Erdogan kidnapping his opponents from other countries to silence them (5 – 7)

Mahmud al-Batakoshi

In this episode of our series about the methods Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan uses in tightening the noose around the opposition in his country, we will focus on the kidnap and imprisonment of Turkish opposition figures by Erdogan’s agencies.

Local airlines cooperate with the government in the kidnap of opposition figures and flying them home so that they will be put in jail.

The airlines use some planes in secret kidnap operations. This came to light recently after an attempt to kidnap a schoolteacher affiliated to the movement of Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen in Mongolia came to light. Television networks aired live footage of the plane waiting on the runway of the airport in the Asian country.

Another plane was used in the kidnap of six Turkish nationals in Kosovo. This caused anger inside official institutions in Kosovo.

Soon after these crimes were discovered one of the airlines involved in this regard had to change its name in January 2019. The Turkish government registered it as a tourist and cargo carrier.

The Turkish regime implicated Turkish diplomats in the kidnap operations after they were involved in the kidnap of more than 100 Turkish nationals.

Some of these nationals were kidnapped from the streets and others from their homes in other countries, including some together with their children and family members.

Classified documents show that the Turkish embassy in Kosovo plays an important role in planning and executing the kidnap of Turkish nationals.

The embassy even functioned as a detention center for kidnap operations. Kidnapped nationals would be detained at the embassy headquarters for some time until they are repatriated to their country.