A group of Turkish workers and businessmen have appealed for help from Turkish authorities as they face detention and deportation in Russia as a result of the deteriorating relations between Turkey and Russia.

In a secretly taped video at an alleged "detention center" in the district of Vardane in the Russian city of Sochi, Turkish nationals claimed they were unfairly held and are now awaiting deportation after Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet which violated Turkish airspace in November. The incident near the Turkish-Syrian border had drawn the ire of the Kremlin which slapped Turkey with sanctions.

The people at the center of the dispute are among a large group of Turkish nationals who are facing bureaucratic hurdles in the wake of the Turkish-Russian crisis which has led to aggressive treatment of Turks in Russia for trivial reasons such as missing paperwork. Turks who claim that they reside, work or study in Russia legally are reporting that the Russian authorities are applying double standards to enforce the recent crackdown.

İskender Özçelik, a worker from the Turkish province of Hatay, has worked in Russia for the past seven years and says that he was detained by Russian officials despite having a work visa. "I had all the necessary paperwork in place but still, they banned me from working. I had a three-year residence visa but now they say they will ban me from entering Russia for five years. I asked for an explanation, I asked why they are doing this. All I heard from officials is that Turkey should not have shot down that jet. I can't file complaint anywhere. They advised me to tell (President) Erdoğan what I went through," he said.

In a similar incident, Vahit Alan, a businessman who has worked in Russia since 2013, said he had all the permits to legally run a business in Russia and is legally married to a Russian citizen. "After I got married, I submitted a renewal application for my residence permit. I have been waiting for more than three months for its approval and they told me I can travel around Russia with a tourist visa. I did so. Then, they raided my shop and confiscated the goods there. After that the Russian officials elongated the bureaucratic procedure so that they will not renew my residence permit," he said, going on to point out that Turks are viewed as "second-class citizens" in Russia. "They insult us because of the jet incident," he said. Alan called upon Turkish leaders to help Turks in Russia. "Our hands are tied here. Nobody helps us. Please contact the Russian officials," he pleaded.

Muharrem Şahinoğlu, who has been working in Sochi for the past two decades, said they have always faced obstacles when trying to obtain documents for residency. "I have a family here. I have a 13-year-old daughter. Now, they tell me they will deport us. I applied with three different authorities (for a work and residence permit) and asked why they did so. They told me ‘You better ask your president this question,' " he said.

The complaints of workers and businessmen echo those of Turkish students studying abroad in Russia. Students have contacted Turkish authorities, claiming they were subjected to ill treatment after the downing of the fighter jet. According to Turkish media reports, one such complaint referred to a police raid on a dormitory where Turkish students were staying at Saratov State University. Officers accompanied by police dogs reportedly stormed students' rooms for "passport control" while they broke into some locked rooms. More than 20 students were detained. Another complaint stemmed from the Voronezh Institute of High Technologies whose administration advised Turkish students to leave the country. Students at the state university in Bashkortostan said they were not allowed leave the campus for three days and were forced to stay in dormitories instead of going to their own homes off campus.