Erdogan against the FSB

The diplomatic confrontation between Turkey and Russia ended, however, as Radio Liberty found out, some Turkish citizens living in Russia continue to be persecuted. Now the deprivation of a residence permit is expected by a geodesist from Izhevsk Arslan Erdogan, whether he will be separated from the Russian wife and two children, it will be known next week. The cases of other citizens of Turkey from Udmurtia are still in courts.

We met not in the south

- I have a very good surveyor, it is easy for him to find a job. First he worked in a German company, built a huge plant in Tula. He built houses in Uzbekistan. He was very appreciated, they called to work in Germany, but I was already pregnant, and we went to my homeland, to Udmurtia. Here, in Udmurtia, he collaborated with many companies, they built multi -storey buildings, shopping centers. I have been sitting on maternity leave in recent years: only one daughter went to the kindergarten, the second appeared, ”says Radio Liberty Ekaterina Erdogan , a resident of Izhevsk.

The younger brother of her husband moved to Udmurtia before the elder. He already has Russian citizenship, and the authorities have no complaints about him. Ekaterina Erdogan has long been friends with his wife, Irina.

- Irina Erdogan introduced me to Arslan. We did not meet somewhere in the south, ”emphasizes Ekaterina Erdogan.

The problems of the family of Ekaterina and Arslan Erdogan began at the end of 2015, when the Turkish fighter shot down a Russian bomber.

We were kept at customs with kids from half past four to half past seven in the morning

- Ephesians came to us home. They checked whether we had a marriage fictitious, interrogated the neighbors. Even in kindergarten there were questions. The pressure was from all sides: at that moment we left for Thailand, and when we arrived from the rest, it was terrible. At customs, we and two babies were forced to wait until the entire plane passes. Time - four in the morning, the children are yelling, they want to sleep.

Then her husband was taken to talk. I am alone with children in my arms, I can’t take a suitcase. And they asked him: where he lives, what he was doing - they simply mocked. We received a suitcase, and they: "Open the suitcase, we will inspect." At customs with the kids, we were kept from half past four to half past seven in the morning, ”recalls Ekaterina Erdogan.

Secret threat

But real troubles were just beginning. Soon Arslan Erdogan received a letter from the Federal Migration Service that his residence permit was canceled on the basis of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Federal Law "On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation".

This means that the Russian authorities want to deprive the Izhevsk surveyor, since he "advocates for a violent change in the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, and other actions pose a threat to the security of the Russian Federation or citizens of the Russian Federation."

The "danger" of her husband FSB justifies the information received from a certain conversation

Claims to Arslan Erdogan by the FSB are under the heading "Secret". Ekaterina Erdogan told Radio Liberty that she did not directly read the FSB document, but, as far as she knows, the special services have tax issues for her husband, and the FSB is justified by the “danger” of her husband’s husband from a certain conversation.

What kind of conversation is this and between whom he took place, Ekaterina Erdogan does not know, and tax claims, according to her, are insolvent. Her husband is not a businessman, but a hired worker, and from his salary taxes are expelled by the company where he works.

The FSB Radio Freedom Comment could not be obtained: during the preparation of the material in the unit of public relations of the FSB in the Udmurt Republic, they did not respond to phone calls.

The road is nowhere

- We are married for six years, we bought an apartment, a car together. They tell us that nothing terrible happens: no our rights are violated, let my husband leave. I say: we have small children, they are citizens of Russia, do you leave children without a father? They say to me: go with dad who does not give you. And what awaits us there? We have neither an apartment nor work there - they offer to go to an empty place. In Izhevsk, life is established, we have work. Children go to kindergarten. They are native speakers of the Russian language - not Turkish, ”says Ekaterina Erdogan. - We walked around the civil service - we did not receive any support. The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of the Child in Udmurtia was generally answered: "What did you think when you married a foreigner? Come, good, warm." And who told you that there is good and warm? My husband was not born on the Mediterranean Sea.

