The visa-free regime existed between Tajikistan and Turkey for 6 years, after which Ankara decided to suspend the agreement.
Source: Sputnik Tajikistan.
April became a new page in Tajik-Turkish relations. Thus, on the 6th, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a law abolishing the visa-free regime with Tajikistan.
Without hesitation, official Dushanbe made a similar decision “to implement the principle of reciprocity.” Both documents will come into force on April 20.
The visa-free regime existed between the countries for 6 years. Sputnik Tajikistan talked to political scientists and found out how such a cooling of relations would result.
WHY TÜRKIYE
Turkey's decision to introduce a visa regime followed the bloody terrorist attack involving natives of Tajikistan in Crocus City Hall on March 22 and the arrest in Istanbul of forty people suspected of involvement in the terrorist organization "Islamic State"* on March 25. Among those detained were a citizen of Tajikistan and a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, who were preparing an attack on Turkish territory.
Many experts believe that it was the terrorist attack at Crocus that catalyzed the abolition of visa-free travel. The fact is that the investigation established the movements of the terrorists. Two of them visited Istanbul shortly before the bloody massacre, in which more than 140 people died.
Moreover, the alleged leader of the group, Faridun Shamsiddin**, could even be connected with Tajik extremist circles living in Turkey, as Sputnik Tajikistan found out. According to one version of the investigation, it was there that he received the necessary training to carry out a terrorist attack.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time that citizens of Tajikistan associated with ISIS* were preparing a terrorist attack in Turkey. Thus, on January 29, a Tajik man was arrested after an attack on a Catholic church in Istanbul, which resulted in the death of one person. In June last year, they caught Shamil Khukumatov, nicknamed “Abu Miskin,” who was allegedly one of the leaders of ISIS-Khorasan*.
In general, since the emergence of ISIS* in the Middle East, Türkiye has been considered a transit country for terrorists from all over the world. It was through this state that people reached Syria and Iraq to join terrorist groups later. Unfortunately, not many of them were arrested.
MANY QUESTIONS
In light of this fact, Tajik experts call the decision of the Turkish authorities to cancel the visa-free regime with Tajikistan unexpected.
Abdulgani Muhammadazimov, a teacher at the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at the National University of the Republic, noted that the document was signed during such a difficult period for Dushanbe.
“If we are talking about threats to the security of Turkey from terrorist organizations, then they have existed for 10 years. As you know, not only Tajiks are blamed for this, but also natives of other countries, including Central Asian countries, who were arrested for involvement in terrorist attacks. It would be logical if Ankara introduced such a regime for all countries. Isolating Tajikistan in this matter raises questions,” he said in an interview with Sputnik Tajikistan.
He recalled that Turkey introduced a visa-free regime for citizens of Tajikistan in 2018, according to which a person could enter the country without a permit and stay there for up to 90 days. The Turks received this opportunity in 2021, but they could live in Tajikistan for no more than 30 days.
Muhammadazimov explains that Turkey then approved visa-free travel in connection with a new economic policy to increase the export of goods abroad.
"It can be assumed that having lost votes in recent elections in Turkey's major cities, the ruling party led by Erdogan has taken steps to put security and threat issues first and unite society around this, hoping to turn things around in time for the 2028 presidential elections", - he added.
WHY TAJIKISTAN?
Other experts argue that although Turkey signed an agreement on cooperation in the fight against terrorism with Tajikistan, it was not always faithful to it and pursued its policies.
Security expert Nurullo Huseynov said that in the past, Tajikistan has repeatedly provided a list of its citizens accused of involvement in terrorism who are in Turkey, but Ankara has ignored it.
"The question is why Tajik citizens use Turkey to travel to Syria and Afghanistan. For example, they get there from Russia and Tajikistan, legally cross the Turkish-Iranian border through the Van region, and go to Afghanistan. I cannot believe that Turkish intelligence does not know about these cases,” the expert complains.
During the escalation of the war in Syria, Turkey was a transit country for dozens of fighters and their families from around the world, especially from Central Asia, including Tajikistan, who sought to join ISIS*.
According to some reports, back in 2014, Dushanbe approached Ankara with a request to introduce visas for Tajik citizens, but at that moment the Turkish side did not see such a need.
On the other hand, Huseynov believes that by abolishing visa-free travel, Turkey is giving a different flavor to the campaign to discredit Tajikistan and its authorities in the international arena.
“If you pay attention to the coverage of the terrorist attack in Crocus, you will see that the British and American media tried very hard to portray Tajikistan as a “breeding ground for the spread of extremism.” Thus, the intelligence services of these countries want to destroy Tajikistan’s relations with its close partners, using its citizens in terrorist attacks in Iran, Russia, and at a Chinese facility in Kabul. It is unknown whether the abolition of visa-free travel was done deliberately in this vein,” the expert noted.
The terrorist attack at the Crocus concert hall in Moscow was not the first case this year in which citizens of Tajikistan were involved. Last year there was an attack on a hotel in Kabul where Chinese citizens were staying, and another attack on the Shokhcharogh mosque in Shiraz. This year, there was a terrorist attack near the burial site of famous Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in Kerman.
The chairman of the People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan in Kulyab was also attacked; the criminals were operating under the flag of ISIS*. There was also information about the preparation of terrorist attacks on Navruz in Dushanbe and Vakhdat, but the State Committee for National Security denied it.
One can only guess how many more people will fall into the ISIS network and which country will be next.
*Terrorist organization, banned in Russia and Tajikistan.
**Included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring.
