Kyrgyzstan refuses asylum to alleged Turkish terrorist
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 20 July 2011 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kyrgyzstan refuses asylum to alleged Turkish terrorist, 20 July 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e39056c26.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
July 20, 2011
BISHKEK – Kyrgyzstan's Labor and Migration Ministry has refused to grant refugee status to a Turkish citizen wanted in Turkey for alleged involvement in terrorist activities, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Turkish journalist Ali Osman Zor, 43, was detained by Kyrgyz police on May 2. Turkish officials suspect him of involvement in a terrorist group connected with Al-Qaeda that wants to create an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East.
Bazarkul Kerimbaeva, who heads the Labor and Migration Ministry's department of refugees, told RFE/RL that the ministry rejected as without foundation the arguments put forward by Zor and his lawyers in support of his claim to refugee status.
Zor's lawyers said his case is politically motivated. Kyrgyz human rights activists have called on Kyrgyz authorities not to extradite him to Turkey.
Zor has been on a hunger strike for several weeks to protest his arrest.
Their criticism comes a day after the Memorial human rights group published an independent report accusing Russia's security services of ignoring critical evidence in the case in order to cover up the true killers.
They say DNA evidence found on Estemirova's clothes and fingernails indicate the militants were not the killers.
Russia's Investigative Committee today declined to reveal "specific evidence" in the case, but said the involvement of the Islamist suspects was "indisputable."
One prominent rights activist, Svetlana Gannushkina, said on July 15 that she was "certain" the government's claims were incorrect.
Estemirova, who worked for the Memorial human rights group in Chechnya, had exposed allegations of involvement by Chechen officials and police forces in extrajudicial killings and disappearances.
On June 15, 2009, the 50-year-old activist was kidnapped outside her home in the Chechen capital, Grozny. Her bullet-riddled body was later discovered dumped near a road in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia.
Memorial has suggested that local security forces or even Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov could be responsible for her murder.
compiled from agency reports
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
