On April 28th, 2025, Turkmen bloggers Alisher Sakhathov and Abdulla Orusov were detained and placed in a deportation center in Ankara at the instruction of the Turkmen security services. The bloggers are accused of posing a threat to public order and public security in Turkey. Both of them lived in Turkey with their families, had residence permits, and did not violate any laws of the country.

Sakhathov and Orusov criticized the Turkmen authorities in their blogs while focusing on specific human rights violations in Turkmenistan. They published videos containing complaints of the people against harassment and repressions of the law enforcement agencies. The posts of the bloggers highlighted the Turkmen government’s refusal to renew passports through consular services abroad, multiple violations of the freedom of movement, lack of support for Turkmen migrants abroad, suppression of freedom of speech by the authorities, and abuses committed by the Ministry of National Security and law enforcement agencies of Turkmenistan.

The Turkmen government unfairly punishes peaceful critics. Torture is widespread in Turkmenistan, dozens of people forcibly disappeared from prisons. To return individuals to a country where they face torture, different forms of cruel treatment, and threats to their lives constitutes a grave violation of international law.

OSCE participating States must call on Turkey to meet its international legal obligations and refrain from deporting activists to Turkmenistan.

M. Hanamov