ARMENIAN-TURKISH COOPERATION: THE TRAFFICKING OF ARMENIAN WOMEN TO ANTALYA
Ararat Davtyan

2009/ 08/24 | 16:21

Feature Stories

Laura Azaryan left for Turkey alone in 2001. There she married a
Turkish man Oumit Ramazan Poujlu. In 2008, she telephoned her brother,
Gagik Karapetyan and told him that they owned a casino in Turkey. She
made a proposal to her brother; that he locate young, attractive
girls in Armenia and send them to the casino to "wait on tables".

Gagik, comprehending what his sister and her husband had in mind, the
nefarious exploitation of the girls once they arrived, nevertheless
gave his verbal consent to the plan.

This is part of the descriptive file in the criminal case that has
been launched against Laura and Gagik. The case is now being heard
in the Aragatzotn Regional Court, Judge Souren Mnoyan presiding.

Gagik Karapetyan, in his preliminary testimony, noted that after many
years of living in Ukraine he moved back to Armenia in February,
2008. Two months later his sister in Turkey made the proposal to
round up girls in Armenia. He says that he told his sister that
he didn’t know where to look. His sister was persistent and Gagik,
feeling ashamed, sought the assistance of Armineh, a family in-law.

"It was May of last year. One day Gagik came to our house and said
that his brother Roubo had opened a restaurant in the Ukraine. Gagik
said that if he could find 4-5 good workers he’d turn the place into
an Armenian restaurant and it would be a success. I told him it was
great news and that I’d go as well," 51 year-old Armineh stated in
court. It was through Armineh that Gagik met with 49 year-old Rima,
who was supposed to work as a cleaner.

"A day later Gagik said that we have to leave for Turkey; that
his sister had a house and casino there where we could work. I was
supposed to work in the bar as a cashier for $500 a month. Rima would
be a dishwasher. This Gagik was a relation I trusted him. We left
for Turkey," Armineh continues.

Gagik paid for all the expenses. On May 31, 2008, he, along with
Armineh and Rima, boarded a bus for Trabzon. From there they would
travel to Antalya.

"Laura and her Turkish husband were there to greet us when we
arrived. They were very nice and hospitable. They took us to the
sea-side and showed us around the town. Ten days later however,
I had to return to Armenia to take care of some matters. Before I
left I had asked Laura several times what bar would we be working
at and why they hadn’t shown us the place. Laura told me that the
casino was quite far from where we were staying; that we’d start to
work after I returned from Armenia," recounts Armineh.

In her court testimony, Laura claims that she made no such proposal
to her brother and she was quite surprised when he arrived in Turkey,
let alone accompanied by two women.

"Armineh is a relation but Rima was a total stranger. Armineh told me
that Rima owed her $200 and asked if she could work a bit and make
some money to pay off the debt. I told Armineh that Rima was sickly
and that she couldn’t work in the bar. Armineh persisted however
and being a relation, I couldn’t refuse. I told Armineh that Rima
could stay and work sorting fruit in a factory we’d be opening in
September. She could work and pay off the debt," Laura said.

All the while, Rima told the court that after Armineh had left for
Armenia, Laura had suggested that she work in their house for $300
a month. "I did the laundry, the dishes and cleaned the house. I did
it all. I worked there for six months but never got paid," says Rima.

According to the criminal case file, when Laura found out that Rima’s
sister had two young, attractive daughters, she, along with her
brother Gagik and husband Oumit, traveled to Armenia in June 2008
to recruit the girls and that it was through Armineh that they got
acquainted with 20 year-old Irina and 18 year-old Nvard.

"Laura was trying to convince me and my sister to go to Turkey. She
would always point out the poor living conditions here in
Armenia. She’d always say how pretty I was; trying to butter me
up. I had just graduated from high school and still didn’t have a
passport. Laura told me not to fret; that she’d wait for as long as
possible. I turned her down but my sister was naïve. She trusted
Laura and left," Nvard told the court examiner.

"We really had a hard time back then. We had a $1,200 debt to pay
off. I was studying in one of the colleges in Yerevan. It was the
summer vacation, so I decided to go to Turkey for two months," says
Irina, "Laura said we’d get paid $500 a month waiting tables in the
bar, handing out tea. She even promised that I could return the next
day if things didn’t work out. Laura told my mom that she’d take care
of me like her own child."

Irina also tended to believe in Laura since she got a phone call from
her Aunt Rima in Turkey, saying that everything was OK and that there
was nothing to worry about.

