Tursun was a retired government employee when he was taken away with his wife Zahide Halpaji in 2018. According to Tursun’s daughter interviewed by Amnesty International and now based in Turkey, her parents came to visit her in Turkey in March/April 2017 when their granddaughter was born. She lost contact with her parents in October 2017 and in April 2018 she was told by a trusted source in Xinjiang that both Tursun and Zahide were detained and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Initially, they were in a prison in the city but later they were taken to a prison in the mountains near Ghulja. The Chinese authorities have not shared any official documents with the family or given any details about their cases. However, Tursun’s daughter thinks that their detention is due to their travels abroad, including to Mecca for Hajj. In addition, Tursun was a well-educated and intellectual man, and this potentially could have been perceived as a threat by the authorities.