According to Temur Katamadze’s wife, the detained activist has been transferred to Turkey. As Nino Kakulia told journalists, Temur Katamadze’s transfer to Turkey happened in a deceitful manner.

“My friend informed me about Temur’s transfer to Turkey. My friend received a call from the police station in Armaghani. The transfer did not happen through Sarpi but rather from the south of Georgia, near the Armenian border.

He was taken out in a deceitful way. In recent days, he had been complaining about psychological pressure from the staff at the migration center, and last Friday, he had even announced a symbolic hunger strike. Apparently, he also broke down emotionally and agreed easily — we’re still clarifying the details. But the fact is that he was transferred last night. Also, the deadline for voluntary departure from the country expired yesterday, which he could not take advantage of because Temur did not have a valid document. As early as 2020, the Turkish side suspended the validity of his passport, and we only found out now, when we requested his documents from Turkey. He was also denied the issuance of a one-time travel document.

Temur is currently detained in Turkey. There is nothing concrete in his case. The repressive machine there is more active. Temur suspects that all of this is related to his activism. While Turkey supports diaspora communities and their activities, it is not convenient for them to have active leaders, so they try to get rid of them.

Temur fulfilled all the conditions to be granted residency in Georgia. There are many legal violations in his case. The fact remains that a person was deceitfully taken away,” said Nino Kakulia.