{"id":448708,"date":"2020-09-06T17:38:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T17:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/?p=448708"},"modified":"2020-10-07T18:26:16","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T18:26:16","slug":"the-fallout-from-turkish-teachers-expulsion-two-years-after-it-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moldova.org\/en\/the-fallout-from-turkish-teachers-expulsion-two-years-after-it-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"The fallout from Turkish teachers\u2019 expulsion two years after it happened"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

On September 6, 2018, exactly 2 years ago, an illegal operation was carried out by the Moldovan authorities. As a result, 7 Turkish teachers\u00a0from “Orizont” High Schools\u00a0located in Chisinau and Ceadir-Lunga were suddenly detained and\u00a0expelled from the Republic of Moldova, as they would have posed a threat to national security.<\/p>\n

All Turkish citizens who were improperly removed from the territory of the Republic of Moldova were sentenced to prison in Turkey.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) of the Republic of Moldova claimed, at that moment, that the Turkish teachers would have had links to an Islamist group from Turkey and declared them “undesirable persons”<\/em> without publishing any official decision.\u00a0The “Orizont” teachers had been taken directly to Chisinau Airport, where a charter plane was waiting for them and immediately took them to Turkey. Their families had no knowledge of their fate for several weeks.<\/p>\n

Two out of the seven employees were teachers and the other five held administrative positions at the educational institution. Most of them have got families in the Republic of Moldova and children with the Moldovan citizenship, living in Moldova for up to 20 years.<\/p>\n

By its\u00a0decision<\/a>\u00a0of June 11, 2019, the ECtHR found a violation of Articles 5.1 and 8 of the\u00a0European Convention on Human Rights<\/strong>\u00a0and forced the Republic of Moldova to pay\u00a025 000\u00a0euro for five Turkish citizens, whose rights were violated.<\/p>\n

A total amount of\u00a0125 000<\/strong>\u00a0euro as a compensation of the moral damage was decided to be paid by the Moldovan state.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To date, no one has been prosecuted for this illegal operation. In February 2020, Prosecutor General\u00a0Alexandru Stoianoglo<\/strong>\u00a0announced in a\u00a0press conference<\/a> that a criminal case was filed against the former director of the SIS, Vasile Botnari<\/strong>, for abuse of authority in the expulsion under supervision of Turkish teachers from Moldova.\u00a0Since then, no hearing has taken place on this case.<\/p>\n

According to the Prosecutor General of Moldova, the entire operation of removal of Turkish citizens from the country was arranged, coordinated and managed directly by Botnari. Other persons earlier figuring in the same criminal prosecution \u2013 two former SIS deputy directors and the head of the Bureau of Migration and Asylum (BMA) \u2013 were declared as executing the SIS director orders without knowing that they were illegal, as Stoianoglo stated. They were removed from the criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

The probation office declared that the SIS has taken over the expulsion actions in the absence of a written request from the BMA or a collaboration agreement in this regard, that is while the BMA is the only institution competent to organise and carry out the necessary activities in order to remove foreign citizens from the country.<\/p>\n

S<\/span>everal days after the teachers’\u00a0<\/span>arrest, their families received decisions issued by the BMA, dated 5<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>September, 2018, banning the Turkish citizens from entering Moldovan territory for a period of five years and ordering their expulsion under supervision from Moldova by the BMA in accordance with section 58 of the Status of Aliens Act, as being stated in the ECtHR decision.\u00a0This proves, if not the fault of the BMA, at least the attempt to cover its tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, Vasile Botnari still remains an influential person. Previously, Ziarul de Garda wrote that he became an adviser to the president of the State Road administration (SRA). This information wasn’t confirmed<\/a> by the SRA administration though.<\/p>\n

The former head of the BMA,\u00a0Olga Poalelungi<\/strong>, removed from office in September 2019 and accused of expulsion under supervision of Turkish teachers, was reinstated to the former position. That happened despite the fact that her signature was on the decision of the BMA, according to which the Turkish citizens were declared undesirable on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.<\/p>\n

See also:\u00a0The Turkish teachers\u2019 expulsion case \u2013 is the mystery solved?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Several Moldovan politicians made statements, referring to the event that happened 2 years ago and\u00a0for which no one was prosecuted.<\/p>\n

“The torments to which the <\/em>Turkish teachers are subjected in the prisons of Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, the friend of the Moldovan socialists, as well as the sufferings of their families are on the conscience of Moldovan officials,”<\/em> mentioned<\/a> the MP Maria Ciobanu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“Two years ago, 7 teachers were abducted from their homes by state agents and deported to Turkish prisons. No one was punished. Dodon and Plahotniuc are responsible for the illegal deportation of the 7 teachers. Because of them, the Republic of Moldova was convicted by the ECtHR on this case,”<\/em> said the Party of Action and Solidarity leader, Maia Sandu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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