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

Turkish families cope with aftermath of failed coup

“Even if you get more civilian control, it’s not more democratic,” Lars Haugom, a Norwegian expert on Turkish army, said. “It seems to be about party control, with [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the AKP seeking to strengthen their control of the military.” Ceren, a general’s daughter, fears there’s little left to stop the authoritarian Erdogan now. “No one can say no to him,” she said. “This is his kingdom now.”

Turkey’s post-coup purges shake higher education

With the summer holiday almost over, computer science student Hande Tekiner should be gearing up for a year of cram sessions and late-night homework. Instead, she may have nowhere to return to, as her university was shut after Turkey’s failed coup.

Pro-Erdoğan troll calls on gov’t to execute Gülen followers

Amid assassination concerns following the suspicious deaths of two people who allegedly fell from the balcony of their homes, a pro-Erdoğan Twitter troll named Ahmet Üstün (@ustunn_ahmet) on Friday called on the government to assassinate Gülen movement sympathizers in the country and abroad.

Pak-Turk Inter-School Math Olympiad: Prize distribution ceremony held

The ISMO titled, ‘Pakistan Seeks Al- Khwarizmi,’ was held on January 27 at all the branches of Pak-Turk Schools across the country simultaneously in which some 16,500 students participated, representing around 500 institutions. The students of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades participated in the competition to prove their incredible potential.

Gülen offers condolences for slain İstanbul resident shot at protest

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has offered condolences for Uğur Kurt, a 34-year-old who was waiting to attend a funeral outside a cemevi, an Alevi house of worship, was hit by a stray bullet allegedly from a police weapon and died in hospital on Thursday night.

Gülen’s German collaborator, or the German slap?

Is President Gauck the German controlling agent for the German cell of this merciless terrorist organization? Did President Gauck make that speech –unusually bold [and honest] for a visiting dignitary – because he, too, is being held hostage to blackmail by the Gülenists? Did the Turkish “parallel state” tap Mr. Gauck’s phones and blackmail him? Or did Mr. Gauck say what he said because he had been paid by Lufthansa which, according to Mr. Erdoğan’s men, was one the foreign conspirators behind the Gezi Park protests?

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

Niagara Foundation Nebraska bestows Peace and Dialogue Awards

London newspaper forced to shut as Erdogan allies seek vengeance

[Part 3] Gülen says gov’t cut back on rights and freedoms in Turkey

We must live with principles of peace and love

Brazil court orders release of Gulen-linked businessman accused by Ankara of terrorism

Pro-gov’t daily: Turkey, Russia could conduct joint operation to abduct Gülen

Fethullah Gulen – a humanist par excellence

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News