Turkish authorities should immediately release Umidajan Bekchanova, a Turkmen dissident currently held in a deportation center in Istanbul, Human Rights Watch said today. They should guarantee that Bekchanova is not forcibly returned to Turkmenistan, where she faces a serious risk of persecution and abuse.
"Bekchanova's detention puts her at immediate risk of being sent back to Turkmenistan, where independent activism and dissent are severely punished," said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Türkiye should uphold its international obligations and not send Bekchanova to any country where she faces a grave risk of persecution, arbitrary detention, or worse."
On May 29, 2025, police detained Bekchanova, 45, and took her to Arnavutköy deportation center in Istanbul. On June 1, Turkish police transferred her to Çatalca deportation center.
Bekchanova's lawyer has filed an appeal of the deportation decision and is planning to appeal her detention. The May 30 deportation decision claims that Bekchanova is a threat to Türkiye's public order and public security and has been involved in "provocative" actions. Türkiye's Law on Foreigners and International Protection (article 54 (1) (d)) allows it to deport people who threaten public order, public security or public health. The decision provides no information substantiating the claim.
Turkish authorities have used similar claims to justify deportation orders against other Turkmen activists.
Bekchanova is currently undocumented, as her Turkmen passport recently expired and Turkish migration authorities cancelled her residence permit in 2024.
Bekchanova's public criticism of the Turkmen government puts her at imminent risk of persecution, torture and other ill-treatment upon return to Turkmenistan, Human Rights Watch said. Turkish authorities should allow her to apply for international protection status under Turkish law, if she wants to.
Türkiye's international partners should call on the Turkish authorities to cease any plans to deport Bekchanova and other Turkmen activists currently in custody.
Bekchanova had been living in Türkiye legally since 2017. In 2020, she began participating anonymously in social media discussions associated with Turkmen exiled dissidents that were critical of the Turkmen government's handling of the country's economic crisis and poverty, and of the authorities' suppression of free speech. She participated, masked, in peaceful protests against the Turkmen government's repressive policies, created anonymous videos advocating human rights for Turkmen nationals, and organized flash mobs outside Turkmenistan calling for freedom of expression and speech within the country.
In late 2020, Bekchanova joined HSM, a group of exiled Turkmen dissidents, without concealing her identity. The group hosts a YouTube channel that is harshly critical of the Turkmen government and has more than 25,000 subscribers. She also manages several social media accounts of Turkmen exiled dissidents. Her personal YouTube channel, TAGA (Channel for Women's Voices), has over 3,000 subscribers.
Turkmenistan's authorities routinely target independent journalists, perceived critics, and activists, including in exile, through arbitrary detention, arbitrary foreign travel bans, and harassment and intimidation against their family members. The justice system completely lacks independence and transparency. Torture is widespread and dozens of people have been forcibly disappeared in Turkmen prisons, some for more than 22 years.
Turkmen authorities have targeted Bekchanova's family to try to silence her, Human Rights Watch said. Bekchanova has said that in 2020, after her older son had shared information with her about long bread lines and the like in Turkmenistan, Turkmen authorities detained him for 15 days, during which they reportedly used electric shocks on him. In 2024, her younger son was sentenced to threeyears on robbery charges that Bekchanova has alleged trumped-up.
On January 20, Bekchanova by chance learned that in October 2024 Turkish migration authorities had cancelled her residence permit, which was originally valid through February 2025. When Bekchanova's lawyer initially inquired about the cancellation, Turkish migration authorities verbally alleged that Turkish authorities had said that she was involved in "provocative actions" and that the decision to cancel the permit was made at the Turkmen authorities' behest. The Turkish authorities did not specify what actions Bekchanova allegedly committed and provided no information in writing.
On January 22, the migration authorities issued Bekchanova a notification about the cancelation of her residence permit, but the document does not specify a reason. Bekchanova's lawyer filed a lawsuit against the cancelation on January 28. The court case is ongoing.
Bekchanova's Turkmen passport expired in April 2025.
Bekchanova's detention reflects a broader pattern in which Turkish authorities routinely detain and, in some cases deport to Turkmenistan, Turkmen migrants, who have become undocumented due to the refusal by Turkmenistan's authorities to renew passports through consular services in Türkiye. These include activists who became government critics during their stay in Türkiye.
Turkmen rights groups in exile reported that Turkmen officials had promptly detained several activists upon their return to Turkmenistan following deportation from Türkiye and imprisoned some on what appear to be politically motivated charges.
Two other Turkmen activists, Abdulla Orusov and Alisher Sakhatov, whom Turkish authorities detained on April 28, remain in deportation custody.
Türkiye's treaty obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the 1951 Refugee Convention require it to uphold the principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits the return of anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other ill-treatment, or a threat to life.
"Sending Bekchanova to Turkmenistan would potentially mean sentencing her to suffering and torment at the hands of Turkmen authorities," Denber said. "Türkiye is obligated not to expose her and other activists to the risk of torture and persecution."
