Turkey deports refugees who participated in women's rights rally

(Update with 'statements' in paragraphs '4 and 5')

Turkish authorities deported four refugees from Iran for participating in a pro-Istanbul Convention demonstration, Kaosgl, an Istanbul-based LGBT right organization reported on Tuesday.

Turkish police on Monday detained three female and one male refugees in Denizli province for participating in a press release and carrying banners during a pro-Istanbul Convention demonstration on March 24 in the same city, Kaosgl said.

Following the detention, the authorities issued a deportation decision for the refugees on the same day, Kaosgl added.

Names of the detained refugees are Zeynab Sahafi, Leila Faraji, Mohammad Pourakbari and Esmail Fattahi.

One of friends of Zeynab Sahafi shares a video in which police came and asked Sahafi to come with them.

URGENT

1-Her name is Zeynab Sahafi (Aka Zeynab Persepolisi). She's been arrested by Turkish police in Denizli. If she's deported to Iran, her life would be in danger

In Iran, where women can't to enter stadiums, Zeynab had been arrested for entering stadiums dressed up as a man pic.twitter.com/HwzINNcc1A

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) April 5, 2021

The deportation of the female refugees arrives as the European leaders criticized Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention during their visit to Turkey on Tuesday.

“We had a long speech on the Istanbul convention. Withdrawal did not give the right signal", President of the European Commission, Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen said on Tuesday after meeting with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.