Orhan İnandı, the founder and president of the Turkish-Kyrgyz Sapat school network operating in Kyrgyzstan went missing in Bishkek on Monday and is feared to have been abducted by Turkey’s spy agency due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement, according to a statement from the school network.

Turkey claims that the founder of the school network is the Turkish-Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, whose movement is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup in Turkey in July 2016. The movement strongly denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

İnandı left his house at around 8 pm on Monday for a meeting at a nearby café. He was last contacted by a friend at around 9 pm. Attempts from his family from this hour on to contact the teacher all failed. A Toyota Lexus automobile, which belonged to İnandı, was found parked in an area around eight kilometeres away from his house at around 3 am on Tuesday. The car’s doors were open and its tryes were burst. His family immediately notified the Kyrgyz police about the disappearance of the teacher, demanding an urgent investigation into his whereabouts.

“His jacket and two phones were in the car. Although I do not have any eyewitnesses, I suspect that he was abducted and taken to Turkey, and I am concerned about the safety of his life,” said İnandı’s wife Reyhan in a press statement on Tuesday.

The Sapat (formerly Sebat) network of educational institutions has been operating in Kyrgyzstan since 1992. The school network has been run by the Kyrgyz Republic since 2017. There are 16 high schools, one international university, one international school and three primary schools operating under the school network.

İnandı had been working in Kyrgyzstan since 1995 and had been the president of the schools since 2001. The statement from the Sapat schools said İnandı received the title of “Excellence in Education of the Kyrgyz Republic” in 2002 and was awarded the Honorary Diploma of the Kyrgyz Republic, in 2003 the “Dank” medal of the Kyrgyz Republic for his contribution to the improvement of the education system in the country.

Dozens of Kyrgyz students and their parents, meanwhile, gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Bishkek on Tuesday, carrying placards, which read in Kyrgyz and Russian languages: “Where is Mr İnandı?” There were reports suggesting that İnandı was being held at the embassy building.

İnandı was also a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic.

People close to the family said there was a private jet waiting at the Manas International Airport in Bishkek, which is not listed on the scheduled flight lists at this airport, raising suspicions that the jet may be used to return the teacher to Turkey where he will possibly face a prosecution.

In the meantime, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov ordered the State Committee for National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the country to conduct an extensive search operation to locate the missing teacher, according to a statement on the presidency website on Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has cracked down hard on alleged Gülen supporters, arresting or dismissing more than 100,000 public servants, and urging foreign governments to hand over suspects since the failed coup.

The İnandı incident follows the enforced disappearance of nearly 30 people with real or alleged links to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt.

Mostly recently, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) arrested and brought back to Turkey Selahattin Gülen, a teacher and a nephew of Islamic scholar Gülen living in Kenya.

Some of the enforced disappearance victims in Turkey have spoken out in court, after they were found in police custody, recounting the systematic and severe torture they were subjected to during their interrogation by government operatives, who, victims said, waited until their wounds had healed to hand them over to the police.

According to a recent report by Freedom House on global transnational repression Turkey has become number one among countries that have conducted renditions from host states since 2014. The Turkish government has pursued its perceived enemies in at least 30 different host countries spread across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia since July 2016.

“Ankara’s campaign has primarily targeted people affiliated with the movement of religious leader Fethullah Gülen, which the government blames for the coup attempt,” the report said.

Dozens of Kyrgyz students and their parents, meanwhile, gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Bishkek on Tuesday, carrying placards, which read in Kyrgyz and Russian languages: “Where is Mr İnandı?”

Turkey’s Foreign Minister meets ambassadors of Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, China

Turkey’s foreign minister met the ambassadors of China, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine in the capital Ankara on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Andrii Sybiha, Ambassador of Kyrgyz Republic to Turkey Kubanychbek Omuraliev and Ambassador of People’s Republic of China to Turkey Liu Shaobin.

“Discussed our bilateral relations with Ambassadors Liu Shaobin of China, Kubanychbek Omuraliev of Kyrgyzstan and Andrii Sybiha of Ukraine,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.

#Çin, #Kırgızistan ve #Ukrayna Büyükelçileri ile ikili ilişkilerimizi değerlendirdik. 🇹🇷🇨🇳🇰🇬🇺🇦

Discussed our bilateral relations w/ Ambassadors Liu Shaobin of #China, Kubanychbek Omuraliev of #Kyrgyzstan and Andrii Sybiha of #Ukraine. 🇹🇷🇨🇳🇰🇬🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Nv23y7OVFH

— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) May 26, 2021

As reported, Ukrainian Ambassador Andrii Sybiha’s term of office has expired on May 19, 2021.