Journalist Aziz Oruç Detained After Iran 'Forced Him to Illegally Cross the Border'

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The detention of journalist Aziz Oruç on December 11 was announced by the Ministry of Interior, which called him a "terrorist."

Oruç told the Mezopotamya Agency via his attorneys how he left Iraq and ended up in Turkey.

Accordingly, he left Sulaymaniyah, Iraq for Iran on December 8. He planned to cross into Armenia from there, and fly to Europe from Armenia. However, accused of having a fake passport, he was detained by the police of Armenia.

"They locked me in a room for several hours. They threatened me and used violence against me. I told them that I am a journalist and that I wanted to move to Europe because I was sentenced to prison in Turkey. I conveyed my request for asylum to Armenia.

"However, all my requests were rejected with threats. They handcuffed me and threatened me, saying, "We will hand you over to Iran, and they will execute you there." Then they handed me over to Iran, the intelligence [agency] there. Iranian intelligence detained me. They took me to court after two days of detention. They decided to extradite me, issuing a one million and 800 thousand Iranian rial of fine.

"On one night, they left me at the Turkey-Iran border surrounded by wire mesh. They wanted me to cross the wire mesh and illegally enter Turkey. Although I repeatedly tried to go back to Iran from the soil of Turkey and to enter Turkey through official ways, they didn't let me do that.

"I was wounded while crossing the boundary wires there. I was left here to die. Then I came to Doğubayazıt. Iran and Armenia have committed crimes by refusing to accept my right to international asylum. All policies carried out by these two countries are contrary to international law. I will apply to the international courts for this." (RT/VK)