Turkey denies abduction attempt
The Turkish government vehemently denied claims that it attempted to abduct 50-yearold Veysel Akcay and said it was uncomfortable with the fact that it was being framed as kidnapping.
“We’re very uncomfortable with the fact that Friday’s events are being presented as a kidnapping operation. All such claims are false and we reject them,” said Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy.
A Turkish air force jet was barred from leaving on Friday after a witness saw five assailants subdue Akcay outside his apartment and load him into a minivan. Akcay worked as the general director of Empathy Worldwide Educational Institution, a network of international schools linked to the Gulen movement. This link with the Gulen movement is thought to be the reason why Akcay was targeted.
Having lived in Mongolia for the past 25 years, Akcay is associated with the network of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, currently exiled in the US, whom Turkish authorities blame for the failed coup attempt in 2016. The aborted coup in Turkey in July 2016 was blamed by authorities on the Gulenist movement -- a group considered a terrorist organization by Turkey. The coup resulted in the biggest purge in the country’s modern history, including the detention of some 80,000 people.
Deputy Foreign Minister B.Battsetseg warned Turkish Embassy officials on Friday that any attempt to abduct a person from Mongolia’s territory would constitute “a serious violation of Mongolia’s independence and sovereignty”. The plane that was grounded eventually took off late Friday without Akcay on board.
Despite the denial, reports indicate that Turkey has been conducting missions to bring back Gulenists back to Turkey. The Turkish interior ministry on Monday said 50 alleged Gulenists had been “delivered” to Turkey from the Turkish-speaking part of the island of Cyprus, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
...“We’re very uncomfortable with the fact that Friday’s events are being presented as a kidnapping operation. All such claims
are false and we reject them,” said Hami Aksoy...