Turkey’s notorious National Intelligence Organisation (MİT) has
reportedly transferred the six Turkish educators who were detained by
Kosovo police early Thursday morning in Gajakova province of
Kosovo.
According to a report by Pristina Insight, Nazmi Ulus, director
of the Mehmet Akif College in Lipjan, said that all of the abducted
Turkish educators have resident permits in Kosovo until 2022.However, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday
that the abducted General Director of Gülistan Education Institution
Mustafa Erdem, Vice Director Yusuf Karabina, the principal of the school
in Gjakova, Kahraman Demirez, two Gjakova teachers Cihan Özkan, Hasan
Hüseyin Günakan and cardiology professor Osman Karakaya were taken to
Turkey by a private jet through a MİT operation. However, some local
sources have claimed that the abducted 6 educators will be kept in the
Pristina Airport until the evening.
Kosovo police detained 5 Turkish educators who are the employees of
Mehmet Akif schools in Kosovo, and an academician early Thursday morning
over their alleged links to the Gülen movement under the sheer pressure
of Turkish government led by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to a report by Pristina Insight, the Kosovo Police detained three Turkish teachers in Gjakova and two Turkish teachers in Prizren.According to information taken by Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF)
from Kosovo, Yusuf Karabina, the Vice Director of Gülistan Educational
Institutions, his wife Yasemin Karabina and his 15-year-old son were
stopped by Kosovo police at 08:30 on Tuesday morning. Karabina Family
reportedly resisted the plain-cloth police officers since they thought
that they could be the agents of the notorious Turkish National
Intelligence Organisation (MİT). So, the three members of Karabina
Family were reportedly beaten by Kosovo police during their detention.
As Yusuf Karabina was taken to the police station, simultaneously
Kahraman Demirez, the principal of Mehmet Akif College in Gjakova and
teachers Cihan Özkan and Hasan Hüseyin Günakan were also detained by
Kosovo police. Mustafa Erdem, the General Director of Gülistan
Educational Institutions, was also taken into custody as he visited the
police station to get information about the situation of the detained
Turkish teachers.
It was also learned that Turkish cardiology professor Osman Karakaya,
who moved to Kosovo to escape from the persecution of Erdoğan regime in
Turkey, was also detained by Kosovo police on Thursday morning.
Turkish government claims the Gülistan Educational Institutions,
which operate four Mehmet Akif elementary and high schools in Kosovo,
are affiliated with the Gülen movement.
Months ago, Kosovo Police arrested Uğur Toksoy, an educator with
alleged links to the Gülen movement. Kosovo eventually withdrew its
request to extradite Toksoy to Turkey, but the ordeal still sent waves
throughout Kosovo’s Turkish community, some of whom told the Balkan
Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) that they fled to Kosovo hoping
to escape Turkish government’s crackdowns on the press and individuals
and groups with ties to the movement.
The
Gülistan Educational Institution confirmed that the detained are the
General Director Mustafa Erdem, Vice Director Yusuf Karabina, the
principal of the school in Gjakova, Kahraman Demirez, and two Gjakova
teachers Cihan Özkan and Hasan Hüseyin Günakan.According to a report by Pristina Insight, School officials said in a
press release that they do not currently know the location of the
detainees and the reason for their detentions. Nazmi Ulus, director of
the Mehmet Akif College in Lipjan, said that all of the detainees have
resident permits until 2022.
“We
cannot get the exact information from the police, what we suspect as a
reason is Turkey’s pressure on all Balkan countries,” Ulus said.Kosovo Police spokesman Baki Kelani did not give further details but confirmed that “police are undertaking an operation.”
Some Balkan countries have faced pressure from Erdoğan regime to
close private schools linked with Gülen movement. But Kosovo, whose
population is mainly Muslim, had said it had no plans to close down the
schools affiliated with the Gülen movement.Turkey is a major supporter of impoverished Kosovo, which declared
independence from Serbia in 2008, and Turkish firms run the tiny Balkan
country’s sole airport and electricity network, and are building two
highways worth around $2 billion.
At
its peak, the Gülen movement operated schools in 170 countries, from
Afghanistan to the United States. Since repressive Erdoğan regime in
Turkey declared the movement a “terrorist organization” two years ago,
it has pressured allies to shut down the establishments run by the Gülen
movement.
Previously Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Georgia, Pakistan, Sudan and
Myanmar handed over academics, businessmen and school principals over
their alleged Gülen movement affiliations upon the Turkish government’s
request despite the fact that some of those victims already had refugee
status with the UN. The move drew harsh criticism from human rights
organisations.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt
on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch,
the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with autocratic
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having
any role in the failed coup and called for an international
investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt
“a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge
aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state
institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in
custody.
Turkey
has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police
and other civil servants since July 2016. Turkey’s interior minister
announced on December 12, 2017 that 55,665 people have been arrested. On
December 13, the Justice Ministry announced that 169,013 people have
been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed
coup.
A total of 48,305 people were arrested by courts across Turkey in
2017 over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, Interior Minister
Süleyman Soylu said on Dec. 2, 2017. “The number of detentions is nearly
three times higher,” Soylu told a security meeting in İstanbul and
claimed that “even these figures are not enough to reveal the
severity of the issue.”
