July 24 marks one year since Alisher Sakhatov and Abdulla Orusov disappeared in Türkiye. Their families are still searching for answers about their whereabouts and fate.
Sakhatov and Orusov are Turkmen activists and bloggers who spoke openly about developments in Turkmenistan, including corruption, abuses by Turkmen security services, restrictions on freedom of movement, and the hardships faced by Turkmen migrants abroad. From Türkiye, where they had lived since 2018, they were among the few independent voices for many people in Turkmenistan living under a government that tolerates virtually no dissent.
In April 2025, Turkish authorities detained them under vague national security claims and ordered them deported. The constitutional court temporary suspended the order while assessing the risks of persecution in Turkmenistan. Within two weeks of the suspension, both activists went missing.
Turkish authorities opened investigations, but a year later have yet to publicly account for what happened to the men or establish their whereabouts. The lack of information about how they went missing raises serious concerns that they may have been unlawfully transferred to Turkmenistan and may be facing unfair trial, inhuman treatment, or torture.
The anguish caused by disappearance extends far beyond those who vanish. Their families, left in unbearable uncertainty not knowing whether their loved ones are dead or alive and unable to find closure or seek accountability, suffer cruel treatment. Every day that passes without news deepens the suffering.
Nor have Turkmen authorities publicly addressed the fate of two of its disappeared citizens or indicated any effort to seek information from Türkiye. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan remains one of the world’s most repressive countries, where peaceful critics face intimidation, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and transnational repression.
Türkiye should urgently reinvigorate its investigation, disclose its findings, and establish the whereabouts of Sakhatov and Orusov. It should uphold its obligation not to deport or otherwise return activists and other critics to Turkmenistan if they face a credible risk of torture, imprisonment, or other serious human rights violations.
The international community should continue pressing both Türkiye and Turkmenistan for answers, and Turkmen authorities should publicly disclose whether the men are in their custody or not.
It has been a year. The uncertainty over Sakhatov’s and Orusov’s fate and the suffering of their families must end.
