Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that the Turkish ambassador in Bishkek was summoned over the rendition of a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator by the Turkish intelligence service from Kyrgyzstan to Turkey, the Bishek-based AKIpress News Agency reported.
According to a statement from the Kyrgyz ministry, the Turkish ambassador in Bishkek, Ahmet Doğan, was summoned upon an order from Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, and a diplomatic note was delivered to Doğan on Tuesday regarding the operation conducted by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to render Orhan İnandı, a dual Kyrgyz-Turkish citizen, from Bishkek to Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday had acknowledged that İnandı, the founder and president of the Turkish-Kyrgyz Sapat school network operating in Kyrgyzstan who went missing in Bishkek on May 31, was actually abducted by Turkish spies and brought to Turkey as he praised their efforts in the rendition.
The Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan also demanded the immediate return of the Turkish-Kyrgyz educator to Kyrgyzstan, saying that such actions which grossly violate the principles and norms of international law, human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are unacceptable.
Calling on Turkish authorities to return İnandı to Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz ministry also asked Turkey to take all necessary measures to ensure that he is treated properly and to prevent the use of violent and degrading actions against him in accordance with international law.
Ambassador Doğan, on the other hand, argued that İnandı is a citizen of Turkey and is recognized exclusively as a Turkish national, noting that Turkey has not acknowledged that the operation was conducted on Kyrgyz soil.
The ministry further vowed to make all possible efforts to bring İnandı back to Kyrgyzstan and to protect his rights and lawful interests in line with the constitution and the norms of international law.
Erdoğan also confirmed that more than 100 others, in addition to İnandı, had been rendered to Turkey from various countries due to their alleged links to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. The movement is labeled as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government and accused of masterminding a failed coup in Turkey in July 2016. Both Gülen and his followers strongly deny any involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity.