Saudi Arabia serving as proxy for Erdogan as he extends his anti-human rights campaign to Turks living all over the world

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Gotham Government Relations on behalf of 11 Turkish citizens in exile mentioned below:

Saudi Arabia – a country already under serious scrutiny from a diverse group of international human rights organizations – is preparing to send eleven innocent Turkish citizens back to Turkey where they could be tortured or killed by the forces of Turkish president Erdogan – the political leader who orchestrated Turkey's transformation into a one party dictatorship.

The Turkish community in exile – targeted by Erdogan because of their interest in preserving democracy in their country – is planning a series of demonstrations; and the first one will likely take place in front of the Saudi embassy. These events will place a harsh focus on Saudi Arabia's own well-documented human rights abuses right before President Trump's visit to that country on May 25^th. 

The Turkish nationals, whose crime is that they might be members of an opposition political party, some who have been legally living in Saudi Arabia for the past 40 years, are being deported from Saudi Arabia back to Turkey where they fear they will undergo barbaric methods of torture under Erdogan's order. 

The barbarity of their detention is underscored by the fact that entire families – including children – are also subjected to deportation. These supposed criminals are professionals – doctors, lawyers, and teachers that have demonstrated their civility and humanity while working in Saudi Arabia. They were taken into custody on March 15^th, 2017, treated like terrorists by the Saudi police, and are being held without any legal rationale. In essence, they have become stateless by the Saudi's own lack of concern for basic human rights

Terrified for their loved ones' lives, the family members of the 11 individuals have hired Gotham Government Relations to resolve this matter. Whatever their political leanings, these 11 should not be unlawfully detained because an increasingly dictatorial and paranoid government wants them returned so they can be persecuted; just as thousands of Turkish citizens currently living in the country under Erdogan's reign of terror are experiencing as the whole world watches.

The Saudi Arabian government, acting as Erdogan's lapdog, has blocked any of Gotham's attempts to save these 11 innocent individuals lives.  Saudi Arabia has rejected any meeting request to discuss this urgent situation which leaves the rest of the world wondering if Saudi Arabia is simply serving as a proxy for the human rights abusing Erdogan.

SOURCE Gotham Government Relations