STATEMENT OF THE TURKMEN HELSINKI FOUNDATION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ON THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE CHANNEL “TURKMEN YURT”
On February 5, 2021, the Turkmen Yurt channel published a video with insulting attacks on the chairman of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Tajigul Begmedova.
The channel "Turkmen Yurt" was created several years ago by the spouses Geldy Kyarizov and Yulia Serebryannik.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that this pair of political emigrants, guided by unhealthy personal ambitions, is trying to sling mud and discredit many who are fighting for human rights and democracy in Turkmenistan. The range of people who have been attacked by them is growing by leaps and bounds, dozens of people - from international human rights activists, thanks to whom they were able to safely leave for the West, to relatives of victims of political persecution or such famous people as Nurmukhamed Khanamov, the Shikhmuradov family, Dursoltan Taganova and others. Even they tried to use the events of the OSCE Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw in 2019 for the same purposes.
Gossip, insults, manipulation of facts against Turkmen activists are gradually becoming the main content of the "Turkmen Yurt" channel. Such actions of people who position themselves as human rights activists are not only ethically unacceptable, but also cause real harm to the Turkmen democratic movement, which opposes the dictatorship of Berdimuhamedov.
In our opinion, all existing disagreements among critics of the regime should be resolved only through a mutually respectful dialogue. The claims of the creators of the channel "Turkmen Yurt" to act as "whistleblowers", from the standpoint of the "supreme arbiter" are not relevant here.
Unfortunately, all constructive proposals, including those from our organization, are rejected by them.
It is worrying that some Turkmens who followed the "human rights advice" of the Kyarizovs found themselves in a difficult life situation.
When Kyarizov was allowed to leave Turkmenistan in 2015, he had a high profile among Turkmens. Many listened to his opinion, turned to him with offers of cooperation or for help. Unfortunately, the Kyarizovs were unable to consolidate their efforts, they were not even able to effectively use most of the information that the victims of persecution passed on to them.
Focusing on petty squabbles and empty conjectures, they fall into more and more isolation. It is significant that some people who until recently tried to cooperate with "Turkmen Yurt" ended up being covered in mud there.
In our opinion, until Kyarizov-Serebryannik begins to comply with generally accepted ethical standards, cooperation with them is impossible. We consider it below our dignity to respond to their absurd insinuations.
And we recommend to the Turkmen youth not to take at face value the inadequate video chatter that "Turkmen Yurt" litters the Internet with.
Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
