Natives of Northern Caucasus massively detained in Turkey, Diaspora members report

Mass arrests of people from Northern Caucasus began in Turkey. Members of the North-Caucasian Diaspora collect signatures under an appeal to the Turkish authorities with a demand to stop the persecution of migrants and release the detainees.

According to the version of the North-Caucasian Diaspora members, in recent days, 21 natives of Northern Caucasus, mainly of Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Ingushetia, including women and children, were detained in several cities of Turkey. The number of the detainees includes a journalist, a religious figure, and athletes. The natives of Northern Caucasus have been detained, since the Turkish authorities suspect that people from the North-Caucasian republics and their family members may be involved in terrorist activities.

Ali Viskhadjiev, a member of the Chechen Diaspora in Turkey, the director of the public organization "Kavkazder", has noted that earlier, there had also been cases of mass detentions in Turkey.

"There were cases when women gave birth to their children directly in deportation camps," he said.

However, according to him, after the detentions, members of the Caucasian Diaspora united.

On October 26, hundreds of people took part in a flashmob on Twitter which started a broadcast with hashtag #KafkasyalıMuhacirlereSahipCık (Let's help the Caucasian Muhajirs, – note of the "Caucasian Knot").

On October 28, the Confederation of Circassian organizations "Cherkesfed" demanded from the authorities to deal with the problem of North-Caucasian internally displaced persons (IDPs) and include them in refugee integration programmes, similar for refugees from Syria.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.