Turkey's thirst for gas - now a Turkmen activist is being sacrificed

Umidajan Bekchanova, a regime-critical activist from Turkmenistan, was arrested on Thursday, May 30, at her home in Istanbul. She is now being held in a deportation center - with an imminent risk of being sent back to one of the world's most closed and brutal dictatorships.

By BLANKSPOT June 6, 2025

Text by Mirja Lakso

On Sunday, June 1, Umidajan Bekchanova's family and friends were informed that Umida, as she is known, had been taken from the Arnavutköy deportation center to Istanbul airport. The news spread quickly via Turkmen opposition media, and thanks to lightning-fast commitment from activists, Human Rights Watch, and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), who were all involved.

Despite this, the lawyers were unable to reach Umida for several hours before she was finally driven back to the same deportation center as before. Her friend Ümit Kuzubayev says she was driven around aimlessly in a car by two men before they finally brought her back to the center. “It is unclear why they chose to drive her around instead of carrying out the deportation. Perhaps the decision was influenced by pressure from the outside world,” he says.

Turkmenistan, located in Central Asia, is considered one of the world's most closed countries. The regime is often compared to North Korea and Eritrea. Human rights organizations have reported for decades about the non-existent space for civil society and the media. Activists, such as Umida Bekchanova, are often in exile – not least in Turkey.

Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch, explains that the basis for this risk is Umidajan Bekchanova's activism and criticism of the Turkmen government.

– Umidajan Bekchanova runs a well-founded risk of being subjected to politically motivated persecution, as well as torture and other inhuman treatment. Turkmenistan has a documented pattern of ill-treatment and torture of people in custody, notes Rachel Denber and continues:

– The Turkmen government is extremely repressive, tolerates no public criticism of its policies or actions, and retaliates against those who engage in public, critical activism by imprisoning them

Relations between Turkey and Turkmenistan have improved over the past decade. This is partly a result of the expansion of gas and oil pipelines from Central Asia to Turkey. Turkmenistan possesses large unexploited gas deposits that the region's major powers, including Turkey, want to access. The relationship has also been strengthened within several regional cooperation projects, where the common Turkish cultural heritage is at the center.

"Difficult to seek protection"

The arrest of Umida Bekchanova is taking place against this background, believes Chemen Ore, a human rights lawyer from Turkmenistan. She is acting as Umida's representative in the advocacy work to get her released.

- Umida is the first woman that Turkey is trying to deport - in exchange for Turkmen gas, she says. Cooperation between Turkey and Turkmenistan has deepened, while human rights principles are being abandoned. In Turkmen prisons, it is not only political prisoners who are murdered. Women are subjected to gross sexual abuse, including damage to their genitals and other private parts.

Umida Bekchanova is currently being held in a deportation center in Çatalca. She is not registered as a refugee and can therefore be deported at any time. On Thursday, June 5, her lawyer tried to have her registered with the UNHCR – without success.

Nurul Rakhimbek from the American organization Center for Global Civic and Political Strategies confirms Ore's opinion. “These cases are taking place in the shadow of the economic interests of Turkey and Turkmenistan, where human rights weigh less than oil and gas,” says Nurul Rakhimbek.

Risk of mass deportations

In recent years, at least five Turkmen exile activists have been arrested by Turkish police, in incidents resembling kidnappings, and forcibly deported to Turkmenistan – where they have disappeared without a trace and are believed to have been tortured.

The situation is particularly worrying in view of the Muslim holiday of Kurban Bairam, when Turkey often carries out mass deportations. Last year, blogger Merdan Mukhamedov was deported during this period. He has not been heard from since and is feared to have been tortured to death in a Turkmen prison.

Olya Charyeva was one of the activists who stood outside the UN scraper in New York and demonstrated when Merdan Mukhamedov was deported. As activists in a small network, they knew each other well. Suddenly Mukhamedov was gone.

“The Turkmen authorities are afraid of active and educated people. The president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, does not like intelligent individuals. That is why he removed the well-educated Merdan Mukhamedov from his path. I do not think he is alive anymore,” says Olya Charyeva.

Despite repeated warnings from Human Rights Watch and the UN, Turkey continues these illegal deportations – an expression of its ever closer cooperation with Turkmenistan’s authoritarian regime.

Several organizations react

The lessons learned from the consequences of other deportations mean that Umida Bekchanova’s fate will not go unnoticed. A united civil society with expertise in Central Asia is reacting. One of them is Leila Seiitbek, president of the Vienna-based organization Freedom For Eurasia. She believes that Umida’s case is part of a systematic pattern:

– This is a deliberate attempt to silence critical voices. Umida is a key figure in the fight for democracy and women’s rights in Turkmenistan. Turkey must live up to its international commitments and guarantee her safety.

Another is Igor Slabykh, executive director of the US-based organization Building Democracy Foundation, who also emphasizes the seriousness.

– Umida has had to pay a high price for standing up for human rights in Turkmenistan. Now she risks being sent back to a country where both she and her family have already been persecuted. Authoritarian regimes like Russia and Turkmenistan not only try to silence the opposition within their own borders – they also hunt them in exile.

Hayat Nurmedova, a member of the National Rescue Committee, appeals for support:

– Umida’s persecution is not just a personal tragedy. It is a test of human rights and freedom of expression. We must not turn a blind eye to the repression that affects those who dare to speak out.

She especially calls on the Swedish public to act, considering that Umida had previously participated in Aftonbladet’s investigation of Turkmen torture prisons. After that publication, the threats against Umida increased.

“Then she disappears forever”

Turkmen journalist Nina Startseva has herself been imprisoned in the country and testifies to the atrocities.

– What is happening is completely inhumane. People are tortured with electric shocks, suffocated with gas, torn apart by dogs. They are boiled alive. Children are tortured in front of their parents – and parents in front of their children, says Nina Startseva.

It was heavy diplomatic pressure that ultimately led to Startseva’s own release. She now hopes for the same forceful action to save Umida. But she recalls what happened to Ogulsapar Muradova – another journalist who was arrested at the same time as her in 2006.

– Muradova was not so lucky. She was tortured to death. I could hear her screams from the next room.

Startseva does not hesitate:

– If Umida is deported, it’s over. Then she will disappear forever.

Top image: Turkmenistan is a member of the Turkic Council – an alliance of Turkic-speaking states, headquartered in Turkey. Photo: Turkish Presidential Office.

Non-professional translation into English. Original article can be found at https://blankspot.se/turkiets-torst-efter-gas-nu-offras-en-turkmensk-aktivist/

By BLANKSPOT