a minute agoIf you send me back to Turkey, I will be arrested and tortured”
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)Two weeks after a coup against Turkey's government failed in June 2016, Mustafa Yilmaz's holiday was spent after a 5m call. His neighbour had contacted him to announce that 20 policemen were staying outside his home in Istanbul. He had no knowledge [...]
His neighbour had contacted him to announce that 20 policemen were staying outside his home in Istanbul. He had no knowledge of why, but Mustafa thought about what it was about. “They have launched a hunt against supporters of Fetullah Gulen imam, who is charged by Turkey's president, Recep Tayip Erdogan, that behind this coup lies Gulen. In one night, it was amazing that hundreds of thousands of people were accused of being terrorists. ”
Mustafa has worked as a publisher in an Islamist society, which had similarities with Opus Dei, and understood he was in danger, reports “El Pais” Transmission Periscope.
He didn't think twice about what he would do next. Unable to travel to Europe without Schengen visas, he bought a ticket to travel to Colombia, where Turkish citizens can travel freely. Three days later, his wife and two children met him in Colombia's capital, Bogota.
Actually, his name Mustafa is not real. He does not want to reveal his real name, since his family and association would be in danger.
Mustafa has spent three months in Bogota. He doesn't feel safe here. He heard news about Turkish kidnappings that occurred as they stayed in Asia and Africa by Turkish secret police. He decided to seek asylum in Spain for many reasons after his studies in 2005, and he speaks Spanish fluently.
But he still hasn't got a visa. In the process of ten months, he was interviewed twice by interior ministry officials.
He had given them every detail about his life. Mustafa refused to support Fetullah Gulen. I had no doubt that they would give me asylum because Spain is a European country, a constitutional state and everyone knows what is happening in Turkey”, he explains.
According to the latest data from Amnesty International, around 50,000 people are in custody in Turkey, and more than 100,000 have been released. Among those detained are judges, prosecutors, army members, journalists, advocates of human rights and leaders of non-governmental organisations. /Periscopi/
