UN slams Thailand, Myanmar over deportation of Turk


Date posted: May 27, 2017

The United Nations expressed grave concern on Saturday over the deportation by Myanmar and Thailand of a Turkish national over alleged connections to a July 2016 coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The UN Human Rights office said the deportation to Turkey of Muhammet Furkan Sokmen, a former employee of an international school in Yangon, was one of an increasing number of cases of Turkish nationals singled out by Turkish authorities over suspected links to the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Ankara maintains that Gulen’s network of followers in the military staged the abortive coup, during which more than 240 people were killed. Gulen has repeatedly denied the claims.

Muhammet was reportedly arrested at Yangon airport on Wednesday, the UN said in a statement. He was sent to Thailand where he was held at an immigration detention centre before being deported to Turkey on Friday.

Colonel Myo Thu Soe, a spokesman for Myanmar police headquarters in Nay Pyi Daw, told Reuters that an official from the Turkish embassy had given him a certificate of identification and Muhammet was put on a Myanmar Airways plane to Bangkok, while his wife and daughter remained in Yangon.

Reuters was unable to contact Muhammet on his mobile phone.

“UN Human Rights for Southeast Asia expressed grave concern over the deportation by Myanmar — via Thailand — of Turkish national Muhammet Furkan Sokmen, and strongly urged authorities not to deport those deemed at risk upon their return to Turkey,” the UN said in a statement.

“We reiterate our call to all governments, including in this latest case the Thai and Myanmar governments, to put in place an effective system of review before deportation occurs,” said Laurent Meillan, acting regional representative of the UN Human Rights office for Southeast Asia.

Muhammet is at least the sixth person to be deported from Southeast Asia over alleged connections to Gulen’s movement, the UN said.

Source: Banhkok Post , May 27, 2017

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Farewell of Pak-Turk Teachers: Symbolic Burial of a Heart

All the parents were depressed and disappointed at the forced exit of Turkish staff. They looked sad with tearful eyes bade farewell to the Turkish staff. Mr. Osman Arslanhan along with the other Turkish staff made a symbolic burial of a heart which was full of hearty wishes of the Turkish staff and drawings made by the Turkish children. The heart was buried with tears in the eyes by all the Turkish staff.

Is it a parallel triangle or square?

The content of a secret meeting on Syria was leaked to the media. This paper made a headline back then asking for accountability for the leak as well as the horrible plans discussed at that meeting. What did the prime minister do? Without offering evidence, he declared that the Hizmet movement was the culprit; a few days ago, he admitted that they were unable to identify the perpetrators. So, why did you declare the movement responsible for it?

Turkey’s Coup Provides Reichstag Fire Moment for Authoritarian Erdogan

Unfortunately, the botched coup is likely to act like the infamous Reichstag fire under the Nazis and accelerate the Erdogan government’s race to the dictatorial bottom. He is likely to become more vindictive and paranoid—because he does have enemies everywhere. Never mind that he bears responsibility for the authoritarian policies and corrupt practices which have energized his most fervent opponents.

Journalists and Writers Foundation’s statement [on arrest warrant issued for Mr. Gulen]

It is a well-known fact that then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had sent Bülent Arınç to Mr. Fethullah Gülen to give him the message, “We are ready to do anything you want us to do,” and that he had called on Mr. Gülen to return to the country to “put an end to homesickness” in the witness of tens of thousands of spectators in a stadium.

Scores of students march to Pristina airport after learning Gülen teachers not yet deported

Scores of students marched to Pristina airport after finding out that six Turkish nationals who were arrested early on Thursday had not yet been deported.

Crimes Against Humanity in Erdogan’s Turkey

The seventh stage [of genicide] is “Preparation.” Erdogan and his supporters direct violent phrases at Hizmet participants, including “they will not have access to food and water” and “they will beg us to kill them to avoid torture.” Widespread propaganda calls Hizmet participants “assassins,” “terrorists” or pawns of foreign powers such as the CIA, Mossad or the Vatican.

Latest News

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

In Case You Missed It

Filipino businessman grateful for Turkish schools

‘Fethullah Gulen Might Return to Turkey on This Condition’

Turkish school in Afghanistan opened

Political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi raises voice against detention of women after delivery in Turkey’s hospitals

Chorepiscopus Yusuf Sag: Fethullah Gulen’s service is admirable

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

Hundreds of thousands homeless as Turkey’s southeast lay in ruins

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News