A Turkish lawyer working as the legal representative of the Willow International School in Mozambique was detained on Tuesday following an extradition request from Turkish authorities over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Mozambique’s state-owned Jornal Notícias daily reported.
Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service said Emre Çınar, 30, was taken into custody and will appear before a judge once procedural formalities are completed. Çınar has been living in Maputo since 2017.
Local media reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during a visit to Mozambique in 2017, publicly called for Çınar and several Turkish businesspeople to be “finished off” and demanded the closure of the international school.
Reports also said Haluk Görgün, the head of Turkey’s Presidency of the Defense Industry (SSB), reiterated Ankara’s demand during a visit to Maputo in November, allegedly offering support for Mozambique’s counterterrorism efforts in the northern Cabo Delgado province in exchange for action against Gülen-linked institutions.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Human rights organizations have warned that Çınar, who left Turkey amid political pressure, could face persecution if extradited and have called on international bodies, including the United Nations, to intervene.
Under the international legal principle of non-refoulement, asylum-seekers and refugees should be protected from removal to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened. The principle is a cornerstone of refugee protection enshrined in the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention.
Since the coup attempt Erdoğan’s long arm has reached tens of thousands of Turkish citizens abroad. From surveillance through diplomatic missions and pro-government diaspora organizations to the denial of consular services and outright intimidation and illegal renditions, the Turkish government has employed a wide range of tactics against its critics overseas. The campaign has mostly relied on renditions, in which Turkey and its National Intelligence Organization (MİT) persuade other states to hand over individuals without due process. Victims of such operations have reported several human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment. MİT has acknowledged conducting operations for the forcible return of more than 100 people accused of links to the Gülen movement.
