Turkish “Ping-Pong” – Prosecutors Pass the Buck on the Case of Disappeared Turkmen Alisher Sakhatov and Abdullah Orusov

Turkish Prosecutors Pass the Buck in Case of Disappeared Turkmen Bloggers The Prosecutor’s Office in the Turkish city of Edirne sent the case regarding the disappearance of Turkmen opposition bloggers Alisher Sakhatov and Abdullah Orusov to their colleagues in Sinop in December 2025, but the Sinop supervisory authority sent the materials back, human rights activists have reported. Both bloggers have been listed in the database of Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for Intelligence (KİHBİ) as missing since July 24, 2025, and are wanted by the Sinop Public Security Directorate. Police in Sinop, following orders from Ankara, have taken DNA samples from members of Sakhatov’s family. Alisher Sakhatov and Abdullah Orusov were detained on April 28, 2025, in Sinop and disappeared immediately after being released from a deportation center in Edirne. Lawyers are trying to get to the bottom of the case and have requested permission from the Edirne prosecutor’s office to review footage from security cameras installed near the deportation center. In August 2025, lawyer Gulden Sonmez received information that the Turkmen opposition figures Sakhatov and Orusov had been deported to Turkmenistan. However, Turkish authorities have not provided lawyers with official documents regarding the bloggers’ deportation case. Meanwhile, Alisher [...]

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