Deputy President William Ruto Apologizes to Turkish Harun Aydin Following His Deportation

Deputy President William Ruto has spoken out following the deportation of his Turkish associate Harun Aydin.

Aydin, who was arrested on arrival at Wilson Airport from Uganda over the weekend, was deported on Monday following consultations between Kenyan authorities and their Turkish counterparts.

Through Twitter on Monday, Ruto said he spoke to Aydin and apologized to him on behalf of the Kenyan government over his removal.
 
“Just talked & apologised on behalf of GoK to Aydin Harun, now in Turkey, who was politically arrested, tortured & falsely profiled as a ‘terrorist’ but later asked to fly out not to shame those involved. Political pettiness is expensive/dangerous & will destroy our economy. SHAME,” Ruto wrote.

Aydin was part of a team that was set to accompany Ruto during his private trip to Uganda last week. The trip aborted after Ruto was barred from flying to the neighboring country by immigration officers at Wilson Airport as he did not have clearance from President Kenyatta. 

Ruto protested the arrest and detention of the foreigner, terming it a ‘tragedy of political pettiness.”

“Turkish investor, Aydin Harun, is a victim of top-down arrogance bred by patronage & cartels that criminalize enterprise,” Ruto said.

Aydin’s attorneys led Ahmednassir Abdullahi said their client had a legal working permit valid until 2023 and vowed to challenge his deportation in court.

“We will challenge the process to deport him because deportation is done according to certain procedures and laws. The Government cannot just deport somebody just because they’re a friend to the deputy president, that’s not an offense. So we will challenge that and bring him back to this country, whether it is this year or next year or the other year, it doesn’t matter,” Ahmednasir said.