Alliance for Shared Values Statement on Detention of Turkish Nationals in Kosovo and Their Imminent Transfer to Turkey


Date posted: March 29, 2018

March 29, 2018 – The Alliance for Shared Values denounces the detention of six Turkish nationals in Kosovo on Thursday morning as a result of demands from the Turkish government. This is the latest incident in which the Recep Tayyip Erdogan regime has targeted innocent individuals solely based on affiliation with the Hizmet movement.

The Turkish nationals who were detained are Mustafa Erdem, Yusuf Karabina, Kahraman Demirez, Cihan Ozkan, Hasan Huseyin Gunakan, and Prof. Osman Karakaya. These individuals have legal residence or working permits in Kosovo but are detained for working at educational institutions targeted by the Turkish government. Media reports suggest that they are currently being held in Pristina airport and are risking illegal transfer to Turkey.

Kosovo had previously detained another Turkish national, Ugur Toksoy, but a Kosovar court suspended the extradition process due to lack of material evidence. We are deeply concerned for further detentions by the Kosovar police. The Turkish government is targeting other Hizmet movement participants abroad, and UN sources indicate that 200 more Hizmet participants in Kosovo are among those to be detained. The detainees risk extradition to Turkey, where any critic is persecuted and jailed with no justifiable indictment. International human rights organizations such as Amnesty International have reported on their inhumane treatment in Turkish prisons including ill-treatment, overcrowding, torture, and rape. Rule of law no longer exists in Turkey as the Erdogan regime goes to great lengths to repress any opposition through an ongoing systematic campaign to persecute thousands of innocent individuals including teachers, academics, and doctors.

We urge the Kosovo government to immediately halt these detentions of innocent people and prevent their extradition to Turkey, where they would face torture, ill-treatment and risk to their lives. We also urge the UNHCR and international institutions to take action against Erdogan’s extrajudicial efforts outside of Turkey.

 

Source: Alliance for Shared Values , March 29, 2018

Tags: | | | | | |


Related News

Who staged a coup against whom on Dec. 17?

When its involvement in corruption and bribery became public, and that this seemed like the tip of an iceberg, the government thought that it must cover up the subsequent investigation, fearing that yet more investigations would be started — and so crushed the police force and the judiciary like a steamroller.

Champion of YGS university exam from Hizmet-affiliated FEM prep courses

The champion of this year’s Higher Education Exam (YGS) university entrance examination, Oğuz Türkyılmaz, who prepared for the exam with the Hizmet movement-affiliated FEM University Preparation School in Malatya, says he owes most of his success to his prep school teachers.

Sajjanhar: Dialogue urges one to excel in one’s own faith

Ashok Sajjanhar, the Secretary of the Indian Interior Ministry’s National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), in a statement he made during a workshop organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation’s (GYV) Intercultural Dialogue Platform (KADİP), indicated that involvement in dialogue work encourages one to learn one’s faith more profoundly.

Turkey’s first intercultural dialogue center built on trust, offers quality services

The official data from the regional police department shows that there are 30,000 settled foreign citizens in Antalya and the surrounding cities. According to Kundak, this number could reach 100,000 as high when taking unofficial numbers into account.

Fethullah Gülen on Islam, democracy and freedom of speech

Publishing a book in 2009 about Francis of Assisi’s peaceful encounter with Egypt’s Sultan Malik al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade led me to meet a lot of people with an interest in improving interreligious relations. Among them were a number of Turkish immigrants who are followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. I observed that through a network of private schools, foundations and media organizations, they have worked very hard to improve Muslim-Christian relations.

NTIC Foundation: Touching lives in Nigeria

Foreign capital typically finds its place among the most promising market indicators, as transnational investors constantly seek maximum returns on their investments. But for the First Surat Group Company, it is obviously not all about the bottom line.

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

The Process Behind Turkey’s Proposed Extradition of Fethullah Gülen

Father says wife, 11-month-old son under arrest despite medical problems

Kurdish singer Perwer says freedoms should be gained via peaceful means

Erdogan pushes further to replace Gülen schools in Africa to spread his ideology

Hunger…

Samanyolu schools to sue 3 government officials over unlawful search warrant

Kimse Yok Mu distributes aid to Syrian refugees

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News