Free my husband! Wife of abducted Turk seeks help from Kenyan government

Seriyye Gulen, a Kenya-based Turkish teacher has asked authorities to help free her abducted husband.

She says her husband Selahaddin Gulen was kidnapped in Nairobi on May 3. 

Seriyye said she is concerned that he was taken to Turkey after the abduction.

“We got married recently and my husband was kidnapped on May 3 by a group of anonymous people and taken to an unknown place,” she said.

In a recorded video on May 20, Seriyye appealed to all related authorities to find him. 

“I believed he was kidnapped and taken to turkey on May 5. I reckon he is facing an abduction only because his surname is Gulen,” she said.

“I urge the authorities to find my husband and free him.”

Selahaddin Gulen is said to have been abducted by people  believed to be Turkish Intelligence officers.

Last week, a Kiambu court ruled that he should not be arrested, extradited or deported from Kenya.

Gulen’s lawyer Jothan Arua said they were still looking for him.

Selahaddin is the nephew of Fethullah Gulen. Fethullah an influential cleric and former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose followers were in 2016 accused of participating in a plot to overthrow the Turkish government.

It is not clear whether the abduction is related to this incident or not.

The 80-year-old cleric has been living in Pennsylvania in the US since 1999, but still has a wide following in Turkey. 

He remains the single most fiery opponent of President Erdogan’s administration.