Emma Sinclair-Webb, a senior Turkey researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), has said during a live interview that the Turkish government is “brazenly boasting” about the “success” of the country’s intelligence agency in abducting and rendering tens of political opponents of President Erdogan to Turkey.
Speaking to Beverley O’Connor from the ABC news on Thursday, Sinclair-Webb dived into the issue of abduction of Turkish nationals around the world since July 2016.
Yürekleri yakan Türk mülteci anne Esma Uludağ’ın özel video versiyonu (Ingilizce) #UNHCR #EsmaUludag #TurkishRefugee @Refugees #WorldRefugeeDay 2021! @dwnews @euronews @BBC https://t.co/mIouGQC8FV
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“Turkish authorities are literally boast about tehir success in bringing these men back to Turkey. So, we often see pictures of the men handcuffed in front of the Turkish flags, presented to the public,” she said.
Since 2016, tens of Turkish nationals were abducted and rendered to Turkey by the Turkish intelligence over alleged links to the Gülen group, which Ankara accuses of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016. The group denies any connection with the abortive putsch.
The latest example in a long line of these abductions is the case of Orhan İnandı, a Kyrgyz citizen of Turkish origin who is feared to have been abducted by the Turkish Intelligence in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
He has been held in a building housing the Turkish Embassy in Bishkek, İnandı’s wife claimed.
“My husband, Orhan İnandı who has worked for the good of Kyrgyz children for 26 year, was abducted 7 days ago. According to the information I managed to gather, he has been held at the Turkish embassy in Bishkek.” Reyhan İnandı said in a tweet on Monday.
Human rights groups say they have evidence Turkish spies are abducting political opponents of President #Erdogan. @esinclairwebb tells @bevvo14 #Turkey is brazenly boasting about the "success" of their intelligence services. #TheWorld pic.twitter.com/fbILLlmQoV
— ABC News (@abcnews) June 17, 2021