Kosovo grants asylum to Turkish national


Date posted: April 6, 2018

Labinot Leposhtica

About five months after submitting a request for asylum, Ugur Toksoy, a Turkish national whose  extradition procedures to Turkey were terminated by the State Prosecution in December last year, was granted refugee status in Kosovo.

In October last year, Toksoy, a teacher working in the Hasan Nahi school in Prizren, was arrested by the Kosovo Police on a Turkish warrant, suspected of having ties to the so-called terrorist Feto organization, led by the cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Thousands of Turkish nationals affiliated with the cleric who lives in exile in the US have fled Turkey after the failed coup in August 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims the coup was plotted by Gulen and his followers.

Facing extradition, Toksoy submitted an asylum request on November 3, 2017. Extradition procedures were suspended in December 14, and his asylum request was finally approved on March 28, 2018, confirmed Toksoy’s attorney Leutrim Syla on Friday.

In his request, Toksoy claimed that he was politically persecuted in his country of origin and if he returned, he would suffer serious damage for political reasons.

The move comes a week after Kosovo deported six Turkish nationals in an operation involving Kosovo Police, Kosovo Intelligence Agency, AKI, and the Turkish intelligence. The six deportees, who were legal residents in Kosovo, were deported because they were  “a national security threat,” Kosovo authorities maintain.

Kosovo Prime Minister Haradinaj condemned the operation, claiming ignorance. As a result, Haradinaj dismissed both the Minister of Internal Affairs Flamur Sefaj and AKI director Driton Gashi. The latter failed to appear and report in front of the Assembly Commision for AKI on Wednesday, and has not submitted his letter of resignation yet. Both the Kosovo PM and President need to sign his dismissal. It is unclear whether President Thaci will do so.

 

Source: Prishtina Insight , April 6, 2018


Related News

Senegalese Education Minister: I will send my daughter to Turkish schools

The Senegalese Minister of Education Mbaye Thiam said the schools, which produce champions annually in the nationwide university entrance exams, have had an indisputable success to date across the country.

How does the Hizmet movement fare with democracy?

Ruling elites of this country, unfortunately, have targeted different groups at different times. Thus, religious people, Kurds, Alevis, nationalists (ülkücüs), leftists, non-Muslim minorities and democratic intellectuals have been in the bull’s eye for attacks from these elites. The Hizmet movement has always been a member of this list of plagued groups.

The Turkish invasion of Nigeria

I think Nigerians have to rise to the occasion and ensure that the persecution of Hizmet movement participants is halted without further delay. It is pertinent to state that Hizmet movement affiliated institutions in Nigeria have over 2000 Nigerians in their employ.

Students from Turkish Schools in Thailand Visited the Minister of Trade at His Home

A group of teachers and students from Turkish schools in Thailand, who participated in various international Olympiads, visited the minister of trade Mr. Boonsong Teriyapirom at his home. Yusuf Can Bektas, who is in charge of the Olympiads among Turkish schools in Thailand, Raneenat  Chaiwong, the representative of Fatih Koleji ( Whichai Wittaya) and Arif […]

Despite father’s arrest, Kanter refuses to be silenced

“I play in the NBA; that’s why people know my story,” Kanter said. “My dad is only one. There are thousands of kids out there who have no mom or dad because of what’s going on in Turkey. I have to speak and let people know what’s going on. I want the whole world to know what’s going on, because they try to hid it.”

Uplifting Romanian children in need

At a recent event, the children were distributed exclusive gift packs of toys, clothing and stationery. In attendance of the occasion were mayor of Sector 2 of Bucharest, Neculai Ontanu; the renowned Romanian singer, Nicoleta Matei, and Kimse Yok Mu Foundation representative, Orhan Erdogan.

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

Fethullah Gülen condemns the terrorist attack in Gaziantep, Turkey

Erdogan’s crackdown – Woman detained while showing newborn baby to jailed husband

University of Florida and the failed coup in Turkey

New York Times : Hundreds of Police Officers Reassigned in Turkey

Blanket Drive for Syrian Refugees a Great Success

Turkish school takes US approach to get foothold in Egypt

5-months pregnant woman detained as police fail to locate husband

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News