Karatay is the only Christian Chaldean citizen in Gorumlu town in Sirnak’s Silopi district. He was detained by Turkish police on Tuesday during a raid to his home.

On Thursday Silopi Criminal Court sent Karatay to prison for “being a member of a terrorist organization”. The decision is based on the testimonies by secret informers and Karatay’s posts on social media.

Karatay was taken to Sirnak T Type Prison.

In the 1990’s, over 4.000 Chaldeans who used to live in the Görümlü town immigrated to France, Belgium, Germany, Federal Kurdistan Region and various other European countries. Karatay was one of them, immigrating to France from the Aksu (Herbol) village, and he had returned after the Democratic Solution Process and Peace Process that started in 2013.