In a conversation with Radio Liberty , Olga Avdeeva , the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child under the head of the Udmurt Republic, immediately remembered the Erdogan family:

When the relationship warmed up, I remembered them and thought: now, probably, they will solve everything

- Yes, they turned, but now I can’t say anything, it was almost two years. There was a tough conflict between Russia and Turkey, all this was very acute. We made requests, consulted with officials, but everywhere there were negative answers. Such aggravated relationships, nothing can be done. When the relationship warmed up, I remembered them and thought: now, probably, everything will be decided with them. But they no longer turned, and for me the complete surprise that you are asking about them, ”she says.

Russia lifted the restrictions in the tourism sector against Turkey in the summer of 2016, most of the economic sanctions-in the spring of 2017, but, according to Ekaterina Erdogan, this has not been reflected in their family: they still want to send her husband from Russia.

Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the Civil Proposal Committee, in a conversation with Radio Liberty noted that she was completely not surprised by this:

- People who make decisions on expulsion really do not like to cancel them. Their reporting is much more important than the foreign policy of the country.

Closed courts

Arslan Erdogan was ordered to leave Russia for ten days, but he and his family decided to dispute the cancellation of a residence permit in the courts.

- We have been judging for a year and a half. First with the migration service, because they made a decision. At the trial, they said they received a letter from the FSB. We began to sue the FSB, ”says Ekaterina Erdogan.

All courts due to the heading "secret" are held closed. The latter at the moment was held on August 24 in Moscow in the Supreme Court of Russia. The plaintiffs were Ekaterina and Arslan Erdogan, the defendants - the UFSB in Udmurtia.

The only thing, I did not check if there are fines from the traffic police

Family Lawyer Erdogan Olga Reshetnikova told Radio Liberty that the Supreme Court decided to satisfy the lawsuit partially. Last Thursday, only the resolution of the decision was announced in court, the full text will be next week, and it will be clear from it whether Arslan Erdogan is expelled from Russia or not.

Due to the head of the “secret” Reshetnikova refused to discuss the statement of the FSB about the “danger to Russia” by Arslan Erdogan, but noted that he has a job in Russia, he provides his wife and two children and never violated Russian law. “The only thing I did not check if there are fines from the traffic police,” the lawyer ironizes.

Other Turks

Ekaterina Erdogan says her case is not the only one. At the end of 2015, a little less than 40 citizens of Turkey lived in Udmurtia, many with Russian wives. The demand to leave Russia Arslan Erdogan was one of the first.

- They thought the surname played a role (he is a namesake of Turkish President Recep Erdogan. - RS) . But during the year, the rest of the Turks in Udmurtia received such letters. Everyone with families suits everyone, there are refusals. We first reached the Supreme Court of Russia, ”she says.

Those who have no families in Russia mainly gathered and left.

Grandmother who lives in Turkey, granddaughter only on Skype sees: we are afraid that if we leave, they will not let us in

- There is one family. He has a bakery, a car wash, car repair, a child from a Russian citizen. He has been living here for 25 years, and he was written the same - about the threat to the country. And the fact that he has provided thirty jobs to the Russians does not care about anyone, ”continues Ekaterina Erdogan.

The report on the cancellation of a residence permit said that in a year you can try to enter Russia again. But those who have left for Turkey are not allowed to go to Russia. This is logical, notes Ekaterina Erdogan, but no one removed the charge of a threat to the country from them.

“Grandmother, who lives in Turkey, the granddaughter only sees on Skype: we are afraid that if we leave, they will not let us in,” she says.

At the time of publication of Radio, Freedom failed to contact other families of the Turks from Udmurtia. We also turned to the office of an adviser on the press of the Turkish Embassy in Moscow. They recorded the issue of Radio Liberty: are the facts of pressure on Turkish citizens in Russia continuing? But at the time of publication from the Turkish embassy, they did not provide an answer.