ISTANBUL, Turkey -- A Turkmen activist known for his criticism of Turkmenistan's government has been detained in Turkey and may face deportation to Ashgabat.
Nurmuhammet Annaev, a Turkmen activist in Turkey, told RFE/RL that his colleague, Nurberdy Bazarov, was detained in late October and is currently in a deportation center in the town of Tuzla, near Istanbul.
Annaev and other activists told RFE/RL that they believe that Bazarov was detained at the request of the Turkmen authorities, and that Bazarov will face illegal incarceration and torture if deported to Turkmenistan, one of the most repressive countries in the world.
Nurberdy Bazarov, also known as Nurmurat Bazarov, is an outspoken critic of Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhammedov and his government.
The detention of Bazarov comes amid increasing pressure on Turkmen activists in Turkey and on their relatives in Turkmenistan, which Human Rights Watch says "severely" punishes "peaceful critics" of the government and suppresses "any indication of dissent and political expression."
In September, Ankara cancelled visa-free travel for Turkmen citizens at the request of the Turkmen government, a move many Turkmen citizens residing in Turkey said was an attempt to curb the presence of Turkmen human rights activists in the country.
Meanwhile, several activists have had to turn to Turkish courts in recent months to have decisions to deport them overturned.
In mid-June, a court in Istanbul cancelled a lower court's decision to deport Turkmen activist Bairam Allalyiev to his homeland, while in April, Vepa Orazmuhammedov was released from a deportation center after being held for five months.
The Turkmen government's request to introduce visas came less than three months after a group of Turkmen nationals in Turkey filed a lawsuit against former President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and other top officials of the isolated and tightly controlled Central Asian state, accusing them of violating their human rights.
In 2020, dozens of Turkmen activists residing abroad held protest actions in Turkey, the United States, and the European Union to urge the international community to pay more attention to the situation regarding human rights and civil liberties in Turkmenistan.