ISTANBUL(Beruniy Alimov):In Turkey, the municipal government is concerned about the growing number of foreign fighters coming to the country.
An interview with Ozgur Karabat, a deputy of the Istanbul Council from the opposition People’s Republican Party, was published in the Turkish segment of social networks,
Commenting on the upcoming elections in Turkey (presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2023), as well as on the problems related to the soaring prices for housing, Karabat said that a large number of members of terrorist organizations, including natives of Uzbekistan who had received Turkish citizenship and thus acquired the right to vote in Turkey, lived on Kayaşehir district of Başakşehir in Istanbul.
According to Karabat, many foreigners allow themselves to buy housing in the said district, whose source of income remains quite doubtful. Also questionable is the existence of an account in the Central Bank with a capital of about 24.5 billion (the currency is not specified), which indicates a stable financial inflow to Turkey from unknown sources, in which Turkish citizens are also involved.
There is a mechanism whereby foreigners manage to obtain Turkish citizenship by attaching the missing amount to the cost of housing in the required documentation (citizenship can be obtained by purchasing real estate for a minimum $400,000 US dollars).
It is emphasized that the fighters are mercenaries, systematically absent from their places of residence for 3-5 months, and then return with large sums of cash. At the same time, no one is interested in investigating their sources of their income.
According to the deputy, 12,100 foreign nationals in the Başakşehir region have now been granted citizenship and the right to vote in the upcoming elections. Among them 4,344 Syrians, 1,060 Iraqis, 443 Iranians, 455 Libyans, 344 Afghans and others. In all, the quarter of the electorate is made up of natives of other states.
It is noteworthy that 4,517 people from the above list acquired Turkish citizenship after the elections in 2019 (when the position of the ruling Justice and Development Party was significantly undermined). Among them are radical militants from Uzbekistan.
Currently, there are 364 natives of Uzbekistan on the voter lists of the Başakşehir district who received Turkish citizenship. Most of them are wanted in their home country for terrorist and opposition activities.
This contingent is assisted in obtaining Turkish citizenship by “various nongovernmental non-profit organizations – “dernegs” located in Kayashehir (author: one of these “dernegs” is Özbekistan Kultur, Arastirma ve Dayanisma Dernegi, “ÖZKAD”, founded by Salafi sheikh Sodik Samarkandiy). The participants of the TV show called for a thorough study of the activities of such structures.
According to the TV program participants, Ankara considers these foreigners as potential voters for the ruling party and individuals who bring direct investments into the country’s economy. However, there is no verification of these persons from their countries of origin, their sources of income and other factors that could play a key role in the issuance of citizenship. Obtaining citizenship through investment, in the MP’s opinion, may pose a threat to Turkey’s security.
To sum up, there is an urgent need to develop a bill regulating the admission of foreigners who have very recently acquired Turkish citizenship in election process in Turkey.
