The seven Turkish teachers who were illegally expelled from the Republic of Moldova on September 6, 2018 were sentenced in Turkey to prison terms of 7 to 12 years. Currently, some of these teachers are engaged in appeal proceedings in Turkish courts, while others were already set free. However, according to Promo-LEX association, they remain in Turkey as they are unable to leave the country and reunite with their families that reside in the Republic of Moldova as well, IPN reports.
After the conviction of the Republic of Moldova by the European Court of Human Rights, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe issued a number of important decisions on the execution of the judgment in the case of Ozdil and Others v. the Republic of Moldova. So far, the Committee has adopted seven decisions asking the Moldovan authorities to take individual and general measures aimed at repairing the harm caused to teachers and preventing such violations in the future.
According to Promo-LEX, at the last meeting of the Committee of Ministers, on June 11-13, 2024, the Committee of Ministers noted with interest the decisions to grant asylum seeker status to the applicants Riza Dogan, Mehmet Tüfekci and Mujdat Celebi. At the same time, it invited the authorities to continue their efforts to obtain information from the Turkish authorities on the applicants’ current situation in Turkey and strongly encouraged the Moldovan authorities to take the necessary diplomatic measures to facilitate their return to the Republic of Moldova, if they so wish.
“Despite the statements and promises made by a number of politicians, including by those who are now in power, nothing has been done to improve the situation of Turkish teachers in detention. During the visits by Moldovan officials to Turkey, their situation was not discussed, and the Ministry of Justice initiated the procedures for the application of the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons only in 2023, after the release of some of the teachers,” the association’s experts said.
At the same time, the criminal case on the expulsion of Turkish teachers continues to be examined in the Republic of Moldova. On February 16, 2023, the Chisinau Court of Appeals accepted the complaint filed by Galina Tüfekci, the wife of one of the Turkish teachers, annulling a 2020 ordinance withdrawing her status as an injured party and requesting the Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office to remedy the violations of her rights in a specific criminal case. She appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Justice, and the case is currently pending before the SCJ.
In the meantime, it was found that the Prosecutor’s Office did not carry out any substantial investigation in other criminal cases related to the “Turkish teachers’ case”. The way in which criminal cases have been managed since 2018, including the abusive withdrawal of the status of injured party of the wife of one of the teachers, the unjustified secrecy of the file and the dropping of charges against other persons involved seriously affected the administration of justice.
Promo-LEX reiterates its requests to the Government of the Republic of Moldova to implement the general and individual measures. More specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office must quickly and efficiently investigate the role of all persons involved in the process of expulsion of Turkish teachers. With regard to the investigation and criminal proceedings against those responsible, the authorities should make serious efforts to get at the truth about what happened and to fully investigate, under appropriate public scrutiny, the possible involvement of any high-ranking public figure.
