Travel Ban Overturned: Turkmen Woman and Her Daughter Rejoin Family in Turkey

After nearly a year of separation, Zulfiya Kazhir and her six-year-old daughter Sena have finally been allowed to leave Turkmenistan and reunite with their family in Turkey. The case drew widespread public attention after the pair, Zulfiya, a Turkmen citizen, and Sena, a Turkish citizen, were detained while attempting to leave the country in September 2024. The long-awaited reunion took place on July 15, and a video capturing the emotional moment was shared on TikTok by Zulfiya’s husband, Turkish national Ahmed Sefa Kacir.   A Sudden Separation In the summer of 2024, Zulfiya traveled to Turkmenistan with Sena to renew her documents. However, their scheduled return flight on September 18 was abruptly halted when Zulfiya was denied boarding at Ashgabat airport. Authorities cited her temporary placement on a no-fly list, though no further explanation was provided at the time. Only later did Turkmenistan’s migration service inform her that she was subject to a travel ban. Despite numerous appeals to both Turkmen and Turkish authorities, the family’s efforts to lift the restriction proved unsuccessful for many months. The situation was especially dire due to Sena’s medical and developmental needs. Diagnosed with gluten intolerance and autism spectrum disorder, she requires a specific diet, regular hygiene protocols, and access to developmental therapy, services largely unavailable in Turkmenistan. Collective Punishment After nearly ten months of legal and diplomatic stalemate, Zulfiya learned that the travel ban was linked to her brother’s alleged involvement in armed conflicts in Syria. Although he had not lived in Turkmenistan for over 20 years and Zulfiya had no contact with him, her name was included on a restricted travel list alongside other relatives, a practice critics describe as a form of collective punishment. A Direct Plea to the President As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, frustrated by the lack of progress, Zulfiya recorded a video appeal to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, calling for an end to the restriction on her freedom of movement. In the message, she identified her family as ethnic Tatars and explained that her mother and sister also hoped to leave for Tatarstan, their ancestral homeland. “Let me and my daughter return home,” she pleaded in the video, which was widely circulated online. Shortly afterward, the travel ban was lifted. On July 15, her husband posted a video from the airport showing the family’s emotional reunion, filled with hugs, tears, and relief, marking the conclusion of their nearly year-long ordeal.

Turkmen Woman Appeals to President After Year-Long Travel Ban

Zulfiya Kazhyr, a citizen of Turkmenistan, and her six-year-old daughter have been barred from leaving the country for nearly a year, despite renewing their passports and submitting multiple appeals to authorities in both Turkmenistan and Turkey. Kazhyr has now made a public appeal to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, urging him to intervene. Trapped in Limbo Kazhyr, a Turkmenistan national living in Turkey, traveled to Ashgabat in the summer of 2024 to renew her passport. After the renewal was completed, her husband, Turkish citizen Ahmet Sefa, bought tickets for their return to Istanbul. However, when they arrived at the airport, Kazhyr was unexpectedly prevented from boarding the flight. Immigration officials provided no explanation. Her daughter, who holds Turkish citizenship and suffers from autism and celiac disease, a condition requiring a strict gluten-free diet and regular medical supervision, remains in Turkmenistan with her. “Please, I beg you, help us. My daughter is exhausted; she has been sick twice here,” Kazhyr pleaded in a video addressed to President Berdimuhamedov. “I cannot manage her condition properly here. There are no suitable products, and this is not my home.” While authorities do not restrict the child from leaving, her mother is not permitted to depart. Sefa continues to send specialized food from Turkey, but proper care remains impossible in his absence. Sefa said he has appealed to the foreign ministries and embassies of both countries but has received no response. “We’re in a hopeless situation. My daughter can leave, but how can they separate a child from her mother?” he said. Attempts by journalists to reach Turkmenistan's migration service were unsuccessful. Officials declined to comment and advised Kazhyr to "call herself." A Systemic Issue According to Istanbul-based Turkmen activist Zarina Akhtyamova, such restrictions are not uncommon. She cites poverty, unemployment, and inadequate medical access among Turkmen migrants in Turkey as likely motivations for the state's unofficial control over citizens’ departures. In January 2025, two Turkish nationals publicly appealed to Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Serdar Berdimuhamedov to permit their Turkmen wives to leave Ashgabat. The women, like Kazhyr, had traveled home solely to renew their passports and were then prevented from departing without explanation. Activists report that at least 60 families have faced similar issues. Following the January appeal, authorities reportedly allowed some women to leave. A source within the migration service said that of approximately 150 affected individuals, 60 have since returned to Turkey. Kazhyr and her daughter, however, remain in Ashgabat. The child’s health continues to decline, and the family’s calls for justice remain unanswered.