India-based Turkish political activists have expressed concern that during his upcoming visit, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might ask India to act against them.
Speaking to The Hindu , a Turkish activist in the capital confirmed that many India-based Turkish citizens were afraid of returning home as the government of President Erdogan might detain them.
Some of the Turkish citizens living in India have alleged discriminatory treatment at the Turkish missions in India.
Consular treatment
“Those Turkish citizens who oppose the government of President Erdogan have felt that the Turkish consular officials do not wish to extend full support to their needs and often advise them to go back home to complete paperwork. Such actions create suspicion that Ankara wants us to return where it can then detain us,” said a Delhi-based civil liberty activist from Turkey.
The Hindu had reported earlier that President Erdogan is scheduled to visit India in the first week of May.
Turkey’s previous Ambassador to India, Burak Agcapar, had asked for action against Gulenist institutions following the July 16, 2016, coup. “They have a presence in various Indian cities. We expect Indian government to curb their activities. We had consultations with Indian government and will now follow up. We have passed all information to the Ministry of External Affairs,” Mr. Agcapar told a group of journalists in July following the coup.
Gulen network
Turkey has been asking countries around the world to act against the network of Sufi leader Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses to be the force behind the coup. During his visit from August 18 to 2 last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged India to ban the organisations that promote Hizmet, the philosophy of global peace championed by Gulen.
Gulen’s organisation and his supporters — both Turkish and Indian — run several schools and charity organisations in India. Turkey believes that such organisations in other parts of the world were used for plotting the coup, and can be used to undermine the government of President Erdogan. Turkey’s problem with the Hizmet network has prompted several arrests of non-resident Turkish citizens including Serken Golge, a scientist working with NASA. An unofficial crackdown following the visit of President Erdogan in Pakistan has similarly led to the deportation of several Turkish citizens, including teachers employed in Gulenist schools in Pakistan.
The visit in May will be Mr. Erdogan’s second to India in a decade. He last visited in 2008 as Prime Minister. His planned 2015 visit was cancelled following political protests in Turkey.
