In new incursion, Turkey orchestrates rushed extraditions from Kosovo
Students of Mehmet Akif College protest the Turkish arrest of their teachers in Pristina, Kosovo, on March 29, 2018. Photo: Armend Nimani
Date posted: April 11, 2018
David L. Phillips
In the latest example of Turkey’s brazen expansionism into Kosovo, it secured the extradition of six Turkish teachers it has accused of belonging to the Gulen movement, which President Erdogan blames for the failed 2016 coup. Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has since fired his interior minister and intelligence chief for deporting the Turkish nationals without his knowledge.
Why it matters: Transparency and the rule of law are necessary for Kosovo to gain greater global recognition. But Turkey continues to treat Kosovo like a vassal state, impinging on its sovereignty while expanding its cultural and commercial influence inside its neighbor’s borders.
Erdogan has belittled Kosovo’s status as an independent nation, maintaining that the two countries “belong to a common history, common culture, common civilization …Turkey is Kosovo, Kosovo is Turkey!”
Turkish firms have won contracts for large public projects and services, including management of the Pristina International Airport and ownership of the utility company KEDS. Such privatization is rife with corruption: The former CEO of one of the companies that acquired KEDS, for example, is Erdogan’s son-in-law.Without more oversight in the commercial sector, Kosovo won’t be seen as a credible destination for foreign investment.
Turkey also exports Islamism under the guise of cultural cooperation, through the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA). Since 2012, TIKA has restored scores of Ottoman religious structures and built dozens of new mosques across Kosovo. On behalf of Turkey, Erdogan pledged funds for a mega-mosque in Pristina.Overt symbols of religiosity have not historically been characteristic of Kosovars.
The bottom line: Kosovo is at a crossroads: It can either entrench the rule of law and progress with Euro-Atlantic integration by investigating matters like the recent extradition, the financing of Turkish corporate acquisitions and the operations of TIKA — or it can succumb to Erdogan’s Islamist and anti-Western agenda.
David L. Phillips is director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University and a former senior adviser to both the UN Secretariat and the U.S. Department of State.
WSJ: Turks fleeing Erdogan fuel new influx of refugees to Greece
Around 14,000 people crossed the Evros frontier from January through September of this year according to the Greek police. Around half of them were Turkish citizens. Many are judges, military personnel, civil servants or business people who have fallen under Turkish authorities’ suspicion, had their passports canceled and chosen an illegal route out.
Turkey and the “forgotten” Zaman journalists in jail
Two years of the seizure of his newspaper and his sacking, the former bureau chief of Zaman newspaper in Brussels, Selçuk Gültasli, visited the EFJ-IFJ headquarter to deliver a special briefing on “the desperate situation of Zaman journalists and media workers in jail” in Turkey.
Kenya Embassy Donates Food & Warm Clothes to Syrian Refugees
Kenya Embassy donations were channelled through Kimse Yok Mu (or ‘Is Any One there’), a Turkish Non-Governmental Organisation on 29th January, 2013. It is noted that Kimse Yok Mu is one of the international NGOs that actively responded to the Horn of Africa humanitarian crisis in 2011 that saved the lives of thousands of Somali refugees from imminent death due to prolonged drought.
Stop doing Erdogan’s dirty work, Freedom centre tells Malaysia
Stockholm Centre of Freedom (SCF) has called on the Malaysian government to halt its dirty bidding on behalf of the growingly repressive Turkish government led by President Recep Erdogan, following the arrest and deportation of three Turkish nationals from Kuala Lumpur.
Mothers, fathers crying and praying due to extensive victimization
Mothers cried out and made objections wherever state brutality was observed. This noble and peaceful attitude was not only displayed at the education institutions affiliated with the Hizmet movement.
Debunking Erdoğan’s smear campaign against Gülen
Acting as prosecutor, judge and executioner, Turkey’s chief political Islamist, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has already convicted a well-respected Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, of what he called a civilian coup attempt, a fabricated charge devised by Erdoğan to discredit the vast graft scandal that incriminates him and his associates, including his family members.
Latest News
Sacramento leaders gather for Iftar dinner in celebration of Ramadan
SEO Skill Suite: Tools for Keyword Research, Technical & Backlink Analysis
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
In Case You Missed It
Watch out! Anatolian Tigers on the prowl
Hizmet movement in the spotlight at MESA 2012
Turkish Twitter war over education
Fatih University wins European Universities Championship
Liberal Turkish Journalists Champion Freedom of Expression, to a Degree
Suspicious Deaths And Suicides On The Rise In Turkey With 54 People In Last 8 Months
