Passports of Green Left Party Co-Spokespersons Confiscated

Click to read the article in Turkish

The passports of the Co-Spokespersons of the Green Left Party, Eylem Tuncaelli and Naci Sönmez, who were at the airport to go to Germany, were confiscated today (November 23). Tuncaelli and Sönmez were prevented from leaving Turkey for Germany.

The Co-Spokespersons of the party were on their way to the capital city of Berlin to attend the 29th Conference of the European Green Party.

The Green Left Party of Turkey released a statement and announced that there has been no international travel ban on Tuncaelli and Sönmez:

"Our Co-Spokespersons Eylem Tuncaelli and Naci Sönmez, who went to the airport to attend the European Green Party Conference, were prevented from leaving (Turkey) and their passports were confiscated though there was no international travel ban imposed on them. This unlawful practice cannot intimidate us, we will continue the struggle."

Eylem Tuncaelli stated on Twitter, "When we went to the airport with Naci Sönmez for #EGP29, our passports were confiscated and we were prevented from going abroad even though no international travel ban has been imposed on us. These obstacles, unlawful practices will only help us to close the ranks in our struggle for democracy and law."

Naci Sönmez also said, "This morning, we came to the airport to attend the three-day meeting of the European Green Party. Though we do not have any international travel bans, our passports were seized and we were arbitrarily prevented from leaving (Turkey). This very incident has become an indicator of new Turkey and the news regime for us!" (EKN/SD)