Turkey deporting Iranian opposition figures to Syria
The Turkish authorities have deported nine Iranian Kurds to northern Syria, after accusing them of trying to escape to Europe illegally.
The
repatriation of the nine sparked a great controversy both internally and
externally, especially after their families said they had entered Turkey in a
legal manner.
Legal
concerns
Hengaw
Organization for Human Rights said Turkish authorities had detained these Iranian
Kurdish asylum-seekers on August 20, after arresting them in a forest in
Istanbul as they tried to reach Europe.
Ankara then
took the decision to deport them to Syria, the organization said.
It added
that Turkey had deported dozens of Iraqi Kurds from Kurdistan as well, along
with the nine Iranian Kurds.
Turkish authorities
had repeatedly said that they would not allow refugees to enter Turkish
territories.
This caused
a large number of international human rights organizations to describe Turkey
as an 'unsafe' place for asylum-seekers, especially Iranians.
The families
of the nine Iranians confirmed that Ankara had handed them over to a group
opposed to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and close to the
Turkish government.
Turkish
messages
Iranian
affairs specialist, Osama al-Hatimi, said Ankara had deported the nine Iranians
to send a message that it will not accept for its territories to become a
corridor for illegal immigration to Europe.
"It
also wants to avoid being criticized in case it had handed over these people to
Iran," he told The Reference.
Turkey had
come under fire several times in the past for repatriating Iranian refugees and
opposition figures to their country.
Back home,
these opposition figures faced repression and sometimes death penalties.
This was why
human rights groups considered Turkey as a 'trap' for Iranian opposition
figures.
