Swiss investigate alleged Turkish attempt to kidnap businessman


Date posted: March 15, 2018

ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland is investigating whether Turkish diplomats planned to drug and kidnap a Swiss-Turkish businessman as part of a crackdown after the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger said that one of the two envoys linked to the plot to snatch the Swiss-based businessman – who was active in the Gulenist movement that Ankara blames for the coup bid – remained in office in Bern while a second had since returned to Turkey.

“The Office of the Attorney General can confirm that in this context a criminal case is being conducted on suspicion of political intelligence gathering … and prohibited acts for a foreign state,” the OAG said in an emailed statement. The investigation began in March 2017, it added.

The OAG said it had asked the foreign ministry to clarify whether the suspects enjoyed diplomatic immunity now or at the time of the alleged crime. Waiving any immunity was necessary to carry out further investigations, it added.

The Turkish embassy in Bern did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The OAG said a year ago that it had begun a criminal inquiry into possible foreign spying on Switzerland’s Turkish community. here

Swiss intelligence got wind of the 2016 kidnapping plot while it was being hatched, Tages-Anzeiger reported, adding that the intended victim remains under police protection.

The Turkish government blames U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for the failed military coup. Gulen has denied any role in it.

Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Mark Heinrich

 

Source: Reuters , March 14, 2018

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Purge-victim mother of three dies of heart attack

Rana Ozturk, a mother of three children and the wife of Engin Ozturk who has been under arrest for 15 months over alleged ties to the Gulen group, died several days after a heart attack, media reported on Nov 21.

Slain prosecutor’s daughter: My father was not with Gülen movement

The daughter of former Bursa public prosecutor Seyfettin Yiğit, who allegedly committed suicide in a prison bathroom on Friday morning after he was put behind bars over Gülen movement ties, said on Saturday that her father was not affiliated with the Gülen movement but was with the Süleymancı movement, an Islamic movement in Turkey founded by Turkish Islamic scholar Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan in the early 20th century.

Erdoğan’s African mission and dismantling Turkish schools

How do Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s repeated calls for the closure of Turkish schools located on the African continent, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, serve Turkish national interests? It appears that in his fight against a “parallel structure,” which he equates with institutions and people inspired by the faith-based Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, the current Turkish president is losing a sense of direction.

Civil death: Amnesty report on social upheaval caused by Turkey’s purge of public servants

“Tainted as ‘terrorists’ and stripped of their livelihoods, a large swathe of people in Turkey are no longer able to continue in their careers and have had alternative employment opportunities blocked,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s researcher on Turkey.

Bosnians Protest at Student’s Arrest in Turkish Crackdown

Masetovic, a 21-year-old student at the University of Usak, was arrested last month in the western Turkish city, accused of being part of a network led by exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen. “At the time of the coup in Turkey, my son was at home in Bosnia and Herzegovina and had nothing to do with the events there,” his father Husein Masetovic was quoted as saying.

MİT to monitor all religious groups as potential parts of parallel state

The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) recently sent a document in which all religious communities and groups within state institutions, described as “parallel state structures” (PDY) in the document, were cited as the main target to be monitored in 2014, the Taraf daily claimed on Friday. Analysts are concerned that the government’s attitude may take the form of a witch hunt that will undermine democracy.

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

Recent poll on Hizmet movement

Turkish delegation visits Crimea Simferopol International School

U.S. Not Persuaded to Extradite Fethullah Gulen Over Turkey Coup

Local Muslims share Ramadan meal with each other and the community

Mr. Gülen’s felicitous advice on Kurdish issue, freedoms

Erdogan blackmails President-Elect Trump

Foreign Policy Magazine Interviewed Fethullah Gulen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News