VZCZCXRO0311
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHAH #0690/01 1551025
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041025Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2906
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5255
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 2989
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2854
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 3499
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000690 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER 
DOJ/ICITAP FOR MOGLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PMIG PGOV KCRM SOCI TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN: DEPORTED TURKMEN 
"GASTARBEITERS" LINE UP AT THE ASHGABAT AIRPORT 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public 
Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  The number of illegal Turkmen migrant 
workers deported from Turkey due to the violations of the 
visa regime has reportedly increased significantly in 
the past year.  Failing to find jobs in their hometowns 
in Turkmenistan, young people, both male and female, seek 
employment in visa-free Turkey.  Detained by police, 
illegal migrants are deported and banned for five years. 
Once back in Turkmenistan, the deportees often look for 
illicit ways to delete the deportation stamp in their 
passport in order to find their way back to Turkey.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The number of Turkmen citizens deported from 
Turkey has significantly increased in the past months. 
Reportedly, around ten to 30 deported Turkmen arrive 
daily on every flight from Istanbul.  When Embassy 
political assistant returned from training last week 
via Istanbul, he observed some 25 passengers being 
stopped at the passport control by the Migration Service at 
the Ashgabat airport.  A visa clerk at the Turkish 
Embassy in Ashgabat confirmed that the Turkish Embassy 
deals with deportation cases everyday.  His 
colleague, who has been working at the Turkish Embassy 
for the past 15 years, claimed that, while previously the 
Turkish Embassy received only a few deportation 
telegrams, for the past two years they have been 
receiving long lists of Turkmen deportees every month. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Economic hardships and lack of jobs in small 
cities and villages of Turkmenistan force many Turkmen 
young people to seek illegal employment abroad.  Besides, 
cultural and language ties with Turkey, Turkmen 
citizens can travel to Turkey without a visa and stay for 
up to 30 days.  These factors are the main reasons for the 
increasing flow of Turkmen "gastarbeiters" (the German word 
which is used in Turkmenistan for illegal migrants) to 
Turkey, compared to other popular employment destinations 
like the UAE, Russia and the UK.  Local contacts report 
that they have met a lot of Turkmen "gastarbeiters" when 
they travel to Turkey for business or vacation.  One 
shared that, "Hanging around in Laleli (district in 
Istanbul), I came across a picture:  six people were 
standing together and talking on pay phones -- and three 
of them were Turkmen." 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Usually, Turkmen "gastarbeiters" work in the 
tourism, construction, textile, leather and service 
sectors in Turkey.  Women tend to work as caregivers for 
patients, children and the elderly.  For the most part, 
they are forced to work for very low wages and sometimes 
even go unpaid.  They tend to accept even the toughest 
working conditions as they wish to earn some money and 
return to their homeland as soon as possible.  A local 
contact reported that his classmate had been working in 
Turkey for the past year as a babysitter for USD 500 per 
month.  "This salary is too low for Istanbul, but her 
employers provide her food and shelter, which helped her 
to save her earnings and transfer 300 dollars every month 
to her family in Turkmenabad." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Once deported, "gastarbeiters" get a stamp from 
the Turkish police in their passports.  "The stamp does 
not allow the holder to cross the Turkish borders for the 
next five years," explained the visa clerk from the 
Turkish Embassy.  Additionally, the deportees are fined 
approximately $150 for every month of the visa violation. 
When they arrive in Ashgabat, following interrogation 
 
ASHGABAT 00000690  002 OF 002 
 
 
they receive another stamp from the Turkmen Migration 
Service, which prohibits them from leaving the country to 
any destination for one year.  A lot of deportees, 
finding no job at home, look for the ways to get back to 
their "gastarbeiter" life.  Some claim to pay $1,000 
bribes to "lose" and get a new Turkmen passport (usually 
with one letter changed in their last name), which helps 
them to travel back to Turkey. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) COMMENT: "Gastarbeiters" claim that more and more 
of their "colleagues" will be deported from Turkey as a 
lot of businesses lose jobs due to the financial crisis 
in Europe.  An acquaintance of a local contact, deported 
last year from Turkey, gave his opinion that, "until the 
government  would be able to provide jobs for people in 
provinces, the lines of deported citizens at the airport 
won't end."  END COMMENT. 
 
MILES