This was revealed in a report published by The Huffington Post (HP) yesterday and credited to its contributor Aydogan Vatandas, who is listed as a writer, journalist and political analyst.
Aydogan said three months ago, Turkish Intelligence officers had abducted three Turkish citizens in Malaysia due to their links to the Güllen movement and brought them back to Turkey.
“Even though Malaysian authorities had declined to comment on the issue, it is obvious that the sovereignty of the Asian country was violated.
It is known that the Turkish authorities are reported to have asked Malaysian authorities to close down Güllen-linked schools and to take legal action against sympathizers of the Güllen movement in the past,” Aydogan said.
The Güllen movement is named after its leader, Turkish preacher Fethullah Gullen, who now lives in exile in the United States. Besides being accused of being a secretive Islamic sect with a “cultish hierarchy”, the movement is also said to have “global, apocalyptic ambition”.
The latest case against a Turkish citizen took place last month, when the visiting director of a Turkish university was arrested by police on Dec 13 after immigration officers had accused him of “obstructing civil servants from carrying out their duty”.
“Ismet Ozcelik has been stuck in the Sungai Buloh Prison for the past 25 days for allegedly obstructing civil servants from carrying out their duty.
“Immigration officers told him that the Turkish Embassy had canceled his passports and requested his extradition. The immigration office cancelled his visa upon the request of the Turkish authorities, but it’s not clear on what grounds was the cancellation done,” Aydogan said, quoting Ismet’s son, Suheyl, who was also concerned about his father’s health.
Relating the plea from Ismet’s son to have access to his father in prison to pass much-needed medication, Aydogan said he was informed that Ismet was diabetic and had a serious health problem.
‘My father was the vice-chair of a well-known and respected University in Turkey. He was fired after a trustee was appointed to the University. While he was trying to start a new life in Malaysia, Turkish authorities ruined his life here by forcing the Malaysian authorities to take this unlawful conduct.
“He doesn’t know the Malay language and he was not given a translator during the prosecution. His right of defending himself is being seized by the authorities. I kindly request the Malay authorities to release my father and the human rights organisations to focus on the issue,” Suat was quoted as saying in the HP report.
When contacted by FMT for a response to the allegations made by Aydogan and Suat, the home ministry declined to comment.
Meanwhile, FMT has sighted a letter dated Jan 4, 2017, written by law firm Lee Hishammuddin Allen and Gledhill (LHAG), on behalf of Ismet’s family, to Sungai Buloh Prison director Kadir Rais about issues pertaining to Ismet’s health, particular his access to medication that was confiscated after his incarceration.
The letter states how Ismet’s family members had visited him on Dec 30, 2016 and found him to be very weak, and this is further jeopardising his health.
“Ismet has not been given the medication he needs on a daily basis and also been denied access to medical treatment despite the request made to prison officials,” LHAG said citing relevant acts pertaining to such rights that should be accorded to all detainees.
In a separate letter to magistrate Siti Radziah Kamarudin, dated Jan 5, 2017, LHAG had asked for Ismet to be released on bail in order for him to get all the necessary treatment and care for his serious medical condition.