Turkish family, kidnapped in Pakistan, deported to Turkey Saturday morning

Date posted: October 15, 2017

Ex-director of a Turkish schools in Pakistan, Mesut Kaçmaz, and his family have allegedly been deported to Turkey days after they were abducted from their apartment in Lahore, according to the friends of the family.

Several Turkish media outlets reported that the family — Mesut Kaçmaz, his wife Meral Kaçmaz and the two kids — were deported by the Pakistani gov’t to Turkey early on Saturday. The couple was blindfolded and forcefully put on an unmarked flight from Islamabad to İstanbul in the morning of October 14.

Upon arrival to İstanbul, Kaçmaz and his wife were taken by police to Ankara for interrogation while their children were left alone in İstanbul.

Kaçmaz and his family have reportedly been staying in Pakistan for over a year on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) asylum seeker certificate.

They are believed to be abducted and returned to Turkey over their link to Turkey’s Gülen group, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a coup attemot on July 15, 2016.

Ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Pakistan, the Pakistani government on Nov. 15, 2016, had ordered teachers who worked at 23 schools affiliated with the Gülen group in the country to leave Pakistan by Nov. 20.

Ankara had asked Pakistan in August to close down institutions run by Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish cleric accused of masterminding a botched coup attempt in Turkey in July. Gülen, the leader of the Gülen group which runs a network of schools, charity organizations and foundations around the world, have denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

In Pakistan, the Gülen group 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.

Source: Turkey Purge , October 14, 2017