Turkiye has resumed issuing a residence permit (permit) to citizens of Turkmenistan with renewed passports, the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation reports.
Turkish migration services began to refuse to accept documents for the extension of a residence permit (kimlik) to Turkmen citizens from March 29, 2023, who have expired biometric passports, but with an insert about the extension of the document.
The consulate of Turkmenistan began to paste the insert on the extension of the validity of Turkmen passports during the pandemic, when the borders were closed and Turkmen citizens could not return to their homeland to get a new passport.
After that, Turkish lawyer Berkin Arkan turned to the Turkish Migration Service for an explanation of the situation. According to him, the Turkish authorities intended to stop accepting renewed passports due to the fact that air traffic between the countries has now been resumed and it is possible to return to Turkmenistan and get a new passport. However, after discussions, it was decided to resume accepting extended documents.
According to the THF, from April 3, passports with renewal inserts are accepted again.
“The migrant, whose documents were not accepted on March 30 in the Fatih district of Istanbul, said that the same Turkish official who then refused him, today (April 5) gave permission to issue a package of documents,” human rights activists write.
Several more similar cases are reported, when at the end of March, citizens of Turkmenistan were denied acceptance of "overdue" documents, but they were accepted a week later.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
April 12, 2023