The Denmark based civic organization “Free Caucasus” has sent letters to the President and Prime Minister of Turkey, in connection with the recent assassination of three Chechen asylum seekers in Istanbul.

The organization’s letter, which was signed by Isa Munayev (Chechnya), Chairman of the “Free Caucasus”; Ilyas Musayev (Chechnya), Head of the Organizing Committee; Rusudan Giorberidze (Georgia), Deputy; Safar Sadigi (Azerbaijan), Deputy; Professor Helen Krag (Denmark) and Professor Karl-Erik Foverskov (Denmark), was sent to the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gul, and the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In their letter, the organization references the recent murders in Istanbul as well as three previous murders of Chechens in the country. The group points out that none of the perpetrators have been found.

“We are surprised by the position of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been publically defending the rights of Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli troops and demanding punishment for the guilty parties. However, he has remained silent when his Muslim Chechen brothers are shot in broad daylight in his own country. This is a fact of double standards by the Turkish authorities against Chechens.

In this regard, in accordance with the rules of international law, our organization, which includes representatives of the Caucasian diaspora from Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Georgia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia expect you to begin an immediate investigation into the killings of Chechen refugees in your country. Also, we demand that the you ask Russia to cease its terrorist activities, committed by the hand of its special services in Turkey.

If today, Turkish authorities are not able to ensure the safety of Chechen asylum seekers who are temporarily residing in Turkey, we ask you to formally notify our socio-political organization ‘Free Caucasus’ so that we can negotiate with authorities from European countries in order to find political asylum for Chechen refugees in Turkey,” the letter said.

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