Six children who were taken from Amazon villages by the Sulaimani Jamaat, a Turkish religious group also known as Suleymanites, and brought to communal dormitories in Turkey, have been returned to their home country following a decision made by the jamaat’s leadership.
According to a report by Artı Gerçek, concerns within the Suleymanites have escalated as the case has attracted the attention of Interpol, who are currently investigating the matter as a potential international case of human trafficking. The children arrived in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday evening.
It was revealed in May that a man named Abdülhakim Tokdemir and his team, acting on behalf of the Sulaimani community, had transported children from impoverished families living in Amazon villages near the Colombian border to the city of Manaus, located over 950 kilometres away, by obtaining signed documents from their families.
The children then underwent three years of Islamic boarding education before six of them were brought to Turkey in February 2022. They were subsequently placed in religious dormitories in the western province of Kütahya and the southern district of Tarsus.
Following the incident gaining media attention, both local law enforcement and Interpol launched extensive investigations into the matter. A delegation from the Brazilian Parliament is expected to travel to Turkey in the upcoming days.
While the families had provided Tokdemir with documents granting permission to take their children to Manaus for educational purposes, Interpol has deemed the “signed documents being used to take the children out of the country” as legally unacceptable.
The Muslim Sunni-Hanafi jamaat, also known as the Sulaimani Movement, is a widespread community in Turkey and is known for its influence on Turkish politics.
