Erdogan bears full responsibility for kidnappings inside and outside Turkey, says UN

Ankara, (ST) – The United Nations affirmed that, the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bears direct and full responsibility for the increase in kidnappings and enforced disappearances in Turkey. It denounced the policies pursued by the regime against Turkish regime’s opponents.

The Turkish newspaper, Zaman, quoted a report by the international organization presented by the United Nations team, condemning the kidnappings of Turks abroad by the Turkish regime’s intelligence service, stressing that, these kidnappings are a crime against humanity.

 The report also denounced Erdogan’s press statement on July 5, in which he praised the role of his intelligence service in kidnapping more than 100 people from abroad and forcibly transporting them to Turkey.

 The report condemned the increase in cross-border kidnappings that escalated after the 2016 coup attempt, noting  that the intelligence services used unidentified aircraft or commercial airlines for these operations.

The report indicated that, the victims are held in a secret place for a period ranging between 24 hours and three weeks before their deportation. It stressed that canceling the passports of the victims in order to facilitate rapid kidnappings abroad is contrary to international law.

More than half of the enforced disappearances were reported to Turkey from Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Panama, Uzbekistan and Kosovo.

Turkey has witnessed an increase in the incidence of enforced disappearances since the adoption of the so-called “immunity” law imposed by the Erdogan regime after the coup attempt in July 2016. This law aims to protect persons or officials who committed crimes and illegal acts while confronting the perpetrators and supporters of the coup attempt.

 Raghdsa Sawas