Turkey to stop granting residency permits for Pakistanis amid spike in crime rate

Turkey has decided to tighten its visa policy for nationals from Pakistan after some Pakistanis were found to be involved in the abduction of four Nepali citizens in Istanbul. As per reports, the Recep Tayyip Erdogan-led government went on to make visa policies for Pakistani nationals after four Nepali citizens were kidnapped “at gunpoint” from Taksim Square by a group of six Pakistan nationals. Media reports had stated that Nepalis were also subjected to torture after the abduction. 

According to Arab News, the Turkish government has tightened the visa policy for Pakistanis after ‘crimes’ reportedly involving Pakistanis. The report added that the government has also stopped issuing temporary residence permits for Pakistanis. The Pakistanis, involved in the abduction of Nepalis, also demanded a ransom of 10,000 euros. But later on, a police raid was successful in nabbing and arresting the kidnappers. 

Apart from the abduction of Nepali citizens, in another incident, some Pakistani nationals were also detained by the Turkish authorities for protesting the ouster of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan from the office. The arrested protesters were ultimately released upon the intervention of Pakistani diplomats. 

It is to note here that a significant number of Pakistanis work and live in Istanbul, Ankara along with several other major cities in Turkey. Additionally, every month several hundreds of Pakistani citizens visit the transcontinental country, as per the report. Last year, another group of Pakistani nationals was apprehended in Istanbul for kidnapping fellow countrymen and demanding a 50,000 euro ransom. 

‘Pakistani Get out’ hashtags posted on social media in Turkey

The latest report about Turkey tightening its visa policies for Pakistanis came a week after hashtags including “Pakistani Perverts” and “Pakistani Get Out” were spotted on social media platforms in Turkey. The hashtags followed the emergence of a number of videos purportedly showing Pkaistnai men sharing inappropriate videos of women and children on TikTok, ANI reported citing tweets by Rezvani, an engineer at the Technical University of Catalonia. 

In a  series of tweets, Rezvani explained how the videos of Pakistani men have caused outrage in the country and have escalated. As per reports, Pakistani men living in Turkey even shared videos of where they can be seen stalking Turkish women walking on the street. “The harassment videos of Afghan and Pakistani perverts are endless! This time, a Pakistani pervert videotaped the women working in the market and shared it on TikTok. He mocked the cashier by throwing coins from afar,” Rezvani quoted a Turkish news portal as saying.

Image: AP/Shutterstock