Watchdog

The wife of a Turkmen activist being held in Turkey and facing deportation says the government in Ashgabat has handed Ankara a list of more than two dozen people it wants arrested and sent back for their activism.

The Turkmen Helsinki Foundation (THF) said in a report that two more Turkmen opposition activists residing in Turkey -- Ahmet Rahmanov and Kamil Abulov -- had been detained, with Abulov's wife saying police told her they had a list of 28 Turkmen citizens residing in Turkey whom the Turkmen government has asked Ankara to arrest and deport.

According to the Bulgaria-based THF, the 47-year-old Rahmanov went incommunicado on October 18 after he visited a migration office in the southwestern Turkish city of Antalya to prolong his residence permit.

A day later, Rahmanov's friends were informed that he had been placed in a deportation center. Rahmanov has been a longtime administrator of the opposition Democratic Choice of Turkmenistan movement's online chat page.

He also has been critical of authoritarian President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and his government on YouTube and programs aired by RFE/RL's Turkmen Service.

The THF said Abulov's wife informed it her 35-year-old husband had also been detained and placed in a deportation center, where police revealed the list of those Ashgabat is seeking.

Abulov was detained briefly in early August after Turkmen activists tried to hold a protest in front of the Turkmen Consulate in Istanbul.

Turkmen activists residing in Turkey have faced increased pressure from Turkish law enforcement officials in recent months, while their families at home have also come close scrutiny from local authorities.

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Pressure Builds On Turkmen Activists In Turkey

On October 16, police in the eastern Turkmen city of Turkmenabat summoned 51-year-old Tazegul Ovezova for questioning about the activities of her son, Azat Hayitbaev, a noted opposition activist residing in Turkey.

Ovezova refused to go to the police station, citing poor health after a recent heart attack. According to the THF, Hayitbaev's name is included on the list of the 28 Turkmen Ashgabat is seeking in Turkey.

Another activist residing in Turkey, Merdan Joraev, told the THF that police had recently visited his relatives in Turkmenistan's eastern region of Lebap to ask about his whereabouts.

Since last year, protests against Berdymukhammedov have been held by Turkmen citizens residing in Turkey, the United States, and Northern Cyprus.

Government critics and human rights groups say Berdymukhammedov has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the restrictive country since he came to power after the death of autocrat Saparmurat Niyazov in 2006.

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Dissident Kazakh poet Aron Atabek, who was recently released from prison after spending 15 years behind bars on charges he denied, has been hospitalized and is currently in an intensive care unit.

Atabek's sister, Razia Nutysheva, told RFE/RL on October 20 that her brother was hospitalized over the weekend after his condition worsened.

"His current state of health is worrisome. He is unable to eat. The illness is progressing. After his release from prison, he refused to stay in a medical institution and we treated him at home for some time, but his health state worsened dramatically in recent days," Nutysheva said, adding that Atabek is currently connected to a lung ventilation system. She did not provide any other details and did not say whether Atabek has COVID-19.

Atabek (aka Edigeev), who was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2007 after being convicted of helping organize protests that resulted in the death of a police officer, has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 2006.

He rejected a government pardon offer in 2012 that would have required him to admit guilt.

He was released from a prison in Kazakhstan’s northern region of Pavlodar in early October amid long-standing concerns over his health. Relatives and friends say he suffers from heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

For years, Kazakh and international rights organizations demanded that the government release the poet saying that, along with his innocence, he was tortured in prison with guards intentionally splashing water with high concentrations of chlorine on the floor of his cell to damage his health.

Last month, a photograph taken by activists who visited him in prison appeared to show Atabek exhausted and in poor health. The photograph caused a public outcry and put added pressure on officials to release him.

In December 2012, Atabek was transferred to solitary confinement after he wrote an article critical of then-President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his government, and the article was published online.

In 2014, his relatives accused prison guards of breaking his leg, which authorities have denied.