Mustafa Yılmaz, who disappeared in February and who was believed to have been abducted by Turkish intelligence, appeared on Sunday night at a police station in Ankara, according to several reports on Turkish media.
Yılmaz’s reappearance was announced by his wife, Sümeyye Yılmaz, who on Monday tweeted that he was “found at the Karapürçek police station at 23.30 pm,” according to a phone call she received from the counterterrorism branch.
“He is now in custody. They told us to talk to the prosecutor tomorrow and obtain permission for a family visit,” she wrote. She was also told that her husband did not want a lawyer.
The 32-year-old physical therapist previously purged from the civil service by a government decree disappeared on Feb. 19 after leaving his house in the morning.
In June the Ankara Bar Association published a report on his alleged abduction, claiming that the authorities failed to do their duty to investigate the disappearance.
Prominent human rights activist Şebnem Korur Fincancı stated that Yılmaz should undergo a comprehensive physical examination to ascertain his physical and psychological condition.
Opposition deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu said the authorities were planning to prevent him from talking to a lawyer chosen by his family.
“To those who will take his testimony I say: Do not be complicit in this crime,” Tanrıkulu said.
In September the police had prevented Yılmaz’s wife from making a public statement during a demonstration protesting human rights violations.
Opposition deputy and human rights activist Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, who attended the event to show solidarity with the protesters, was involved in a heated argument with a police officer who claimed that Yılmaz had fled abroad and that he was a traitor.
“People who you claimed to have fled have ended up reappearing at Ankara police headquarters before,” Gergerglioğlu said in response.
Five other men were allegedly abducted by Turkish intelligence in February. Four of them were found in police custody in July, while one is still missing.
More than 20 people have reportedly been abducted by Turkey’s intelligence agency in a massive post-coup crackdown targeting Gülen movement followers in the aftermath of a coup attempt in July 2016.
Turkey accuses the movement of orchestrating the failed coup, although it strongly denies any involvement.