For almost six months, the Georgian public has been witness to the injustices suffered by the teacher and manager of the private Demirel College, Mustafa Emre Çabuk, and following the tragedy of his family.

The Georgian law enforcers detained Mr. Çabuk on 24 May 2017 based on the request made by the Turkish side, and placed him in pre-extradition detention. As for the members of his family, due to the threats made against them, the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia included them in a special protection programme. On 26 January, Tbilisi Court of Appeals rejected the appeal to grant Mustafa Emre Çabuk and his family members thestatus of refugees, which would also determine the issue of Çabuk’s extradition. In case of extradition, the risk is great that Çabuk will be subjected to inhuman treatment and possibly tortured.

Unfortunately, the actions against Çabuk represent an indirect message for other teachers of Demirel College and their family members, and they do not feel safe on the Georgian territory.

Demirel College and Black Sea University are part of the Chaglar network of educational institutions which has been operating in Georgia for 24 years, offering young people (so far, up to 30,000 pupils and students graduated from these institutions, many have brought success to Georgia at many international olympiads) high-quality education provided by professional and highly qualified teachers. Some of them have already become Georgian citizens as a result of special achievements that benefited the country.

Considering the aforementioned information, we call upon the President of Georgia to, by way of exception, grant Georgian citizenship to Mustafa Emre Çabuk and his family members as well as to the teachers of Demirel College and Black Sea University who truly have merits to Georgia and who wish to become citizens of our country. We believe that their rights will be better guaranteed and protected on the territory of Georgia as a result of such a step.

Transparency International Georgia

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association

International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy

Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre

Union Sapari

Georgian Democracy Initiative

Media Development Foundation

Economic Policy Research Centre

Green Alternative

Open Society Georgia Foundation

Georgian Farmers’ Association

Atlantic Council of Georgia

Centre for Investigative Journalism and Advocacy

Society and Banks

42nd Article of the Constitution

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information

Regional Centre for Strategic Studies

Civil Development Agency

Human Rights Centre

Kakheti Regional Development Foundation

Georgia’s Reforms Associates

Tolerance and Diversity Institute

Liberal Academy Tbilisi