'Massive Anxiety' As Turkey Cracks Down On International NGOs
Just before Ramadan in late spring 2017, the full might of the Turkish state descended on a foreign aid agency in the border town of Gaziantep. Six different government agencies, among them the migration directorate and the gendarmerie, had come to search the offices, demanding to see permits, licenses, and registrations.
“The entire gamut of government departments who had the right to investigate a foreign firm was there,” a senior employee of the organization said. It was the second inspection in a month. A Syrian staffer whose work permit was still pending jumped off a wall to evade detention, out of fear that he might get deported. The authorities left soon after, having found no evidence that the agency had broken the law. . .