Turkey will conduct ‘operations’ against Erdogan’s enemies in U.S.


Date posted: September 27, 2018

Alastair Jamieson

“This is a blatant and alarming admission … of actions by the Erdogan regime in clear violation of international law.”

LONDON — Despite being a NATO ally, Turkey has vowed to target opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on foreign soil, including in the United States.

The threat comes amid diplomatic tensions over Americans jailed in Turkey and the arrest or abduction of dozens of Turkish citizens in almost 20 countries.

Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization would launch overseas “operations” against supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an elderly cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.

“They will feel Turkey breathing down their neck,” Kalin told reporters in Ankara.

Erdogan accuses Gulen of orchestrating the July 2016 coup attempt and has referred to his global movement as FETO, which stands for “Fethullah Terror Group.” Gulen denies having any role in the putsch.

Turkey has repeatedly pressed the White House to extradite Gulen, while officials are working inside other countries to detain and remove his followers.

“Relevant units and institutions will continue their operations in countries where FETO operates, whether in the U.S. or another country,” Kalin said. “The Turkish Republic will not let them rest.”

Thousands of Erdogan opponents live in exile around the world.

In the U.S., they include the New York Knicks’ Enes Kanter who cannot return to Turkey after Erdogan canceled his passport and issued an international warrant for his arrest.

“If you speak out against Erdogan, it can affect your whole life and everyone around you,” Kanter wrote in TIME this month. “I am now stateless and pretty much can’t leave the United States.”

But while the U.S. has not responded to Erdogan’s extradition demands, countries with closer ties to Turkey have been more compliant.

Seven teachers in Moldova, who had applied for asylum, were detained and deported to back to Turkey on Sept. 7, prompting condemnation from Amnesty International.

Six men, including a father of two, were seized in Kosovo in March and flown to Turkey by private jet in an operation led by Erdogan’s intelligence agency. (The move surprised Kosovo’s prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, who said he had not been aware and later fired his interior minister.)

The wife of Mustafa Ceyhan, a businessman, reported that he was kidnapped on April 28 outside a courthouse in Azerbaijan. Turkish authorities later confirmed he had been taken to Istanbul where he was put in pre-trial detention.

In total, Turkey has admitted detaining at least 80 citizens in 18 countries since it launched a post-coup crackdown so vast in scope that it is building hundreds of extra prisons.

Alp Aslandogan, executive director of the Alliance for Shared Values, a New York-based nonprofit and part of the global Gulen movement, said: “This is a blatant and alarming admission by Turkey’s presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin of actions by the Erdogan regime in clear violation of international law and agreements to which Turkey is a party.”

Aslandogan added: “Rather than being ashamed of such operations, they are boasting about them. While other countries have facilitated such extrajudicial operations, the United States, with its adherence to the rule of law, must stand firm against Turkish demands and operations.”

Source: NBC News , September 27, 2018


Related News

Millions of people have asked for interview with Gülen

We realized it was not only millions of people in Turkey but also the world who were paying attention to what Gülen had to say. The interest in the Gülen interview also confirmed the universal dimension and vision of the Hizmet movement.

Erdogan: The Sultan of an illusionary Ottoman Empire

It appears that Erdogan had never committed himself to a democratic form of government. A quote attributed to him in 1999 describes precisely what his real intentions were from the day he rose to power. “Democracy” he said, “is like a bus, when you arrive at your destination, you step off.”

What are the golden kids of the Turkish Olympiads doing now?

SELAHATTİN SEVİ/MÜHENNA KAHVECİ/MEHMET ALİ POYRAZ, KYRGZSTAN/GEORGIA/ROMANIA/KENYA/BANGLADESH  Late summer heralds the arrival of Turkish language season in Anatolia. Teachers and students from all over the world pour into Turkey, each of them presenting their talents and skills onstage. Children of various backgrounds and nationalities recount fables, recite poems and sing songs across various parts of Turkey. Ahead […]

Turkish prosecutor demands detention of 21 women, leaving 10 infants unattended

Emrah Özge Yelken, the public prosecutor in Afyon’s Dinar district issued detention warrants for 21 women including mothers of newborn babies as well as elderly citizens, as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement on Friday.

The Peace Islands Institute’s 5th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Award

The outstanding contribution of law enforcement officers was recognized at an award ceremony in Morristown, New Jersey. The Peace Islands Institute’s 5th Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Award united community members with law enforcement personnel.

Micro-Finance and Vocational Training for Empowerment of Women

Peace Islands Institute and Kimse Yok Mu held a panel discussion on “Micro-Finance and Vocational Training For Empowerment of Women” on the occasion of the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Mehmet Kilic, Director of Peace Islands Institute’s Center for Global Affairs, served as moderator for a panel of speakers from diverse backgrounds and experience in humanitarian relief, pharmaceutical, and politics.

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

“Hizmet” movement, the current tensions and self-criticism (Interview with Ihsan Yilmaz)

Yalçınbayır: Turkey has tendency towards institutionalization of bribery, corruption

Former Fenerbahçe chairman Ali Şen’s grandson killed in car crash

Erdogan’s Turkey silencing dissent, abusing terrorism charges – HRW report

Kimse Yok Mu’s Eid al-Adha worldwide aid efforts continue

‘Nigerians and their leaders won’t fall for Erdogan’s harebrained gambit’

Turkish Cultural Center holds friendship dinner

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News