taken a special meaning and context. The Turkish government has already expertly versed in the business of overseas operations to capture Erdogan’s opponents. The U.S. authorities should keep an eye on this possibility and would remain alarmed in the face of threats for conducting similar operations on the U.S. soil.
We write you to emphasize our great concern about such threats and urge the U.S. authorities to seek clarification from the Turkish administration over Kalin’s threatening remarks. In this respect, the State Department may summon the Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. to demand further elaboration and elucidation of Kalin’s remarks.
Separately, we request from the U.S. law enforcement agencies to pay extra attention to the situation and keep a closer eye on any suspicious moves or acts of pro-Erdogan Turks living in the U.S. with regard to the security and wellbeing of Gulen Movement sympathizers across the U.S.
Download this statement as a word document:
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Warning-Against-Senior-Turkish-Aide’s-Abduction-Threats-in-US.docx
We request from the U.S. authorities to pay extra attention to this situation in the U.S. with regard to the security and wellbeing of Gulen Movement sympathizers across the U.S.
Download the sample letter for your local authorities as a word document:
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Senator-Letter.docx
You can find your U.S Senator from the link below.
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
You can find your U.S Representatives from the link below.
https://www.house.gov/representatives
We also request from the U.S. law enforcement agencies to pay extra attention to the situation and keep a closer eye on any suspicious moves or acts of pro-Erdogan Turks living in the U.S. with regard to the security and wellbeing of Gulen Movement sympathizers across the U.S.
Download the sample letter for your local Law Enforcement authorities as a word document:
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/To-Law-Enforcement-Officials.docx
We urge everyone to take action. Express your views or send attached statement to following addresses:
1)Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Phone: +1 (202) 612-6700
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @TurkishEmbassy
Website: http://washington.emb.mfa.gov.tr/Mission
2) United Nations Human Rights Council (UN HRC)
Phone: (+41) 22 917 9656
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @UN_HRC
Website: www.ohchr.org/hrc
3) U.S. Department of State
Phone: (202) 647-6575
Email: https://register.state.gov/contactus/contactusform
Twitter: @StateDept
Website: https://www.state.gov/
4) Mike Pence, Vice President of the United States
Phone: 202-456-6213
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @VP
5) Senator Cory Booker
Phone: (202) 224-3224
Fax: (202) 224-8378
Email: https://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact
Twitter:@SenBooker
6)Human Rights Watch U.S.
Phone: +1-212-290-4700
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.hrw.org/united-states
7) Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher, House of Representatives
Phone: (202) 225-2415
Twitter: @RepRohrabacher, @DanaRohrabacher
Email: https://rohrabacher.house.gov/contact
News articles on the raid:
https://dailycaller.com/2018/09/24/erdogan-operations-america/
Ibrahim Kalin’s threatening video
Ibrahim Kalin’s threatening video
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Co-Chair of pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HDP) pointed to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as someone who pulled the strings behind a massive crackdown that targeted more than a 100 politicians and journalists in the latest wave last week.
In simultaneous raids, the Turkish police raided offices and houses of tens of politicians linked with HDP and a group of journalists in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir and other cities. The clampdown has aroused international and national criticism.
Sezai Temelli accused Erdogan of giving the order for the latest move that inflicted a new blow to the party already bleeding in the face of incessant waves of the crackdown. Former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were imprisoned in late 2016 and are still in jail over terrorism charges. Thousands of party members have been jailed over similar charges.
This week saw another phase. The Turkish government has already taken over the administrations of more than 100 Kurdish-run municipalities. The president has repeatedly shown no signs of backing down and signaled a further escalation of crackdown amid armed clashes between Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish security forces.
A fragile truce between the PKK and the Turkish military collapsed in 2015 and renewed urban fighting gave Erdogan additional tools and excuse to crack down on the Kurdish political party which he portrays as the political wing of the armed militants.
The HDP rejects such blanket definitions and refuses association with PKK, which has been fighting the Turkish state since the early 1980s to carve out an autonomous zone for self-governance in southeastern Turkey.
A round of peace negotiations in 2015 came to an abrupt end when Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its majority in Parliament in June 7 elections. When Demirtas cruised HDP to Parliament after an upsetting electoral victory that denied AKP the chance to form another single-party government. HDP’s unexpected triumph appeared to be a turning point after the president altered his policy course regarding the Kurdish conflict and adopted a security-first approach to resolving the decades-old issue.
The military solution, although tried during countless different governments over the past four decades, has ultimately proved to be elusive and untenable. The latest bout of violence reduced cities to rubble in many parts of southeastern Turkey, leading to the displacement of nearly half a million people. Both Human Rights Watch and the United Nations well documented the scale of devastation that swept the entire region, revealing the scope of its social and economic cost in fullest form.
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