View source for Myanmar to deport Turkish family amid crackdown fears

Activists fear the family will face persecution for alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, a preacher accused of trying to overthrow the Turkish government<br><br>[https://indochinatours.asia/sea-wander-journey-hotels-2017-2018/ best hotels myanmar] authorities have [http://www.ehow.com/search.html?s=detained detained] a Turkish family and are trying to deport them to Turkey, [https://www.myanmartour.com/hit-myanmar-tours-accommodation-guide_n64.html where to stay in myanmar] activists fear they will face persecution for alleged links to a [https://www.Youtube.com/results?search_query=preacher%20accused,creativecommons preacher accused] of trying to overthrow the government.<br><br>Teacher Muhammed Furkan Sokmen, his wife and their two-year-old daughter were stopped at Yangon airport on Wednesday evening as they tried to board a plane to Bangkok.<br><br>Sokmen used to work at an international school that local media report has been investigated for links to a Muslim preacher accused of plotting a failed coup against Turkey's president.<br><br>A video posted online appeared to show the family being held in a room inside the airport.<br><br>"The Turkish ambassador has put pressure on the [https://indochinatours.asia/sea-wander-journey-hotels-2017-2018/ best hotels myanmar] police to try to seize my passport," Muhammed Furkan Sokmen says into the camera.<br><br>"Please help me. I await your help."<br><br>Government spokesman Zaw Htay said the family were stopped after Turkey cancelled Sokmen's passport.<br><br>"It has nothing to do with the [https://indochinatours.asia/sea-wander-journey-hotels-2017-2018/ best hotels myanmar] government," he told AFP.<br><br>"He and his family will be deported as their passports are invalid."<br><br>Immigration police at the airport and in Naypyidaw refused to speak to AFP. Several calls to the Turkish embassy went unanswered.<br><br>More than 100,000 people have been dismissed or detained in Turkey since a failed attempt to oust Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.<br><br>Erdogan blames the coup on US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen -- a claim he strongly denies -- and has launched a relentless purge against those deemed to have backed the plot.<br><br>Earlier this month Malaysia deported three Turkish nationals wanted by Ankara for alleged links to Gullen.<br><br>A friend of Sokmen's family who lives in Yangon said authorities had twice tried to put them on a plane to Turkey, but they had refused.<br><br>Human Rights [http://Edition.cnn.com/search/?text=Watch%20warned Watch warned] the family could face possible torture and prolonged detention, followed by an unfair trial, if sent back to Turkey.<br><br>"The Myanmar government should not let itself become complicit in endangering this family," said fellow Richard Weir.<br><br>Their detention comes after three branches of the Horizon International School, where Sokmen used to work, were recently shut down.<br><br>Local magazine Frontier reported police had launched an investigation into the school for links to "terrorist organisations" shortly after Turkey's failed coup.