Khatibzadeh: We are following up on the situation of the "missing" Kurds in Türkiye
The fate of nine Iranian Kurdish refugees who were handed over by Turkey to a group it supports in Syria is unknown. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman says that it is following the situation of the “missing” group in Turkey through its embassies in Ankara and Damascus.
Nine Iranian Kurdish refugees have been handed over to the “Free Syrian Army” after being arrested in Turkey, instead of being deported to their country. These individuals, including eight from Paveh and one from Sardasht, had identified themselves as Syrian Kurds when they were arrested.
Regarding the "disappearance" of these citizens, Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, told Fars News Agency that Tehran is following up on the issue through its consular department and embassies in Ankara and Damascus: "In this regard, we have also delivered a note to the Turkish side seeking information about their situation."
He emphasized that Iran is also seriously pursuing the issue through its embassy in Damascus.
The families of these Kurdish citizens have said that they wanted to go to Europe through Turkey and that the smuggler advised them to identify themselves as Syrian Kurds so that they would not be returned to Iran.
Relatives of these refugees staged a sit-in in front of the Turkish embassy in late December due to lack of information and concern about their fates over the past four and a half months.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman had also said in his previous weekly meeting: "The issue of the illegal entry of several Iranian citizens during the Turkish Foreign Minister's visit to Tehran was included as one of the topics on the agenda of the talks, and it was agreed that the border guards would work together to advance this work."
Turkish authorities have not yet commented on the matter.
According to Kurdish media and quoting the families of the detained Iranian citizens, they had left for Turkey in Farvardin 1402. The police arrested them on September 21 and sent them to Syria four days later.
The human rights website "HeNgaw" identified these refugees as Bahman Shadravyan, Masoud Heydari, Saeed Ahmadi, Damavand Pakseresht, Afshar Rostami, Hedayat Rokhzadi, Arman Rashidi, Mobin Valdbeigi, and Fardin Darvishpour, and wrote: "They are now being held in one of the camps affiliated with groups supported by Turkey."
"These nine refugees had a brief video call with their families about two months ago through a humanitarian organization," writes Hengaw. "According to their families, these nine refugees are very weak physically and have not shaved their beards."
Meanwhile, Fars News Agency reported that the "Syrian terrorist group" has contacted the families of these citizens and demanded $2,000 for each of them to be released.
Source: DW
