Only 2 out of 45 people whom an AKP municipality sent to Germany for a workshop, returned back to Turkey. As Turkish authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, reports suggested that the case was not limited to Malatya's Yeşilyurt municipality.
The organization was part of an initiative launched by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) municipality in the eastern Malatya province's Yeşilyurt district.
The workshop named “Project to Raise Environmentally Conscientious People” was held by Mega Kilit GMBH in the German city of Hannover.
The incident became public when Yeşilyurt councilors from the main opposition Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) have submitted a motion to Mayor Mehmet Çınar, demanding answers from him.
Online media outlet Artı Gerçek contacted two of the workshop attendees who never came back to Turkey.
The two people on April 15 said that Turkish authorities had provided them with service (gray) passports for their September 2020 trip to Germany.
“We came last year, but visits are still continuing. Two weeks ago, two buses [from Turkey] came to Hamburg,” they said, adding that they now hold temporary residence permits in Germany.
As Turkish authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, reports suggested that the case was not limited to the Yeşilyurt municipality.