The wife of a Turkish businessman who was detained in the United Arab Emirates while participating in a food exhibition and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, said that she had lived a bitter experience in the Emirates.
Amina Ozturk, the wife of Muhammad Ali Ozturk, added that she was accompanied by her husband on a trip to Dubai, in February 2018, to participate in the "Gulfood Food" exhibition, where her husband was detained.
Amina told Anadolu Agency that people wearing civilian clothes tied her and her husband's hands, before they were taken to a place they did not know, where her husband remained detained while she was released and sent to Turkey.
Amina Ozturk indicated that she used to accompany her husband during his trips to participate in many trade fairs around the world, and that her husband regularly participated in the Gulfood exhibition every year.
She stated that she was not subjected to any interrogation or investigation, while her husband was tortured for 52 days, indicating that she learned of this through a phone call she received from her husband after he was transferred to a regular prison.
Ozturk added that her husband was pressured by the UAE authorities, in cooperation with Fethullah Gülen, to make statements against Turkey.
She said that the UAE authorities sought to extract video recordings of Ozturk criticizing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and that her husband was severely beaten and tortured for 3 consecutive days due to his refusal to make these statements.
Ozturk stressed that she stood by her husband, noting that her son Abdullah Ozturk was being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, where he is studying software engineering.