Seven Ukrainian tourists unable to leave Turkey for three weeks due to suicide of group member

They are still considered suspects in the case.

Seven Ukrainian tourists have been unable to leave Turkey for several weeks after one member of their offshoot group died by suicide.

Information about this BBC was provided by Iryna Hromyko, a member of the offshoot group from Zaporizhzhia.

According to her, the group of Ukrainian tourists arrived in Turkey on October 15 to hike the popular Lycian Way. However, even before the hike began, on October 17, one member of the group died by suicide.

Interrogations of group members lasted more than 12 hours, after which a court banned the seven Ukrainians from leaving Turkey until the forensic medical examination is completed.

Later they found out that they were not witnesses in the case, but suspects, Iryna says.

Group members cannot travel to Ukraine, are cutting back on everything, are running out of money, and some may lose their jobs.

“No one tells us a specific date. It could be a week, or a month. On Saturday I posted on Facebook to somehow have an impact and speed things up,” says Iryna Hromyko.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko confirmed information about Ukrainians stuck in Turkey. He noted that diplomats are working to speed up the return of Ukrainian citizens home.

How did this happen?

Hromyko said the tragedy occurred on a beach near Ölüdeniz. One member of the group was in a difficult psychological state, stayed awake, and constantly called friends and relatives.

Other tourists noticed this and tried not to lose sight of him, but at one point the man separated from the group and stabbed himself in the carotid artery with a knife. He was still alive when he was taken to hospital, where he died.

“There was a Russian-speaking witness to the tragedy. Not a member of our group, who said he saw everything with his own eyes, but police did not take his statement or contact details,” she notes.

The Ukrainian’s body was returned to Ukraine and buried on October 22.

According to Hromyko, the tourists were first promised that the investigation would be completed in one week, then in two, and then the timeline became uncertain.

They applied to the Ukrainian consulate the day after the court hearing, on the advice of Turkish law enforcement officers. They were told to check the progress of the case through requests from the Ukrainian consul.

The tourist said the consulate did not help them with anything, only recommended a lawyer who lives in another city. And just to travel to Fethiye, where the court is located, the lawyer asked for $250.

According to her, over the past three weeks the tourists have been helped by members of the “Ukrainians in Fethiye” group. They tried to help with translation and to learn about the progress of the case through acquaintances among Turkish law enforcement officers.

On October 26, the tourists were unable to return to Ukraine as planned, because they cannot leave the country while the investigation is ongoing.

“Only yesterday, after a Facebook post, we were called by the consulate and asked for the case number, and they promised to make requests to the court starting Monday. And there was another call today,” says Iryna Hromyko.

She notes that her daughter and elderly mother are waiting for her at home, so she cannot afford to stay in Turkey for several months waiting for the investigation’s conclusions.

What the Foreign Ministry says

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has engaged all possible resources to resolve the situation with the group of Ukrainian tourists in Turkey; the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara and the consulate in Antalya are involved in the case, said MFA spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko.

Diplomats have also agreed with a local lawyer to provide free legal assistance to the Ukrainians in court.

For the duration of the investigative actions, the court imposed a travel ban on them, since they may still be suspects in a possible murder.

“The court will be able to review the ban on leaving Turkey after receiving the results of the forensic examination of the deceased’s body and of the object that caused the wound,” Nikolenko said.

The Ukrainian embassy has applied to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and the consul in Antalya also wants to meet with the Fethiye chief prosecutor and the forensic medicine leadership.