Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Turkey to intensify its investigation into the disappearance of two Turkmen activists and disclose their whereabouts as the first anniversary of their disappearance approaches.
Alisher Sakhatov and Abdulla Orusov disappeared on July 24, 2025, after a deportation center in the northwestern city of Edirne issued documents for their release. Turkish authorities opened investigations but have not publicly established their whereabouts, and HRW said the lack of information raises concerns that the men may have been unlawfully transferred to Turkmenistan.
The men had been detained since April 28, 2025, after Turkish migration authorities alleged that they posed threats to public order and security. A court upheld orders for their deportation on June 13, 2025, but Turkey’s Constitutional Court temporarily blocked their removal on July 14, 2025, while it assessed whether they would face persecution in Turkmenistan. The Edirne center issued their release documents 10 days later, on July 24, 2025.
Sakhatov’s last known contact was a telephone call with his wife, Gullala Hasanova, on the evening of July 24, 2025, while he was still at the deportation center. Hasanova filed a missing persons report with police in the northern city of Sinop four days later, on July 28, 2025, and prosecutors opened a criminal investigation on July 29, 2025.
Police told Hasanova that neither man had been recorded crossing Turkey’s international borders and that they were not being held at a Turkish detention facility. Hasanova and Sakhatov’s lawyer also requested access to surveillance footage from the Edirne center.
Sakhatov and Orusov had lived in Turkey since 2018 and used social media and YouTube to discuss alleged corruption and abuses by Turkmen security services, restrictions on freedom of movement, suppression of free speech and difficulties facing Turkmen migrants abroad. HRW described them as among the few independent voices available to people inside Turkmenistan.
Both men were applying for international protection in Turkey when they were detained in April 2025. Their lawyer said Turkish authorities offered no concrete evidence to support claims that they threatened public order or security. The activists had also rejected requests to return voluntarily to Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan permits virtually no public dissent, and peaceful government critics face intimidation, arbitrary detention and imprisonment, according to HRW. The organization has also documented attacks and harassment targeting Turkmen activists abroad and said Sakhatov and Orusov could face an unfair trial, mistreatment or torture if returned.
Turkmen authorities have not publicly said whether the men are in their custody or indicated that they have sought information about them from Turkey, HRW said.
The rights group called on Turkey to intensify its investigation, disclose its findings and establish the men’s whereabouts. It also urged Ankara to uphold its obligation not to return anyone to a country where the person faces a credible risk of torture, imprisonment or other serious rights violations.
“Every day that passes without news deepens the suffering,” HRW said, referring to the uncertainty facing the men’s families.
