A Paris-based rights group has urged Turkey to respect the human rights of Tajik opposition politician Umarali Quvatov and three of his associates who were detained in Istanbul last week.
Nadezhda Ataeva, the head of the Association of Human Rights in Central Asia, on December 20 called on Turkey to fulfil its international commitments to human rights, provide the four men with defense lawyers, and allow their meeting with representatives of the UN refugee agency.
Quvatov, who was detained on December 19, has said he was being "treated well" by Turkish authorities.
Quvatov's Group 24 has been banned in Tajikistan as an "extremist organization" after it called for street protests in Dushanbe on October 10.
Quvatov is wanted by Dushanbe on fraud charges which he says are politically motivated.
Quvatov, a successful businessman, used to have close ties to the family of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon but he left Tajikistan in 2012.
