A video is circulating in Turkmen social media groups in which a Turkmen citizen talks about being stuck in Azerbaijan, trying to return to his homeland from Turkey.
According to the man, word of mouth spread among Turkmen migrants in Turkey that they could return to their homeland through Azerbaijan. Believing them, the Turkmen left for Azerbaijan, hoping then to get to Turkmenistan.
However, it turned out that the rumors were unreliable, and now he and 60-70 other people are stuck in Baku, from which it is impossible to leave for Turkmenistan either by plane or by ferry.
The man complains that he cannot return to Turkey, because at the airport they put a deportation stamp in his passport, the prices for housing and food in Baku are very high.
Since the spring of 2020, Turkmenistan has canceled all regular international flights and closed the borders even for its own citizens who remained abroad and cannot return to their homeland. Periodically, the Turkmen consulate in Istanbul organizes export flights to Turkmenistan, but they are clearly not enough to evacuate everyone home.
On April 4, several hundred people gathered at the Istanbul airport , trying to get on an export flight to Turkmenistan. The lack of seats on the plane led to a brawl. The audience chanted “Glory to Serdar! Let the roads open!” ("Serdara Söhrat! Yollar Açylsyn!").
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan