On August 4, 5 and 6, intensive work was carried out in Turkey to remove Turkmens - illegal migrants, one of them said.
On the night of August 5, the Turkish authorities sent all Turkmens who were in the deportation center in the city of Erzurum to Turkmenistan, a source in the center said.
Earlier, on August 3-4 from the cities Malatya, Van and other migration centers sent illegal immigrants to the deportation center of the city of Erzurum. Two employees of the consulate who arrived there began to draw up documents for illegal migrants proving the citizenship of Turkmenistan. Those, whose passports are expired, are stamped to renew their documents only so that they can be deported, and those, whose documents are lost, are issued a certificate to return to Turkmenistan. The employees of the consulate speak with each of the compatriots separately, - said the migrant, who has been waiting for his fate for more than 8 months.
Among the deportees there are people who have hired lawyers, he added. Despite the fact that they did not agree to be deported, on August 5 at 23:00, dozens of people were taken on a charter flight to an unknown destination. This was confirmed by another source, who said that his friend was not allowed a lawyer and was deported against his consent.
From Turkmenistan, one of the deportees told his relatives that he arrived home on August 6 at 3 a.m. A little later, at 9:50, another Turkmen illegal immigrant took off from the international airport in Istanbul, who was brought there by the Turkish gendarmerie.
Most migrants are not able to pay for the trip, so the authorities are negotiating with Turkmenistan on further mutual settlements. There are those who decide to fly at their own expense in the hope that upon arrival in their homeland, the Turkmen authorities will not ban them from leaving Turkmenistan.
According to the flightradar24.com website, "Türkmenhowaýollary" (Turkmenairlines) aircrafts have made several export flights lately. In particular, on July 31, Boeing 737 under No. EZ-A005 made flight T53005 from Istanbul to Turkmenistan. Note that the flightradar24.com website does not indicate the place of landing in Turkmenistan.
One of the migrants, deported that day, upon arrival in Turkmenabad, told his relatives that they were being taken to a city Farap for a three-day quarantine, this information is being specified.
On August 4, Boeing - 737 under the number EZ-A016 made a flight from Istanbul to Ashgabat. Another aircraft, number EZ-A018, flew from Istanbul to Ashgabat on August 5, but the landing site of the second flight, which took off on August 6, is again not indicated.
Today, August 7, another export flight with illegal migrants is expected, one of the deportation candidates said.
And the Turkish police continue to conduct regular raids to catch illegal migrants in all regions of Turkey. Now, not only uniformed policemen are involved in this action. The eyewitness said that the other day he visited a cafe in Istanbul. When a group of people of Asian appearance entered the establishment, an inconspicuous-looking young man in sportswear abruptly got up from a nearby table, approached the visitors, introduced himself as a police officer and demanded documents for verification.
Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
