Businessman who took construction materials to Ivory Coast missing since June: family fears kidnapping
A Turkish businessman who traveled to Ivory Coast to deliver construction materials has been missing for months, with his family claiming he was abducted by criminal groups who seized his goods and tried to sell his vehicle online.
Fifty-two-year-old Süleyman Kaplan, married and father of four, left Turkey for Ivory Coast on 5 May 2026 to oversee a shipment of construction materials as part of his trade. According to his younger brother, Danyal Kaplan, the trip quickly turned into a nightmare.
Last phone calls and disappearance
Danyal says he last spoke to his brother on 19 June. During that call, Süleyman allegedly reported serious problems related to the delivery:
> “He called and told me that some people were threatening him,” Danyal recounts. “He said there were issues with the construction materials and with the vehicle that had been sent there.”
Later the same day, according to Danyal’s account, Süleyman phoned again, sounding more distressed:
> “He said they had seized both the materials and the vehicle, and asked me for help. After that second call on 19 June, we never heard from him again. No messages, no calls, nothing.”
From that moment, all contact with the 52-year-old businessman was cut off. The family tried repeatedly to reach him by phone, but his line remained silent.
“They took our materials, they took our car”
After losing contact with his brother, Danyal began to investigate what had happened to the shipment and the vehicle. He claims that both the construction materials and the car disappeared from the location where they were supposed to be stored.
In the following days, he says, he made a disturbing discovery: the missing vehicle appeared for sale on a social media marketplace.
> “They took our materials, they took our car,” Danyal explains. “I even saw our car advertised for sale on Facebook. They had put it up like normal, as if it belonged to them. I managed to have the vehicle recovered and brought to the police station.”
This, for the family, is one of the key signs that organized groups may have been involved in the alleged abduction and seizure of property.
“Your brother is in our hands”
Danyal also claims that, after Süleyman vanished, unknown individuals started reaching out to him with menacing messages.
> “The people who kidnapped him are contacting me,” he says. “They use phrases like, ‘Your brother is in our hands, you can’t get him back.’ But interestingly, they don’t ask for any ransom.”
According to Danyal, the absence of a ransom demand is one of the more puzzling aspects of the case:
> “I went to Ivory Coast the very next day after my brother disappeared. I met with the people whose names my brother had given me before he went missing. I think they’re also afraid, and that’s why no one dares to officially demand money. Everyone seems scared of something bigger behind this.”
While his claims have not been independently confirmed, they reflect the fear and uncertainty surrounding the situation.
Journey to Ivory Coast in search of answers
Unable to sit and wait, Danyal flew to Ivory Coast shortly after Süleyman went missing, hoping to track his brother’s last steps and pressure local contacts to speak.
He says he met with several individuals involved in the business arrangements for the construction materials. According to his account, these people appeared nervous and reluctant to provide details, feeding his suspicion that a criminal network might be at work.
Danyal tried to reconstruct what happened on 19 June: where his brother had gone, who he had met, how and where the materials and the car had been taken. But with limited cooperation on the ground, and without access to official records, the trail quickly grew cold.
“We still cannot get the camera footage”
The family also reached out to Turkish diplomatic representatives in Ivory Coast, seeking support in locating Süleyman and clarifying what happened.
Danyal states that he met with consular officials and raised specific questions about surveillance footage that might capture his brother’s movements or the people he met with:
> “We spoke to the consulate. I said to the ambassador: ‘Why can’t we get access to the security camera recordings?’ He told me, ‘We are doing what is necessary.’ But more than two months have passed, and we still have no access to those recordings.”
For the family, the lack of camera footage has become a symbol of the broader difficulties they face in the search: bureaucratic processes, limited information-sharing, and the complex legal environment when a citizen disappears abroad.
Diplomatic channels in such cases usually involve coordination between local law enforcement and the home country’s embassy or consulate. Investigators typically need formal requests, legal permissions, and cooperation from multiple agencies before obtaining or reviewing surveillance recordings. Delays are common, but for families waiting for answers, each day without information feels like an eternity.
A family in anguish: “We are devastated”
Behind the legal and diplomatic efforts, a family is struggling with uncertainty. Süleyman’s four children, Danyal says, are living with constant anxiety.
> “My brother has four kids,” he emphasizes. “We are all devastated. The children keep asking where their father is, and we have no answer. Our whole family is in pieces.”
For them, the missing businessman is not just a name in a file. He is a husband, a father, and an older brother who supported the family and ran a legitimate construction materials trade.
Without clarity on whether he is alive, injured, or worse, the family remains in a painful limbo: unable to mourn, unable to move on, and unable to stop searching.
Calls for support from authorities
Danyal is appealing to authorities to intensify efforts, both in Turkey and in Ivory Coast, to find his brother and bring those responsible to justice.
> “We are asking officials to help locate my brother and shed light on this incident,” he says. “We want whoever did this to be identified and punished. Above all, we want my brother back.”
Cases of missing citizens abroad often require long, methodical work: collecting testimonies, analyzing phone records, reviewing travel documents, examining financial movements, and coordinating between different legal systems. Families, meanwhile, can push for greater attention by filing formal complaints, maintaining regular contact with consular offices, and requesting updates on any official investigation.
Risks for businesspeople abroad
The Kaplan case highlights broader risks faced by entrepreneurs who travel to unfamiliar countries to invest, trade, or deliver goods. While many such trips are completed without incident, operating in a foreign legal and security environment can expose businesspeople to:
– Disputes with local partners over payments, deliveries, or property
– Criminal groups targeting foreigners perceived as wealthy
– Fraudulent deals involving vehicles or high-value goods
– Corruption or weak enforcement in some regions, complicating recourse
Experts in international trade often encourage small and medium-sized businesses to:
– Conduct thorough background checks on local partners
– Use written, legally vetted contracts under clear jurisdictions
– Insure shipments and vehicles when possible
– Register their presence and contact details with their embassy or consulate when working in higher-risk areas
While these measures cannot eliminate all dangers, they can reduce exposure and make it easier to pursue justice if something goes wrong.
The unanswered questions
Many key questions in Süleyman Kaplan’s disappearance remain unresolved:
– Who exactly took control of the construction materials and the vehicle?
– How did the car end up advertised for sale online, and who posted the listing?
– Why has no ransom reportedly been demanded if, as the family claims, he was kidnapped?
– What do local business contacts know, and are they cooperating fully with any investigation?
– What information might exist in surveillance recordings, and why has it been so difficult to access them?
Until these questions are answered, the case will remain surrounded by doubt and rumor. For the family, however, one priority overrides all others: establishing what happened to Süleyman and, if he is alive, securing his safe return.
Living with uncertainty
While the official processes move slowly, daily life continues for Süleyman’s wife and children. Bills must be paid, the business has been disrupted, and emotional trauma accumulates.
Families of missing persons often describe this period as a “frozen grief” – unable to fully hope, unable to fully mourn. In such situations, psychological support, community solidarity, and visible engagement from authorities can make a crucial difference.
Danyal and his relatives insist they will not give up:
> “We will keep searching and speaking out until we know where my brother is,” he says. “We just want the truth, and we want him back with his family.”
For now, the disappearance of the businessman who set out simply to deliver construction materials to Ivory Coast remains an open and deeply troubling mystery.