On 23 March, 2021 representatives of the Russian authorities informed the Turkmen activist Rozgeldy Choliey that he had been denied political asylum in Russia and would not be granted the status of a refugee.
He was forcibly urged to board the plane bound to Istanbul.As of now the plane has not taken off yet.
He has been held at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow since 2 March.
On 21 March renowned mixed martial arts athletes Zabit Magometsharipov and Magomet Ismailov from Dagestan and Karachay-Cherkessia arrived at the airport to support the Turkmen activist. The athletes learned about Choliyev’s story from the Internet.
Border guard officers, police officers and airport staff approached the athletes to take a photo with them and ask them to sign an autograph.
Rozgeldy Choliyev, a student of Karachayevo-Cherkessk State University, has been posting videos since mid February 2021 on YouTube criticizing the policy pursued by the Turkmen authorities and President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov.
In December the administration of the University and the Russian Federal Security Service started exerting pressure on the student.
Cholyev has a spouse in Russia, who is doing a course at the same university, and a son, born in May 2020.The post Rozgeldy Choliyev denied asylum in Russia and to be deported to Turkey first appeared on Chronicles of Turkmenistan.