Pakistani rights group calls for immediate release of abducted Turkish principal, family


Date posted: September 28, 2017

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for the immediate release of Mesut Kaçmaz, the former principal of a Turkish school in Pakistan, and his family, who were reportedly abducted by Pakistani police in Lahore in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to Pakistan-based The Nation website, the HRCP urged the Pakistani government to immediately release the Kaçmaz family and refrain from deporting them as there are credible reports of other Turkish educators being arrested upon their arrival in Turkey and their subsequent torture.

In a news story on Wednesday, the Daily Pakistan reported that another person, Fatih Avcı, who was also abducted and later released, said their heads were covered with bags and that he could not see where Kaçmaz and his family were taken to.

Avcı, who was a colleague of Kaçmaz and lived upstairs from the family, heard sounds coming from downstairs and saw 15 plainclothes “police officers” inside. Upon protesting over the officers’ attitude towards Mrs. Kaçmaz, Avcı was also detained, and they were all taken to Toyota Hilux pickups, where their heads were covered, Avcı said.

According to Avcı’s statement, they were initially taken to a place that looked like a guesthouse, and he was told that his name was not on the list. Avcı was brought back to his residence and released.

Ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Pakistan, the Pakistani government on Nov. 15 had ordered teachers who worked at 23 schools affiliated with the Gülen movement in the country to leave Pakistan by Nov. 20.

Kaçmaz and his family were allowed to stay one year in Lahore upon receiving an asylum certificate from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Ankara had asked Pakistan in August to close down institutions run by Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish Islamic scholar accused of masterminding a botched coup attempt in Turkey in July. Gülen, whose views inspired the Gülen movement, which runs a network of schools, charity organizations and foundations around the world, strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

In Pakistan, the Gülen movement runs a network of schools and the Rumi Forum, an intellectual and intercultural dialogue platform, in addition to having business interests. Gülen-linked organizations and businesses have been operating in Pakistan for decades.

Since the eruption of a corruption investigation in late 2013 in which senior members of the Turkish government were involved, Erdoğan has been waging an all-out war against the movement. All Gülen-linked schools, organizations and foundations were closed down in Turkey after the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Erdoğan is also exerting pressure on other countries to close down Gülen schools operating within their borders.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , September 27, 2017


Related News

Şifa University rector says gov’t move to shut down hospitals won’t affect education

İzmir-based Şifa University Rector Professor Mehmet Ateş has said a recent decision by the İzmir Governor’s Office to shut down the university’s additional outpatient polyclinics in the province will not affect education at the university’s main campus.

Erdogan targets Hizmet inspired schools on Africa visit

Turkey’s involvement in Africa feeds into the Turkish ruling party’s “self-perception as the protector of Muslims and Muslim minorities around the world.” There is also the understanding that the existing Gulenist networks in the West are harder to take on because of Turkey’s capability limitations in the West, especially when it comes to influence and imagery problems.

Erdogan Purge Against Gulenists Could Prove Lucrative

The power struggle between the Turkish state and the Fethullah Gulen-led Hizmet Movement continues to reverberate in Turkey. The number detained, arrested, jailed, and dismissed from their jobs since the July 15 coup attempt has reached well over 100,000, 40,000 of whom have been detained on suspicion of having links with Hizmet. One third of the highest-ranking armed forces officers have been dismissed. Almost every major institution—military, judiciary, media, education, business—has been affected.

Massachusetts Judges Express Fears Over Arrests, Firings Of Judges In Turkey

Former Justice Robert Cordy is worried sick about the fate of the judges he helped train in Turkey and here in Boston. They have been fired, jailed, or gone missing. “It’s devastating,” he said. “I don’t think anything has ever devastated me more than seeing this happen to people that I have come to know, love, respect. It is just beyond the pale.”

Filipino student wins prestigious Turkish Olympiad song contest

Patricia Dalde Linogao from the Philippines won the 13th International Language and Culture Festival’s prestigious prize for singing on Sunday night before a crowd of thousands in the Romanian capital Bucharest, beating 14 competitors from various countries.

Police awaiting outside hospital to detain woman who just gave birth

A group of police officers has been waiting outside of private Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul’s Bahcelievler district in order to detain a woman who gave birth to her third child just several hours ago, according to Turkish media.

Latest News

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

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

You Cannot Understand the Servants!

Gülen’s lawyer: Pro-gov’t columnist’s claims on religious directorate ‘disgusting scenario’

Opposition, diplomats slam gov’t attempt to shut down Turkish schools

A Case Study In How Lobbyists For Turkish Government Manipulate The American Media on Gulen Issue

Kimse Yok Mu heals wounds in the Philippines

Dozens detained in gov’t witch-hunt against Gülen movement

Erdogan in Africa: Gulen and trade ties

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News