AS/Jur (2023) 17 consistent policy of pursuing anyone related to the “Gülen movement”. Freedom House was able to identify 58 people rendered from 17 countries. In September 2022, a businessman named Ugur Demirok was reported to have been abducted in Baku by the Turkish intelligence agency (MIT) and rendered to Türkiye. From the perspective of the Turkish State, these people are legitimate counterterrorism targets. Türkiye’s officials openly claim credit for these operations and praise the role of the MIT. 51 Interpol notifications led to the detentions of German-Turkish journalist Hamza Yalçin in August 2017, and the unlawful deportations of two individuals accused of membership in the PKK from Serbia and Bulgaria. 52 39. Türkiye was named not only for renditions, abusing extradition proceedings and Interpol Red Notices but also for co-opting other States to deport or transfer persons. On 6 September 2018, the Republic of Moldova transferred seven teachers of Turkish nationality, circumventing domestic and international law.53 Kosovo*54 was co-opted to illegally deport six Turkish teachers to Türkiye on 29 March 2018.55 In both cases, there were accusations that the Turkish government received high-level political support for the operations, but only the heads and officials of the intelligence agencies were blamed.56 40. NGOs have also highlighted the role of the Turkish intelligence agency in threats and intimidation of Turkish opposition members and journalists in exile and called on States to prevent any cooperation with the Turkish secret service.57 Can Dündar, then editor in chief of the daily Cumhuriyet, left the country for Germany in June 2016 after being sentenced to prison for leaking national security information. Since going into exile, he has faced numerous threats. He and other Turkish journalists in Germany have received protection from German authorities.58 41. It has also been reported that Türkiye is using anti-terror financing measures as a tool of transnational repression against persons allegedly affiliated with the Gülen movement. In 2021, the Government adopted asset-freezing decrees targeting some of these persons living abroad, who as a result faced problems with their bank accounts or credit cards. Some reported the Turkish embassy in their country of residence visited the banks and informed them about the decrees. 59 42. Furthermore, Türkiye allowed itself to be co-opted to facilitate transnational repression originating from non-member States of the Council of Europe. According to Freedom House, Türkiye became a more dangerous place to live in 2021 for people targeted by foreign regimes such as China and Turkmenistan. For instance, in January 2021, several Uyghurs were detained by police in raids in Istanbul and threatened with deportation to China after participating in protests outside the Chinese embassy. Another Uyghur activist fled the country after seeing his name on a list of Uyghur residents in Türkiye who were wanted by China. He flew to Morocco but was detained there in response to an Interpol notice. Turkish authorities have also detained Turkmenistani activists living in Türkiye and threatened them with deportation unless they ceased their political activities.60 As regards the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Turkish soil, although the initial 51https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkish-deputy-pm-praises-anti-feto-op-in-kosovo/1106396. https://stockholmcf.org/turkeys-intelligence-agency-confirms-abduction-of-more-than-100-people-with-alleged-links-togulen-movement/. 52 Freedom House, Linzer and Schenkkan, 2021, op.cit, p. 40. 53 Ozdil and Others v. the Republic of Moldova, No 42305/18, 11 June 2019; Byaraktar and Ayri v. the Republic of Moldova (Dec.), Nos. 13289/19 and 13292/19, 25 June 2020. 54 All references to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo. 55 Kosovar officials involved in illegal deportation of Turkish teachers face 5 years in prison - Stockholm Center for Freedom (stockholmcf.org), 11 February 2022. See also the opinion adopted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in August 2020: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Detention/Opinions/Session88/A_HRC_WGAD_2020_47_Ad vance_Edited_Version.pdf. 56 https://stockholmcf.org/kosovar-officials-involved-in-illegal-deportation-of-turkish-teachers-face-5-years-in-prison/. 57 German NGO wants UN’s help in halting cooperation with Turkish intelligence against critics abroad - Nordic Monitor, 7 February 2022; For Turkish journalists in Berlin exile, threats remain, but in different forms - Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj.org), 18 July 2019; https://stockholmcf.org/former-intel-official-says-turkish-intel-agency-abducts-criticsfrom-africa-central-asia-by-paying-bribes/, 17 May 2022. 58 Freedom House, Linzer and Schenkkan, 2021, op.cit, p. 41. 59https://internationaljournalists.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/08/IJA_handbook_Rapor_MulkuneElKonulanGazeteciler.pdf. 60 Freedom House, Gorokhovskaia and Linzer, 2022, pp. 6-7. 14