Turkish school leader abducted, released in Mongolia

A Turkish educator in Mongolia was abducted last Friday, in what appeared to be the latest episode of a global campaign by Turkish government to capture suspected allies of the exiled cleric accused of plotting a 2016 coup attempt. The educator, Veysel Akcay, runs a network of international schools that has been associated with the […]

A Turkish educator in Mongolia was abducted last Friday, in what appeared to be the latest episode of a global campaign by Turkish government to capture suspected allies of the exiled cleric accused of plotting a 2016 coup attempt.

The educator, Veysel Akcay, runs a network of international schools that has been associated with the exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who blames Mr. Gulen for the failed coup, has purged tens of thousands of suspected Gulen supporters from government and military posts, and seized dozens of people from abroad.

Turkey has maintained that it extradites suspected Gulenists only with the permission of the foreign governments concerned. But the case of Mr. Akcay, who has lived in Mongolia for nearly 25 years, appears to cast doubt on that claim.

Mr. Akcay was near his apartment building in the capital, Ulan Bator, on Friday morning when he was bundled into a Toyota minivan.

Several hours later, what the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described as a Turkish-chartered aircraft landed at Ulan Bator’s airport.

Later that afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the Mongolian government had ordered the flight grounded.

Any seizure of Mr. Akcay, it added, would constitute an “unacceptable act of violation of Mongolia’s sovereignty and independence and Mongolia will strongly object.”

The jet left before 9:15 p.m., without Mr. Akcay on board. He was released several hours later, officials said.