According to a Turkish lawyer, 30-year-old Turkmen migrant Maksat Baymuradov (born in Mary province) was illegally deported to Turkmenistan.

Baymuradov was detained on the evening of August 31 in Istanbul and sent to the Tuzla deportation center, then he was transferred to the city of Diyarbakir. On September 6, it became known that decision No. 6458 had been made to deport him to Turkmenistan. On September 7, he was transferred from Diyarbakir to Erzurum, from where he was deported to Turkmenistan a few days later.

On September 8, Turkish lawyers received a power of attorney from him to conduct the case and appealed the decision to deport M. Baymuradov, “which was made without any justification,” and filed a petition for release from the deportation center. Complaints were registered and accepted for processing. “On September 9, we personally handed over the registration number to start the paperwork,” the lawyer’s assistant told our source. “Despite this, Maksat was deported, and the authorities refer to a document signed by Baimuradov agreeing to voluntary deportation.” Today, lawyers filed a statement with the relevant authorities about the illegal actions of the authorities.

On September 5, Maksat sent a voice message to his friends: “I did not sign the voluntary consent to deportation that was offered to me. When asked why, he replied that since he criticized the authorities, there was a danger that he would be persecuted in his homeland.”

The migrant, who worked as a food delivery person, took part in broadcasts by Turkmen bloggers and in Internet chats, where the problems faced by Turkmen migrants abroad were discussed.

At the beginning of summer, Maksat found out that for some reason his visa to Turkey had been canceled ahead of schedule. He became aware of this when checking documents by the police during a raid to catch migrants.

The fact that Turkmen migrants have had their visas canceled without warning in recent months was confirmed to us by several other Turkmen who accidentally found out about this.

According to our sources, recently Turkmen migrants caught by the police are collected at the deportation center in Erzurum from where they are taken on a charter flight to Turkmenabat (Turkmenistan). Just recently, one of these flights was tracked on the website flightradar24.com

After writing this message, it became known that the deportation center in Erzurum is often visited by an employee of the Turkmen consulate and brings the relevant documents for the deportation of Turkmens. “This man referred to the urgent request of the Baymuradov family from Turkmenistan, who are allegedly worried about him. Apparently, psychological pressure was put on the guy so that he would sign a consent to voluntary deportation from the country,” shared an informed source from the deportation center.

Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights