The Freedom House published an article titled Ten Findings from Ten Years of Data on Transnational Repression. It summarizes the key findings from 1,219 incidents by 48 governments in 103 countries. Only 10 regimes, including Turkmenistan, were responsible for nearly 80% of cases. Turkmenistan ranks 7 with 53 incidents of direct, physical transnational repression against its own citizens. The list also includes Tajikistan (92) and Uzbekistan (47).
Freedom House defines transnational repression as “the tactics used by governments to stifle dissent among political exiles in other countries”. The most common form of transnational repression is detention (503 cases) and unlawful deportations (241), which governments frequently justify by false terrorism allegations.
Transnational repression violates basic freedoms, including free speech and assembly. For example, in 2021, Turkish authorities detained 10 Turkmenistani activists protesting at the Turkmenistan Consulate in Istanbul. Moreover, journalists are also targeted, with 124 incidents recorded against exiled reporters since 2014. For instance, Ruslan Myatiev, director and chief editor of Turkmen.news, an exile media outlet was denied entry into Turkey on July 25, 2024 at the request of the government of Turkmenistan. Turkish officers detained Myatiev for four hours and questioned him about his work before escorting him onto a flight back to the Netherlands.
