Ayshe Kurtamet, the mother of Appaz Kurtamet, who was abducted and imprisoned by the Russians, asked the editorial team of CEMAAT to disseminate her letter to the highest leadership of Ukraine, Turkey and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. In 2022, Appaz, who was only 19 at the time, was kidnapped in occupied Novooleksiyivka, held for three months in the basement of the Simferopol pre-trial detention center and eventually sentenced to 7 years for allegedly financing terrorism. We publish Aysha Kurtamet's letter without changes.

‍My son, Kurtamet Appaz, born on 19.08.2002, was abducted and forcibly taken from the occupied territory of Ukraine (Novooleksiivka village, Kherson region) in July 2022, convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. It was the Russian occupiers' revenge for his refusal to cooperate. Later, they also kidnapped Appaz's father, took away our house and business. Now I am fighting alone for the release of my son. I cannot return home, I am suffering from hardship and I ask for the support of the Mejlis and the authorities of Ukraine and Turkey to help me return my son. My son is being held in the most brutal of Russian prisons, the notorious Vladimir Central Prison. He is holding firm, has not changed his position and believes that he is remembered and will be released. In my opinion, heroism at such a young age deserves to be remembered, his story told to everyone, and his freedom fought for. After all, not every 19-year-old boy, once captured by the FSB, will be able to resist and accept a long and difficult imprisonment instead of the freedom he was promised in exchange for cooperation. Only a man, a patriot, and a person of the highest integrity can dare to do this. These are the people they want to break. My son has not betrayed and will never betray Ukraine. He has always been honest, loyal and responsive, always had honor and conscience.

Appaz has been a volunteer since the beginning of the great war. Upon learning about this, his classmate at the lyceum, who joined the Crimea volunteer battalion, searched for Appaz on social media and asked for help. It was the small amount of money he transferred to his friend that became the formal reason for his son's imprisonment, when the contents of his phone were carefully examined by the FSB. This happened after his confident refusal to cooperate with the occupiers. In the struggle for Appaz, I went through three trials: the first, appeal and cassation. But the verdict remained unchanged: harsh, cruel, cynical. Even the judges admitted that they were working under orders from above, thus indirectly recognizing that the verdict was illegal and their actions were therefore criminal. Prior to the trial, Appaz was kept in solitary confinement in the basement of the Crimean detention center for three months, concealing his abduction from his family and depriving him of the right to make phone calls. The occupiers lied that they knew nothing about him, and then convicted him for helping a friend, calling it terrorist financing. I really hope that all these judges will be punished in front of the Supreme Court, because no one who commits lawlessness on earth will hide from it. Currently, I have contact with Appaz only through correspondence.

For the year he has been in the Vladimir center, he has not been allowed to make even one phone call. His health has deteriorated significantly during this time: he developed neurodermatitis, and the disease has become chronic due to the refusal to give my son his medication. When Appaz was visited by a lawyer, he complained of a terrible toothache, and only after the lawyer's demand did my son receive medical care. They did not treat the tooth, they just removed it. But Appaz is holding on and hopes for his release. He reads a lot, learns English and dreams of a higher education in the field of information technology. For three years now, he has been asking me to find out which university he will enter after his release, which he believes in with all his heart. My boy has not committed any crime, he just sincerely loves his homeland, the country where he grew up and to which he remained loyal even behind bars. My son is not a criminal, not a supporter of terrorism, he is a hero who steadfastly resists terror that destroys the best of the best. I ask for the help of everyone who can facilitate the release or exchange of Appaz: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, and Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov.  

My son and his father must be free.

With respect and faith in justice

Ayshe Kurtamet

Ayshe Kurtamet also provided CEMAAT with letters from her son from the Simferopol detention center and the Vladimir central prison.  

“Today I am in court... the cell where I am waiting for the hearing is gray, dark, 3×3 square meters... it has a depressing effect on me, although it seems that I am not used to it... In my head I am constantly thinking about future projects, both social and commercial... I have to wait for the long-awaited freedom, I decided to get a higher education, I will return to Kyiv...”

“I believe that everything will be fine... the books I asked for will be delivered when I am in Vladimir, including an English-Russian dictionary... People! I have never met so many sensible, reasonable and educated people even on the outside, God bless them...”

“I love you very much, I miss you very much... sometimes I miss you... but this is also temporary, and eventually it passes, I dream of better things.”

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