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Breaking: Reports Indicate Sevan Nişanyan Has Escaped Prison and Fled Turkey

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Sevan Nişanyan

By Armenian weekly.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—According to reports, jailed Turkish-Armenian intellectual, travel writer, entrepreneur, and researcher Sevan Nişanyan has escaped prison and fled Turkey.

Nişanyan was jailed on Dec. 2, 2014 for “construction infractions.” “The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,” Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14.

Nişanyan confirmed the reports to Turkish Habertürk news agency by phone but declined to give details of when and how managed his escape. According to some reports, Nişanyan was allowed to leave prison for one day every three months and simply did not return after his latest sanctioned leave.

‘The bird has flown. Wish the same for 80 million left behind,’ Nişanyan said in a Tweet on July 14.

Nişanyan was sentenced to a total of 17 years in a number of cases, Agos news reported.

“If Nişanyan really has escaped from prison, I would like to congratulate him,” said Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bağdat, who has been living in exile in Germany, in a tweet.

Nişanyan came to public attention in Turkey in January, when he announced that Turkey’s Justice Ministry had banned all newspapers and books from prisons except for the Quran as of Jan. 9.

 

Armenia to provide medical assistance to family that fled Azerbaijan

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YEREVAN. – The needed medical assistance will be provided to the Mirzoyev family, who fled Azerbaijan and requested asylum in Armenia.

Armenian State Migration Agency Head Gagik Yeganyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that, to this end, the relevant healthcare institutions of the country have been put to work.

Şahin Mirzoyev had petitioned to the authorities of Armenia, with a request for asylum.

Mirzoyev, who is a participant in the Talysh liberation movement and a correspondent of the Talysh Sado newspaper, was forced to flee Azerbaijan with his family, and due to persecution and human rights abuses.

The authorities of Armenia have responded positively to Şahin Mirzoyev’s request for asylum.

Thai police claim Bangkok bombing suspect fled to Turkey

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AP photo

AP photo

BANGKOK – The Associated Press

A key suspect in last month’s bombing at a Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people has fled to Turkey, Thai police said on Sept. 14.

Police had previously said the man, carrying a Chinese passport in the name Abudureheman Abudusataer, may have directed the Aug. 17 bombing of the Erawan Shrine. Investigations revealed that he left Thailand on Aug. 16 for Bangladesh, and police speculated that he might have gone to China.

However, national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said that information gathered by Thai police and Bangladeshi officials showed that the man departed Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, on Aug. 30 and traveled to Istanbul as his final destination, via New Delhi and Abu Dhabi.

“He departed Dhaka on Aug. 30 for Delhi by Jet Airways,” Prawut said. “From Delhi, he continued his travel to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi he traveled on Aug. 31 to Istanbul. This is his final destination. It’s clear.”

This bolstered the theory that those behind the blast are Uighurs from the Chinese region of Xinjiang who have close ties to Turkey.

After weeks of demurring, Thailand has suggested that those behind the blast may have been from a gang involved in smuggling Uighurs. But others speculate they may be separatists or Islamist extremists angry that Thailand repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China in July.

Uighurs complain of oppression by the Chinese government, and some advocate turning Xinjiang into a separate Uighur state.

Thai efforts to identify the members of the network believed responsible for the bombing continued on Sept. 13, when police in Bangkok raided an apartment that they suspected was linked to a bombing suspect. Police said no bomb-making materials were found in the apartment, which is in a building that serves as a hostel for women. Thai media reported that the two women tenants and a guest were taken away for questioning.

Two other key suspects are also in custody, charged with possession of illegal explosives. One of them was captured from an apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok where police also discovered bomb-making material.

The other was caught near the border between Thailand and Cambodia, and police said his fingerprints were found on a container with explosive material confiscated from the apartment.

Also on Sept. 14, Malaysia’s police chief announced that a Pakistani and two Malaysians have been detained in connection with the Bangkok bombing.

Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that the three were detained a few days ago following a tip-off by Thai authorities. He said one of the Malaysians is a woman.

Among those who died in the blast were five Malaysians from one family. Many of the victims were foreigners as the shrine is a popular destination for tourists and Thais alike.

Khalid did not give details or say where in Malaysia the three were detained, when they will be formally charged, or what the charges would be. He said Malaysian police will investigate and work with Thai authorities on the detainees.

Thai police say the man who may have actually planted the bomb may have fled across Thailand’s southern border to Malaysia, but Khalid refused to speculate on that.

Prawut, the Thai police spokesman, said his department had told the Malaysians that some suspects might have escaped to Malaysia.

Malaysian police then investigated and arrested suspects who are allegedly involved in illegal human smuggling and they might have some information, Prawut said.

“However, we haven’t had any confirmation. … As a preliminary step, they have arrested suspects who are allegedly involved in illegal human smuggling. Whether they are involved in our bombing incident or not we will have to wait and see,” he said.

September/14/2015

Turkey: Controversial Turkish prosecutor fled to Germany from Armenia

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n_86950_1Celal Özcan – BERLIN, Nurettin Kurt – ANKARA

A Turkish prosecutor who handled probes into alleged coup cases in Turkey has fled with a colleague to Germany via Georgia and Armenia after learning of an upcoming arrest warrant issued in his name, daily Hürriyet reported on Aug. 14.

Former prosecutor Zekeriya Öz fled to Armenia through Georgia on Aug. 10, some 12 hours before the Bakırköy Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul issued an arrest warrant for him and two other former prosecutors, Celal Kara and Mehmet Yüzgeç. The suspects have been accused of attempting to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government by force and forming a criminal organization.

Reports indicated Öz flew to Germany from Armenia on Aug. 11 without encountering any problems because the arrest warrant had not been issued at the time.

It remains unknown whether Germany was Öz’s final destination.

Öz led probes into alleged coup plots, most significantly the controversial Ergenekon trials, during which he was criticized for human rights violations.

He was also the prosecutor who launched the Dec. 17, 2013, graft probe, the country’s most extensive corruption investigation to date, which implicated senior government figures including former ministers Muammer Güler, Erdoğan Bayraktar, Egemen Bağış and Zafer Çağlayan.

The sharp turn in Öz’s relationship with the AKP government was believed to be associated with a feud between the AKP and U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who allegedly has influence over the Turkish judiciary.

Öz had been dismissed from his post as Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor on May 12 and downgraded to a minor position.

Meanwhile, Ahmet Çörtoğlu, the lawyer of former Ergenekon suspect Tuncay Özkan, told Hürriyet Turkish authorities had turned a blind eye to Öz’s escape.

Çörtoğlu underlined other prosecutors had been suspended from their duties as soon as a judicial processes began, and questioned why this practice was not applied for Öz, Kara and Yüzgeç.

“Rules did not apply to them because they have too much evidence against the government. The arrest warrant in question was not issued for the Ergenekon trials but for the corruption probe. However, they were allowed to flee. Either the arrest warrant was issued after they escaped, or the Gülenist establishment [referring to Gülen’s followers] is still active within the judiciary and gave them a heads up,” he said.

Zekeriya Öz’s cousin, Yusuf Öz, who was a candidate MP for the Democratic Party (DP) during the June 7 election, also joined the debate by commenting to Doğan News Agency, saying he should not have fled.

Yusuf Öz argued his cousin had been manipulated by the AKP government and probably fled because he did not trust the Turkish justice system.

“Yesterday he was celebrated as a hero, now he is slammed as a traitor, which is a situation that needs to be questioned,” he said.

In the meantime, Yusuf Öz alleged his cousin pursued the coup attempt investigations because of his ties with Gülen.

“He went to one of their schools and he was grateful to the Gülen movement. That is probably why he felt compelled to work with them. He is in fact a smart, nationalist and religious person,” he said.

August/14/2015