Prevent Turkish dissident’s extradition to Turkey
18:44, July 24, 2018 | News, Own news
On July 20, 2018, our Turkish partners turned to the Organization, reporting that Turkish citizen Cevriye Okuyucu, avoiding political persecution, crossed the state border of the Republic of Armenia with a forged passport under the name Şaziye Demir. According to the information that we received, Cevriye Okuyucu intended to seek asylum in Armenia and then leave for another western country.
At the moment, she is arrested for crossing the state border of the Republic of Armenia illegally, and, according to the information that we received, the authorities of the Republic of Armenia are going to extradite her to Turkey.
Now, the persecution against civil activists and oppositionists has become more fierce in Turkey; thousands of them have been arrested for their political views and are subjected to violence in places of imprisonment. The principle of the rule of law does not work in Turkey; according to international and local human rights organizations, human rights violations are large-scale and criminal prosecution on false charges as well as arrests on the ground of political views are common.
Taking into consideration that Cevriye Okuyucu is a Kurdish activist, a member of the People’s Democratic Party and an oppositionist against the ruling party, who has expressed her political views, her extradition to Turkey will be a threat to her freedom and inviolability. As there is a decision to arrest her, she will be arrested immediately and might be subjected to torture when being deprived of freedom.
Therefore, Cevriye Okuyucu should be granted asylum in a democratic country such as the Republic of Armenia, where she can freely express her political and other views. Her extradition to Turkey will be a violation of the rights guaranteed by Articles 3 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Taking into consideration the aforementioned, we demand from the RA authorities to cease the process of extraditing Cevriye Okuyucu to Turkey and ensure her unimpeded entry from the territory of the RA to a third country.