Turks and Urki

"I gave the passport to the border guard. At first I thought that I went through the border because she calmly made some note. But then I saw that she was in a panic. She did not want to look into my eyes, did not know what to do, she began to call on the phone. I only understood the word" Turkish ", which she repeated several times. There was a feeling that she was calling for different authorities and she was the same:" She was the same thing: she was the same. To do, what should I do? ""

Vildan Zekine could not enter Russia on November 26. She was going to spend four days in Moscow with her friends, to give a lecture on anti -government protests in Istanbul in St. Petersburg, and then return to Bucharest, where she works at the university. Wildan is engaged in urbanism, as well as the problems of feminism and racism.

At the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, Wildan was detained at passport control. Together with a large group of compatriots, she spent more than fifteen hours in a transit zone, of which five hours in a police station on the border. "At first they told me that I could not enter, because I have no confirmation of the purpose of the trip. But, having talked with other detainees, I realized that it does not matter what you have and what not."

Indeed, when I turned to the border control attendant, as well as to the border guard border guard and the border guard, who was delayed by Wildan, they all said: "Girl, what are you asking? Do you read the news?" - "But what does the news have to do with it? Would the order of entry into the Russian Federation change? After all, workers and tourists whom you delay and expel do not have anything to do with the downed plane." - "I do not understand, are you talking about the Turks? How do they not?"

All Turkish citizens were detained and sent to the airport, regardless of where they flew from, whether they had a hotel, whether they had a work permit or even a residence permit. One person has registration, work and his own apartment in Moscow, he has been living in Russia for seven years and went to visit relatives in Turkey for a week - he, like Vildan, was deported and entered into the list of "misly".

I called Wildan in Bucharest on Skype (in the photo she is at the Sheremetyevo airport).

• I want to say right away that this whole story was very unpleasant, but for me it was not a tragedy. But for other people who were with me ... basically they were workers who go to Russia to work, live there. Some families have in Russia. For them, this is a big blow.

- How did events develop after you were detained?

• We spent 4 hours in a small room of border guards. They behaved very strangely, as if we were detained or prisoners. We could not get up from the chair without their permission or talk loudly, it was impossible to go out, buy or eat, go to the toilet. If we got up to walk, they asked why we got up from the chair and what we want. They asked all in great detail about all the people we are going to, all their data, addresses. At first I did not want to call a friend who was going to stay in Moscow, but I still had hope to go through the border, so I still gave a name and address. One man in Moscow has a Russian bride, he also called the name, address, even passport data, and then very worried that she might have problems because of this.

After four to five hours, I said that I have big problems with my back, and after that I was transferred to a transit zone. There you could sit in chairs, walk, talk freely ... I saw a lot of people who, like me, were waiting for a reverse plane. We were very calm. All. We did not agree on this, but everyone realized that now such an atmosphere ... If someone does something, it would be very bad and dangerous. It was necessary to control yourself.

- And how did police officers and border guards behave?

• They wanted us to be afraid, and tried to provoke us. It was clear - they wanted us to answer, began to scream, defend ourselves ... And yes, at first I was scared, they all the time spoke of deportation, shouted at us. But then I realized that since we did not cross the Russian border, then they cannot deport us, but they can only not let us go to Russia and send it back.

- And what did they shout?

• They shouted in Russian, but it was clear that they insulted us, swear. It was clear in facial expressions and gestures. One woman, also in the uniform, came up to me and asked: "Ah. Are You Turkish?" I said yes. Then she said: “To you very much THEN!”, In such a poisonous voice.

- What language did you speak to you?

• I do not understand a word in Russian, they spoke to us in English. But not always - they cursed in Russian. Not all police officers speak English, but some said they talked to me mainly. Some of the Turkish workers do not speak English, but they know Russian. Somehow they were explained ... there were no translators.

- Did you have contact with other detainees?

• Basically, these were workers, and the attitude towards them was even worse than to me as a tourist. They had to wait even longer, some were already more than 24 hours in the transit zone by that time, and they had to wait further, after they put me on the plane. That is, some were there for more than 48 hours. In addition, they were more offended than me. The passport was given to me the next morning after the detention, and the workers were almost always given a passport only on the plane. One person was with Azerbaijani citizenship, he was detained only because he flew from Turkey, he was also expelled.

The Turkish diplomat spent four hours with us, she was also not allowed in the Russian Federation. Of all those forty people I saw, after long negotiations, only her (diplomat) and one man married to a Russian woman and having a constant residence permit. She came for him, but he also worried that she might have problems later because of this. And two more people were allowed for some reason. The rest had to fly back.

When we were allowed into the transit zone, some did not have money with them to buy water and food - and sometimes I had to wait more than a day. After some time, a consular worker from the Turkish embassy arrived, but he brought only water - explained that he did not have time to buy food.

- And what about legal grounds?

• When we asked if the rules of the entry of Turkish citizens changed, the border guards answered: "We do not know anything. So the boss told us." Or: "We received an installation from above - not to let the Turks into Russia."

- Did you all call the same reason for the deportation?

• No. Vice versa. They called everyone different reasons, tried to find something for each of their own. But this did not always work out. And they did not explain anything at all. Just "you will be deported" - and that’s all without explaining the reasons at all. At first they threatened that they would put a deportation mark on our passports. As a result, they did not put the mark, but we all were included in the list of unwanted people, that is, we will no longer be able to enter Russia.

We were photographed, and then handed the documents where there was a photograph at the top, and then the text. The whole text was in Russian, so I cannot say what happened in it. The only thing that was written in Latin letters: "Persona non granta". I saw how such a document also made me on me, but they did not give it to me.

- And how did passengers and airport employees react?

• Aeroflot employee, who approached us, was very pleasant, he talked well with us. It was he who told us that 50 people were already deported during this day. Some other airport employees also behaved normally, but basically both employees and workers in cafes and restaurants were quite aggressively configured: they showed us, laughed, joined us. They clearly knew what was happening, and it gave them pleasure.

And one person even wanted to attack me, he was some kind of employee of the airline or a guard ... I don’t know exactly who it was, he was in such a dark uniform. He was stopped by other employees in the same uniform.

- You say that their main goal was to intimidate and take a symbolic action: they say, we will not let it go. And why did they then not announce this publicly?

• It was our question too! We asked them: why didn’t you publish on the page of the Russian Embassy or did not make an official statement that now you can’t enter Russia now? It was strange for us. People said to them: "If we knew, we would not go." For many, this is now a very big problem, because they are on this list of all -in -law. They have everything in Russia: property, work, and friends remained, sometimes family.