NOT WITHOUT MY FAMILY:
As loved ones languish in Turkmenistan
Mike Petro waits for politicians to act
BY TERRY SCHMIDA
Aug. 31 was supposed to be a special day for Mike Petro.
The Key West Realtor’s had been informed by representatives of the government of Turkmenistan, that by the end of the month his wife Aziza, their daughter Mercedes, 11, and their son Michael, 4, would be boarding a plane for the long slog home from the remote Central Asian nation.
Instead, Petro received the frustrating news that, once again, his family was still being refused permission to leave the land of his wife’s birth, as they have for weeks now, regardless of their U.S. citizenship.
Moreover, Petro said, his efforts to obtain assistance in the matter from his own government have been given scant attention.
“Nothing good came about today, so we’re kind of nowhere,” Petro said Monday. “My wife is headed over to the capital, Ashgabat, to beg, basically. That’s what the U.S. embassy has advised us to do. The help we’ve received from them has been nothing but lip-service.
Aziza had brought her two American-born kids to Turkmenistan to visit the grave of her mother, who died two years earlier. The Petro family’s ordeal began on June 10, when Aziza was informed that, despite having completed the necessary paperwork to renounce her Turkmenistan citizenship – in advance of the trip – she might not be allowed to leave.
Days before their scheduled July 1 flight back to the U.S., Aziza was told that she and the children would be allowed to depart the country, but they were refused boarding at the airport. Since that time, the three have been staying with Aziza’s brother, outside the capital, as Mike Petro has frantically attempted to rally elected U.S. officials to the cause.
“I’ve asked direct questions, but our government keeps responding by saying ‘we have no further updates at this time,’ and ‘We’re working on this at the highest levels,’ Petro said. “Congressman [Carlos] Curbelo hasn’t returned my calls, and Senator [Bill] Nelson’s office has told me that there’s not much that they can do. We’ve been told four different times that they were going to be allowed to leave, but each time it has fallen through.”
Asked why he thought the Turkmenistan government would block his family’s return to the U.S., Petro paused and replied “we’ve been trying to figure out the motivation for that.
“A professor in New Mexico who set up a sister city with Ashgabat said that the dysfunction we’re seeing in the government there isn’t really dysfunction at all. They’re very calculated and deliberate in what they do.”
Meanwhile, Petro has missed out on Mercedes’ 11th birthday celebration on Aug. 4. Both his children have missed their Aug. 24 school start date.
“I’ve also been told that what is needed is the [President Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow] to sign a piece of paper,” Petro said. “But I’ve also heard that people are somewhat reluctant to put the paper in front of him, or ask him to move on it.”
No fund has yet been established to help his family pay for the mounting costs of this diplomatic stalemate, but Petro is hoping that friends and supporters can find the time to reach out to politicians and diplomatic officials.
A family is at stake.

 

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