CAT/C/54/D/540/2013 complainant is a wanted man 11 is written in general terms and offers no explanation as to why he would be of such interest to the authorities. 4.9 With regard to the complainant’s family ties to PKK members, the State party refers to the conclusions reached by the Federal Administrative Tribunal and contends that the complainant has failed to demonstrate that he is at risk of reprisals (see para. 2.8). The complainant has not provided proof of close family ties to anyone who is currently being sought by the authorities. Moreover, he has not demonstrated that his family, who still live in Turkey, have been harassed by the authorities. According to his statements, one of his brothers was living in Nusaybin in the province of Mardin and another was performing his military service at the time the complainant arrived in Switzerland. 4.10 In the light of the foregoing, the State party submits that there are no substantial grounds for believing that the complainant would face a real and personal risk of torture upon return to Turkey. Therefore, his deportation would not constitute a violation of article 3 of the Convention. Complainant’s comments on the State party’s observations 5.1 The complainant submitted comments on 22 April 2014. He reiterated that he had received military training and fought in the ranks of the PKK; he maintains that the contradictions in his account are attributable to his fragile mental state. He had discussed the nature of his military activities before the appeal authority (the Federal Administrative Tribunal) in August 2013, but the Tribunal limited itself to considering only the information presented at his first hearing. 5.2 The complainant claims that the Turkish authorities have PKK combat photographs in which he appears and which were previously in the possession of combatants who were subsequently arrested. He argues that his person al situation is different to that of his family members who have remained in Turkey and have not been bothered by the authorities, in that he left the country at age 11. He maintains that, if returned, he would be interrogated by the Turkish authorities ab out his absence from the country between 1993 and 2005, the year in which he arrived in Switzerland. Moreover, his mother and one of his brothers currently live in Kyiv. The complainant appends an affidavit from his brother dated 16 March 2014, describing how, in the years following the complainant’s departure, strangers introducing themselves as “patriots” would question the family about the complainant. In 1997, the Turkish special forces surrounded and searched the family home in Nusaybin, before arresti ng the complainant’s mother and detaining her at an undisclosed location. The family later learned that she had been taken to the counter-terrorism office, where she was tortured for three days. After her release, the family reportedly continued to be harassed to the point that they left Nusaybin for Mersin and, a year later, moved to Istanbul, where they were again interrogated. In 2003, the family returned to Nusaybin, where they were subjected to the same harassment and questioning about the complainant as in the past. In 2011, shots were fired at the family vehicle. It was then that the complainant’s brother decided to leave Turkey for Kyiv, which is where he currently lives with his mother. The complainant reiterates that the threat to him stems, inter alia, from the fact that he left Turkey, unlike his family. 5.3 The complainant adds that, in Turkey, confirmed or suspected PKK members continue to be at risk of ill-treatment and torture. He maintains that his personal situation and status as a former combatant must be viewed in the context of the prevailing political climate in Turkey, and reiterates that he is wanted by the Turkish authorities because of his family’s reputation and the extended time he has spent __________________ 11 GE.15-11115 See footnote 7 above. 7/10