On 1 June, Orhan Inandi, a Turkish-Kyrgyz national was declared missing in the Kyrgyzstan capital, Bishkek. His car had been found early that morning, with its doors wide open and with valuables left inside. Many suspect he was kidnapped by the Turkish security services.
Inandi is the founder of a network of schools in Kyrgyzstan linked to the Gülen movement, which Turkish President Erdogan accuses of masterminding the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Inandi’s spouse has claimed to have information that her husband is being held in the Turkish embassy in Bishkek for rendition to Turkey.
This case is just the latest example of Turkey’s global campaign of abductions targeting its perceived enemies. Since the 2016 failed coup, which nearly saw Erdogan removed from power, he has lashed out against political opponents in Turkey. In one of the most sweeping purges of perceived dissidents in modern political history, thousands of military and police officers, judges, prosecutors, teachers, scholars and others have been fired or arrested, along with the discretionary use of anti-terror laws to prosecute any act of opposition as a crime against the state.
