Salih Zeybek and Gökhan Türkmen, two civil servants who were dismissed by government decrees, were reportedly abducted in February, wives wrote on social media this week.
Fatma Betül Zeybek, the wife of Turkish national Salih Zeybek, has said her husband was abducted by armed men in the Turkish province of Edirne on the evening of Feb. 21.
Writing from her husband’s Twitter account on Monday, Zeybek said the family’s automobile was stopped by armed men at the Havsa toll booth in Edirne while their 6 and 9-year-old children were in the vehicle.
The woman said the men threatened to harm her family if she reported the incident to the police and that that was the reason she waited five days to file a criminal complaint at a prosecutor’s office against the perpetrators of the incident.
“Only today was I able to file a criminal complaint [against the abductors]. I have not heard from my husband for six days. I am worried for his life, I don’t know where he is,” the woman tweeted, asking for assistance from Turkish authorities to find her husband.
The wife of Gökhan Türkmen, who also wrote from a twitter account created on behalf of his husband (@gokhanturkmen07) reported that she did not receive any news from his husband for 20 days, asking for help from Interior Ministry and Antalya Governorship.
42 year-old Gökhan Türkmen, a civil servant dismissed during the state of emergency following an abortive coup attempt on June 15, 2016 is believed to have been abducted on February 6. According to his family, Türkmen was hiding from persecution and torture after his house was raided by heavy-armed anti-terror policemen in his absence in August 2016.
When his mother went to the Antalya Police Department for help, she was reportedly told that private car belonged to Turkmen was traced to Ankara. However, the family reports that Özmen’s car has been in the parking area since he left the house to hide. Moreover, the family was told that Türkmen recently used his credit card and 2 new sim cards were activated on his name. The family shocked as he left his credit card at home. The family is anxious about attempts of planting evidence to incriminate him.
Last week, Özgür Kaya and Yasin Ugan, both of Ankara, were reportedly abducted by armed men from their apartment building with police saying they have no information on their whereabouts. However, a Turkish journalist, Cevheri Güven discovered that the Ankara Police Department filed a report on the abduction of two men earlier this month while at the same time denying any knowledge of the incident or their whereabouts.
With two new cases this week, total number of people reportedly abducted in February reached four. No information regarding abduction allegations has been released by any Turkish authorities until now.
