Parliament holds hearings on case of seven Turkish citizens expelled from Moldova

Chisinau, 8 September /MOLDPRES/ - Parliamentary hearings on the case of expulsion of seven Turkish citizens from Moldova were held at the Moldovan parliament today. The heads from the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry and Education, Culture and Research Ministry were heard.

At the end of the hearings, held in close format, Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu made press statements, in which he said that those seven employees of the Orizont lyceum had been in the focus of intelligence officers for almost ten years and the procedures of expulsion had not been started at the demand by the Turkish authorities.  

Candu noted that the subject on expulsion of those seven teachers was a more sensitive one; yet, SIS employees said that all procedures carried out had been legal and the applications on asylum submitted by teachers had been earlier turned down.  

”The subject is complex; I think this is not the last meeting. We will analyze the subject in continuation, including from the viewpoint of the observance of human rights,” Candu said.    

Referring to the situation of the Orizont lyceum, the parliament speaker said that, each time, the authorities had answered negatively and would answer negatively to demands to close this lyceum.    

The agenda of the hearings includes issues concerning the materials accumulated by the Intelligence and Security Service, which led to the expulsion of the Turkish citizens, ensuring the right to education of the children from the Orizont lyceum, as well as information on the developments in the case of Moldova’s diplomatic missions after 6 September 2018.    

MAEIE informed that protests had been held at the diplomatic representations of Moldova in the USA, Canada and another six European states. The embassies’ work was ceased for several hours in certain cases.    

(Reporter A. Zara, editor  M. Jantovan)