Türkiye has introduced a visa regime for citizens of Tajikistan

Türkiye has introduced a visa regime for citizens of Tajikistan. The decree of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was published on Saturday, April 6, in the Turkish Government Gazette. On Sunday, the Tajik Foreign Ministry confirmed receipt of an official notification from Ankara.

It is reported that the visa regime for citizens of Tajikistan holding ordinary foreign passports will begin to operate on April 20. The Turkish authorities do not officially explain its introduction. It is not yet clear whether Tajik citizens will be able to obtain a visa upon arrival in Turkey at the border or will have to apply for it at the embassy.

Currently, citizens of Tajikistan have the right to enter Turkey without a visa for up to 30 days. The Tajik Foreign Ministry stated that it could take retaliatory measures based on the principle of reciprocity, and also recommended that citizens not use Turkey for transit travel.

How Radio Ozodi notes (Tajik service of Radio Liberty), the message about the introduction of a visa regime for citizens of Tajikistan upset many users of social networks. Türkiye is an important destination for tourists and business people from Tajikistan, as well as an important transit point for them. Radio Ozodi’s interlocutor, political scientist Abdumalik Kodirov, like many commentators, linked the decision of the Turkish government with the recent attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow, in which several citizens of Tajikistan were arrested in Russia on suspicion of involvement. “What Turkey has now undertaken is called ‘collective punishment’ of the citizens of Tajikistan,” he noted.

Earlier it was reported that at least two suspects in the attack on Crocus spent some time in Istanbul and then flew to Moscow.

• Responsibility for the terrorist attack in Crocus was claimed by the Islamic State, a recognized terrorist organization. In January, she also claimed responsibility for an attack on the Catholic Church in Istanbul, among the attackers were citizens of Tajikistan and Russia. On Saturday, Turkish authorities reported the detention of 48 people allegedly linked to ISIS. Their citizenship is not reported.
• The authorities of Tajikistan condemned the attack on Crocus City Hall; it was reported that persons suspected of involvement in the activities of the Islamic State were detained in the country. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan officially rejected the statements of the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev that the Ukrainian Embassy in Dushanbe was allegedly recruiting mercenaries to conduct military operations against Russia. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that “the Russian official’s assertion has no basis.” Representatives of the Russian authorities claim that there is some kind of Ukrainian trace in the terrorist attack at Crocus, which is called absurd in Kyiv and the West.