Malaysia extradites 3 over Turkey coup plot

Malaysia has deported three Turks to Ankara over their suspected involvement in a group linked to a US-based cleric blamed by the Turkish government for an attempted coup last year, police said earlier today.

Authorities detained school principal Turgay Karaman, 43, businessman Ihsan Aslan, 39, and academic Ismet Ozcelik, 58, last week, saying they posed a threat to national security.

The detentions came amid concerns raised by rights groups that the men were being held in Malaysia due to pressure from Turkey. At the time, authorities did not say whether they were suspected of having ties to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, however it has since become clear that they were wanted on suspicion of working to topple the democratic government in Turkey.
Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the three were deported yesterday on suspicion of being involved with the Gulenist movement.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Gulen of orchestrating last July’s failed coup, a claim Gulen and his followers deny.

The Malaysian police investigation found that the three men had been involved in pro-Gulenist activities and were listed as individuals wanted by Turkish authorities, Khalid said.

The Turkish government had also cancelled their travel documents, he said.

As such, their presence in Malaysia is invalid and their status declared as illegal immigrants

Khalid said.

Ayse Karaman, the wife of Turgay Karaman, had appealed to Malaysia for her husband to be deported to another country apart from Turkey.

Rosli Dahlan, a lawyer for Karaman and Ismet Ozcelik, claimed in comments to Reuters that the men’s families had not been informed of their deportation ahead of time. He also questioned Malaysia’s decision to deport Ozcelik, who he said had documents from the UN refugee agency UNHCR recognising him as an asylum seeker.

HRW Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said in a statement Ozcelik’s deportation was “a clear violation of international human rights law”.

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However, Turkey states that it has a right to seek the extradition of suspects allegedly involved in the botched coup attempt on 15 July last year, and that it was hypocritical of other nations to criticise Turkey when it was trying to bring those who almost toppled democracy to justice.

Turkish authorities have arrested 49,000 people in relation to the failed coup out of 150,000 investigated. About 145,000 civil servants, security personnel and academics have also been suspended or sacked.

Turkey has also applied pressure on other countries that are home to institutions backed by Gulen, whose Hizmet movement runs some 2,000 educational establishments worldwide that are used to promote his group’s religious ideology.