Seven Turkish citizens are feared to have been abducted by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) due to their links to the Gülen movement after they were kidnapped by unknown individuals in Nairobi, Kenya, in the early hours of Friday, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing the Bold Medya news website.
Mustafa Genç, his son Abdullah Genç, Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Necdet Seyitoğlu, Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı and his wife Saadet Taşçı were the individuals who were kidnapped. Mustafa Genç, Abdullah Genç, Necdet Seyitoğlu and Saadet Taşçı were later released by the kidnappers. The people were reportedly asylum-seekers registered with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who were protected from forcible return to Turkey, where they claimed that they face threats to their life and freedom due to their links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
The incident led to fears that they were kidnapped by Turkish intelligence agency MİT, which has been responsible for employing extralegal methods, including renditions, to secure the return of Gülen movement supporters after official extradition requests were denied.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by US-based Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch on July 15, 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Since the coup attempt MİT conducted operations for the forcible return of more than 100 people with alleged links to the Gülen movement. The latest cases include Koray Vural, a Turkish businessman who went missing in Tajikistan in September 2023 and was found to be in police custody in Turkey the next month. Emsal Koç, who also went missing Tajikistan in June 2023, was found to be in police custody in the eastern Turkish province of Erzurum when the police contacted his family living in the province.
According to a 2023 report by Freedom House on transnational repression, Turkey has become the world’s second most prolific perpetrator of transnational repression. A wide range of tactics used by the Turkish government against its critics abroad include spying through diplomatic missions and pro-government diaspora organizations, denial of consular services and outright intimidation and illegal renditions.