A democratic government has the duty to protect three things of utmost importance – people’s security, human rights, and people’s property. In terms of protecting people’s property, the Mongolian government has been stealing from public property instead of safeguarding it. This is evidenced by the authorities at the Ministry of Environment stealing the land around Bogd Mountain over the years. Also, the capital city authorities have been embezzling land and real estate that belong to the people.
In terms of protecting people’s security, the government has been indirectly compromising our right to life through their failure on air pollution, traffic control, and construction works that don’t comply with required standards. However, we used to believe that, if the government cannot protect us on these fronts, they would at least not compromise people’s security deliberately. But that was until 27 July 2018.
On this day, the Mongolian government attempted to abduct a person and send him abroad. The people knew of this incident immediately and stood together using social media, which resulted in stopping the abduction.
The people of Mongolia have shown that power lies in the hands of the people in a true democracy. The point is not about the abducted person being a foreign national but about the laws of Mongolia serving people in Mongolia equally, especially when it comes to protecting people’s rights, freedom and property. It is illegal in our country to abduct a person.
Timeline of the crime of abduction
Turkish teacher Veysel Akcay, a Turkish citizen who has worked in Mongolia for 25 years, was abducted in Ulaanbaatar on 27 July 2018.
- 09:30am. Akcay is forcefully taken into a Toyota Alphard minivan by a group of people who were Mongolians.
- 09:51am. The Sukhbaatar district police is notified of an incident where a Turkish citizen was abducted into a car.
- 01:00pm. B. Ganbat, the Mongolian director of the Turkish school where Akcay worked, puts out a video on social media informing the public of the incident.
- 01:54pm. A Turkish private plane CT-4010 lands at Chinggis Khaan international airport at the designated time set out in their flight permit.
- 03:30pm. Akcay is taken to the airport.
- 04:00pm. A group of alumni from the Turkish school starts gathering at the airport. This coincides with the arrival of certain officials, including B. Tsogtgerel, then Deputy Minister of Road and Transportation Development, and MP Lu. Bold.
- 05:00pm. B. Battsetseg, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, proposes to halt the take-off of the Turkish plane until matters are clarified.
- 06:00pm. The opposition leader from the Democratic Party sends a letter to Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh from the Mongolian People’s Party demanding that he provides an explanation of what is happening.
- 08:00pm. The abductors leave Akcay outside his home after keeping him the whole day with a bag on his head, a tape over his month, and in handcuffs.
- 09:00pm. Akcay goes to the General Police Authority and gives a statement.
- 09:20pm. The Turkish plane, which came with four people on board, flies back with the same four people, but three hours and twenty minutes late from their departure time.
- 01:40am. Akcay leaves the police station and issues a short statement to people who had gathered there thanking Mongolians.
Three days later, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement “We’re very uncomfortable with the fact that Friday’s events… are being presented as a kidnapping operation. All such claims are false and we reject them.”
If you look at this chain of events, it can be interpreted as an attempt to abduct a person by the joint efforts of Turkish and Mongolian intelligence. The General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia reports directly to the Prime Minister, who hasn’t said a single word about what happened. His silence is creating a degree of fear amongst the people.
Crime against the people
If you dig deeper into what the failed abduction attempt means, it can be interpreted as a crime against the people of Mongolia. The Government of Mongolia has made two serious mistakes. Firstly, the government has ignored their commitments under the Constitution of Mongolia, other relevant legislation, and international conventions. Secondly, Mongolia has failed to comply with an agreement established with another country. Mongolia and Turkey signed an agreement in 2000 to provide mutual legal assistance in civil, commercial and penal matters.
Also, it is still fresh in the memory that the General Intelligence Agency of Mongolia abducted a person in the past. In May 2003, they abducted Mongolian National D. Enkhbat, who had obtained French citizenship, and brought him into Mongolia. Enkhbat was then jailed in Mongolia and died soon after.
The Turkish government allegedly views Akcay as Gulen’s associate, and Mongolia cannot accept it until there is a declaration or a ruling from the Turkish judiciary. Mongolia is a democracy, so any detention can only take place with a court decision.
This incident is enough to question whether the people of Mongolia can enjoy our inherent rights and freedom granted by the constitution. The fact that an aircraft that belongs to the Republic of Turkey landed in Mongolia proves that it was agreed at the government level. Therefore, there is a good reason to have fears about the Mongolian government allowing abduction of a person.
The people are demanding that Prime Minister U. Khurelsukh and the relevant authorities issue a formal statement about the incident. The abduction was interrupted by the people this time, but the public needs a guarantee that it will not happen in the future. There is no doubt that relevant international organizations would support this plea from the Mongolian people.
2018.08.15
Trans. by B.Amar