ABDUCTIONS and ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES REPORT

As Stichting Justice Square, we are honored to share with the public this report titled “ABDUCTIONS and ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES in Turkiye After the July 15 Coup Attempt,” which reveals the forced abductions and disappearances that have become state practice in Türkiye, as well as other human rights violations that occur in these cases.

“ABDUCTIONS and ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES in Türkiye After the July 15 Coup Attempt” is not merely a report—it is a meticulously documented testament to a silent and ongoing atrocity. In the shadow of authoritarianism, enforced disappearances have emerged as a chilling hallmark of state policy in post-coup Türkiye. This report exposes how systematic abductions—carried out with impunity—have turned into a tool of political repression and collective punishment, targeting dissidents and their families. It is a call to conscience, aimed at mobilizing international legal and moral responsibility.

In the history of societies, it is a fact that systematic, discriminatory and hate-based policies against certain groups or individuals have emerged in some periods depending on political and social developments. In Türkiye, certain individuals, groups or formations have been targeted by such policies in some periods. The failure of democratic values to take root and the instrumentalization of the people by politics have created a ground that nourishes especially antidemocratic and inhumane thought structures. With the strengthening of these antidemocratic structures, they have led to massive human rights violations and the emergence of totalitarian regimes. A recent example of this is the Erdoğan regime in Türkiye.

In recent years, under the Erdoğan regime, there has been a period of repression that surpasses even previous periods. Human rights violations, restrictions on freedoms and unjust practices have spread to all areas of social life. The antidemocratic actions and activities that have prevailed in Türkiye under the Erdoğan regime have led to more serious human rights violations than in previous periods. This report has been prepared to draw attention to mass detentions and arrests, dismissals, kidnappings and enforced disappearances, torture and other inhumane acts, discriminatory and arbitrary practices in prisons, especially in this process in which Türkiye has moved away from democratic values, the country has almost turned into an open prison and violations of fundamental human rights are experienced in every field. In particular, the report will include human rights violations that have taken place since the July 15 coup attempt until today and that constitute crimes against humanity.

Another reason why post-July 15 rights violations are the subject of this report is that systematic, discriminatory and hate-motivated violations continue with the same severity as on the first day. Although there are reports prepared by national and international organizations in Türkiye, these problems are not addressed in detail. This report differs from other studies with its dozens of grave cases and details.

The report clearly reveals the mass, systematic and planned abductions and enforced disappearances and the climate of hatred in the country because of the Erdogan regime’s systematic and discriminatory policies following the July 15 coup attempt and the state of emergency declared afterwards. For a better understanding of the content of this report, it would be useful to first briefly summarize the developments and important events that paved the way for the formation of the Erdoğan regime.

As is well known, abductions and disappearances are defined as crimes against humanity in Article 7 of the Rome Statute. Despite this, there have been many abductions and disappearances in Türkiye during the state of emergency. Enforced abductions and disappearances are systematically and widely organized by state authorities in accordance with a specific plan. These unlawful acts have often targeted members of the Gülen Movement.

Although enforced abductions and disappearances are crimes against humanity, they are publicized as legal practices by the authorities in Türkiye. Therefore, the statements made by the ministers and bureaucrats of the State and the statements made by the official news agency of the State as if these acts, which are crimes against humanity, are in accordance with the law, reveal that these illegal activities are carried out in a planned and organized manner as a state policy.

As explained above, the systematic and planned domestic and international abductions and disappearances against the Gülen Movement have become a state policy. This is evidenced by statements made by the highest ranking ministers and bureaucrats of the state. Open sources and statements of Turkish ministers and bureaucrats provide partial access to final data on the abductees. In this context, Bekir Bozdağ, the then Minister of Justice, told Anadolu Agency reporter on July 12, 2022 that as of 1 July 2022, 121 people from 28 different countries were kidnapped and brought to Türkiye without an extradition order during terrorist operations against the Gülen Movement between 2014 and 2022.

The fact that abductions are carried out as a state policy was stated by the then former vice president Fuat Oktay, who made a presentation on the budget of the Presidency of the Republic during the discussions on the budgets of the Presidency and affiliated organizations for the year 2023 in the Plan and Budget Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) and announced that more than 100 members of the Gülen Movement were abducted.

Similarly, the current Minister of Justice, Yılmaz Tunç, has stated that 1,271 members of the Gülen Movement have been requested for extradition since the coup attempt on 15 July 2016 and 126 suspects have been extradited so far. However, the people who are said to have been extradited here are those who were mostly kidnapped and brought to Türkiye through unlawful methods and in violation of the functioning of international law.

After the statements of the Minister of Justice, two people [Mustafa Tan and Mustafa Bircan] were kidnapped from Algeria and brought to Türkiye on 27 December 2023. Ahmet T. Kuru, a professor at San Diego State University, was attempted to be kidnapped from Malaysia on 10 January 2024, but the kidnapping attempt was stopped after the intervention of Malaysian authorities. Finally, seven Turkish citizens in Kenya, Mustafa Genç, his son Abdullah Genç, Hüseyin Yeşilsu, Necdet Seyitoğlu, Öztürk Uzun, Alparslan Taşçı and his wife Saadet Taşçı, were abducted in Nairobi on 18 October 2024 in an operation organized by the Turkish Intelligence Service. Following the abduction, Abdullah Genç, Necdet Seyitoğlu and Saadet Taşçı were released after some time in different parts of the city. Therefore, as of 31 December 2024, the total number of abductions and attempted abductions from abroad reached 136. The total number of abductions within Türkiye is 27 and 7 of whom are still missing:

1.     Sunay Elmas (January 27, 2016-Ankara)

2.     Ayhan Oran (November 1, 2016-Ankara)

3.     Turgut Çapan (March 31, 2017-Ankara)

4.     Fatih Kılıç (May 14, 2017-Ankara)

5.     Murat Okumuş (June 16, 2017-İzmir)

6.     Fahri Mert (August 12, 2018-İzmir)

7.     Yusuf Bilge Tunç (August 6, 2019-Ankara)

Therefore, the number of people abducted by the Erdoğan regime in Türkiye and abroad under a plan is 163. The report records at least 163 cases of abductions, both domestic and international, of which 7 remain missing. Victims like Yusuf Bilge Tunç have been missing for years. Eyewitnesses and family members report forced disappearances in broad daylight, often involving black vans and government-linked operatives. Turkish officials have acknowledged some renditions, especially from countries like Kosovo and Malaysia.

This report stands as a voice for the disappeared, a shield against impunity, and a warning to the world: when enforced disappearances become normalized, no society is safe from the erosion of justice. Stichting Justice Square invites international institutions, human rights defenders, and legal bodies to examine these crimes not as isolated incidents, but as part of a calculated campaign that may constitute crimes against humanity. Justice delayed is not only justice denied—it is complicity. The time to act is now.