Pakistani Govt deports abducted Turkish teacher and family despite UN protections


Date posted: October 15, 2017

Urooj Fatima

  • Kacmaz family was blindfolded and boarded on an unmarked flight from Islamabad to Istanbul
  • Lahore High Court had asked Interior Ministry to locate and release the family and not deport them until further notice
  • The Turkish family was scheduled to appear before Lahore High Court on Monday

The abducted Turkish teacher Mesut Kacmaz and his family were reportedly deported by Pakistani government to Turkey on early Saturday.

The Turk family was scheduled to appear before court on Monday. Mr. Kacmaz and his family were abducted from their home at midnight in Lahore on September 27. Pakistan’s top court, on 6th October, had ordered Interior Ministry to locate and release the Turk Family. The family was under protection of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

According to the friends and colleagues of Mesut Kacmaz, he and his family were deported to Turkey on Saturday, blindfolded and via an unmarked flight from Islamabad to Istanbul. Mr. Kacmaz and his wife Meral Kacmaz were reportedly transferred to Ankara for interrogation while their teenage daughters are reportedly staying with a relative in Istanbul.

 

Kacmaz family’s friends stated,  “We are in utter shock as we have just learnt that Mr. Mesut Kaçmaz and his family were deported to Turkey on October 14, 2017. He and his wife Meral Kaçmaz were moved to Ankara for interrogation. They were blindfolded and boarded on an unmarked flight from Islamabad for İstanbul in the morning. As confirmed by Meral Kaçmaz’s parents and the daughters, the teenaged daughters are not detained and are reported to be staying with a relative in İstanbul.”

They called this action “a blatant violation of the family members’ UNHCR protection”. The Kacmaz family’s UNHCR protection was till November 25, 2017, however, the most recent certificate extended the protection until October 13, 2018. Also, Lahore High Court had ruled out deportation of Kamcaz family or any-other Turkish teacher, on 6th October, 2017.

“What power may bypass the rule of law in Pakistan and ‘deport’ them stealthily to Turkey?”, Concerned friends of the family asked, “It is reported that their names are not found on any flight manifest bound for İstanbul on Saturday.”

The four members of the Kaçmaz Family have been under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and were abducted from their house in Wapda Town, Lahore along with another Turkish friend, Fatih Avci, who was released shortly afterwards.

Mesut Kacmaz, a graduate from the Department of Urdu Language and Literature in Konya’s Selcuk University in Turkey, has been working for education and cultural activities in Pakistan since 2007. His wife, Meral Kacmaz is a teacher like himself. The Kacmaz family has been living in Pakistan for over ten years.

The former director Mesut Kaçmaz worked as the principal of the Pak-Turk Clifton Boys School. The school has so far, passed out hundreds of graduates and represented the country successfully by receiving medals at international science Olympiads. In 2008, the New York Times gave coverage to the constructive role of the PakTurk schools and their achievements by quoting Mr. Kaçmaz.

The troubles for Turkish families residing in Pakistan began in after the Gullen-Erdogan controversy. Erdogan asked Pakistani Government to close all the cultural and educational activities being conducted by Gullen’s institute and deport the associated Turkish workers.

In November 2016, the Pakistani government, under pressure, did not extend the visas of Turkish teachers and their families and ordered them to leave the country within three days. Teachers moved to courts and objected the decision. They also applied to the UNHCR and were issued asylum seeker certificates placing them under the UN protection.

 

Source: Daily Pakistan , October 15, 2017

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Fethullah Gülen says Turkey’s involvement in a war would bring mass destruction

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has warned against the dire consequences of Turkey’s possible involvement in a war in Syria or Iraq, saying Turkish authorities should avoid any action that may cause the Turkish people to experience sorrows similar to those of World War I.

Gülen worries fake news could associate new terror attacks, assassinations in Turkey with him

US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen said on Tuesday that fabricated stories in the pro-government media about new terror attacks and political assassinations in Turkey could be associated with followers of the faith-based Gülen movement.

Erdoğan’s accusation that Hizmet organized the coup attempt is noxious and absurd

The name of that “terrorist organization” was not spoken, but Ökem was referring to the so-called Fethullahçı Terör Örgütü. To the rest of the world, it’s the Hizmet movement founded by Fethullah Gülen, a former close and important ally of Erdoğan. No one else sees it as violent. Erdoğan’s accusation that it organized the coup attempt is noxious and absurd.

Toward a security state

Hizmet movement resembles Western civil society groups and organizations in terms of creating public discussion platforms and performing education and unity-related activities. In addition, what makes the movement more important is that it does not depend on the state in order to survive and sustain its effectiveness.

‘Every minister I met in Africa asked for more schools’

İSA YAZAR, ABUJA “I meet with my colleagues in every African country I visit. The common wish they all have is for more [Turkish-run] schools to be opened. I care very much about these schools. I visit them every time,” Çağlayan, who is on an official visit to Nigeria, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea, said during […]

Discrimination by AKP government [against Hizmet movement]

Discrimination by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which argues that it has addressed this issue vis-à-vis religious people, has never been analyzed. The recent row between the AKP and the Hizmet movement refers to an important and interesting fact, because it reveals this reality. In light of these discussions, bureaucrats who have been discriminated by the AKP government because of their views are now talking.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

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

In Case You Missed It

Islamic Renaissance in the Contemporary World

Ethiopian president hails contribution of Turkish schools to education

Pak Turk Schools employees in UN protection after visa extensions turned down

87-year old prisoner gets 11-day solitary confinement for ‘hoping release one day’

Her mother was detained right after her birth, she is now growing up in Athens

‘Parallel’ inspection launched against prominent Jewish-Turkish businessman İshak Alaton

Final Declaration of the 32nd Abant International Forum “Freedom of Speech & Respect for the Sacred”

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News