The Turkish humanitarian organization, “Imkan-Der” reported that Shamsuddin Batukayev was arrested by Turkish police on December 8, 2010 in Istanbul. Since then he has been held in the Kumkapi Foreign Branches building.

His wife, Aishat Batukayeva applied to “Imkan-Der” about her husband’s situation. The organization explained that Shamsuddin Batukayev had gone to the Istanbul Police Headquarters to apply for a residence permit, as have other Chechen asylum seekers in Turkey. Their residency permits are going to end on December 31st. He was arrested there immediately.

According to the organization, they spoke about the issue with the Chechen department at the Kumkapi Foreign Branches, but were told that it is not their decision, the order came from Ankara. They do not know what will happen, thus they have to wait for Ankara’s decision. The organization also visited Shamsuddin Batukayev and delivered some medicine that he uses regularly.

The organization urged the Turkish government to release Shamsuddin Batukayev and grant refugee status to all Chechen asylum seekers in Turkey.

At the same time, Aishat Batukayeva applied to the “Mazlumder” human rights organization for a pro-bono lawyer.

Who is Shamsuddin Batukayev?

He was born in exile in Kazakhstan in 1956. He came back to his homeland, Chechnya with his family in 1960. After his graduation from high school, he studied religion and architecture in Buhara and Tashkent. After the first Russian-Chechen war, he served as head of the Shari’a Courts in Chechnya for four years. He now has lived in Turkey as an asylum seeker for a few years.

*Text was translated by Waynakh Online and edited by Michael Capobianco