During questioning in court, Rima claimed that every time she made
a phone call Gagik was watching over her like a hawk and that she
couldn’t utter a word about what was really happening. Rima also
claimed that Gagik would slip her some pills, allegedly headache
medicine, that would leave her in a "drunken stupor".

Nuneh, born in 1985, also believed Laura’s promises of easy money and
a better life in Turkey. Nuneh, along with Irina, left for Antalya
in the company of Oumit Poujlu on August 8, 2008. Laura, on the other
hand, remained in Armenia. On her return to Armenia, the Turkish border
guards noticed that her visa had expired so they deported her. In order
that she could once again enter Turkey she entered into a sham marriage
with a man named Azaryan and officially had her last name changed.

Irina recounts, "Laura and Oumit took care of the visas and travel
expenses. After arriving in Antalya they treated us well for the first
four days; they showed us the sites, the sea. Later they invited us
out to a casino-bar, which was really a night club. We were seated
around a large table in the presence of some scantily clad older
Turkish women. They were there to entertain the customers. Oumit and
Gagik told us right there that we’d be doing the same thing."

The criminal case file reads, "…threatening that they would leave
them alone, hungry and without passports in a foreign land, depriving
them of freedom of movement and any possibility to return to Armenia,
Oumit Poujlu and Gagik Karapetyan, in prior agreement with Laura
Azaryan, forced the girls to perform belly dances and perform the
wishes of clients; to sit on their laps, allow them to be kissed
and to place their hands on intimate body parts. This took place
in the "Melody" and "Kartila" night casino-bars in Antalya. These
establishments belonged to others."

"…There was no other alternative. We were forced to work in these
bars and entertain the clients, however disgusting the work. We get
the clients to drink up. The daily minimum we’d make off the drinks
was about $200. It all went to Oumit and Gagik. We never got paid a
dime. They’d even get angry when the daily take was low."

Nuneh testified in court that, "We’d eat once a day and sleep on the
floor. They generally wouldn’t let us leave the house, fearing that
we’d get picked up by the police and give them away. They’d lock us
inside the house and take us to the bar by car."

"You can’t imagine the state I was in. I held back my tears and put on
a fake smile for the customers; so that they wouldn’t complain. The bar
owners weren’t satisfied with how Rima was working. Gagik then began
to threaten me and even slapped me around a few times, saying I wasn’t
pulling my weight and wouldn’t get anything to eat. We showered with
cold water. Gagik said heating the water used up too much electricity.

Irina remembers that, "From day one Gagik tried to butter me up, saying
that he was in love with me. He even proposed that we live together
and said that if I didn’t agree to marry him he’d throw me from the
10th floor…They had taken my passport and only handed it back when I
went to work. They said it was just in case authorities from Istanbul
came. If only just one policeman had shown up. But no one ever came."

During court interrogation Gagik stated, "I’m a 40 year-old man and
never in my life would I allow myself to do such things. Irina didn’t
get along with me because I would make comments about her cleaning." He
added that he proposed marriage as a joke. Laura, Gagik’s sister,
testified that she was in Armenia and knew nothing about what was
going on.

"I telephoned my husband and asked if the girls had adapted and if
they were all-right. He said they were OK. They travelled around
there for more than a week. I gave them a place to stay. I’m not the
person that usually does that. I’m also upset that my husband took
the girls to the sea-side. I asked my husband on the phone whether
he wasn’t embarrassed of what the neighbors would say; that he left
our building with these girls in tow and drove off to the beach? I
told him to send them back to Armenia immediately," Laura testified,
arguing her innocence in the matter and denying any involvement in
any sexual exploitation of the girls.

"About 10-15 days after the girls left, Irina secretly called me from
Turkey and said that Laura had tricked them and that they were engaged
in some pretty ‘inappropriate’ work, recounts Armineh, who is included
in the case as a witness. "I immediately went to see Laura who said
nothing of the kind was taking place and that it was all a pack of
lies. She phoned her husband Oumit and conversed in Turkish with him,
but I could make out that she was angry with him for giving the girls
phone access. I directly went to the police and informed them about
the entire matter."

According to the time frame presented by Armineh, the police had been
informed about Laura and her Turkish operation no later than August
25, 2008. However, on September 3, 2008, she was able to cross the
Armenian border at Bagratashen and make her way to Batum. Her Turkish
husband Oumit was waiting for her there and for the "cargo" she was
bringing – Lilit, born in 1979, and her 8 year-old daughter.