12.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lived in Turkey until 1981. 13.  The applicant came to the Netherlands with his mother and two brothers in 1981, when he was 12 years old, in order to join his father who had already been living there for ten years. He was granted a residence permit (vergunning tot verblijf) which he was required to renew at one-yearly intervals until 1988, when he obtained a permanent residence permit (vestigingsvergunning). 14.  On 18 January 1989 the applicant was convicted by the single-judge chamber of the Almelo Regional Court (arrondissementsrechtbank) of the offence of breach of the peace (lokaalvredebreuk), and fined 200 Netherlands guilders (NLG – 90 euros (EUR)). The same court convicted him on 30 May 1990 of violent offence against the person, committed in public (openlijke geweldpleging), and sentenced him to a fine of NLG 350 (EUR 159) and a suspended term of imprisonment of two weeks. 15.  In 1991 the applicant entered into a relationship with a Netherlands national. They started living together in or around June 1991. A son was born to the couple on 4 February 1992. 16.  On 30 June 1992 the applicant was convicted by the Arnhem Court of Appeal (gerechtshof) of violent offence against the person, committed in public, and sentenced to eighty hours of community service (in lieu of six months’ imprisonment). 17.  During the second pregnancy of the applicant’s partner, the relationship began to suffer. In order to alleviate the situation, the applicant moved out in November 1992, but remained in close contact with both his partner and his son. The pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. 18.  On 16 May 1993 the applicant was involved in a dispute in a café. He pulled a loaded gun and shot a man, wounding him in the leg. Outside the café he then got into a fight with a friend of the injured man. He pulled a second loaded gun and shot him in the head. The man died. The applicant was convicted of manslaughter (doodslag) and assault (zware mishandeling) by the Arnhem Court of Appeal on 21 January 1994 and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. 19.  Whilst serving his prison sentence, from 17 May 1993 until 14 January 1998, the applicant took courses in computer skills, administration and accounting, and also obtained a retailer’s certificate (middenstandsdiploma). He took further courses in order to qualify as a sports instructor. His partner and son visited him in prison at least once a week and regularly more often. A second son was born to the applicant and his partner on 26 June 1996, whom he also saw every week. Both his children have Netherlands nationality and have been recognised (erkend) by the applicant. Neither his partner nor his children speak Turkish. 20.  By a decision of 30 January 1997, the Deputy Minister of Justice (Staatssecretaris van Justitie) withdrew the applicant’s permanent residence permit and imposed a ten-year exclusion order (ongewenstverklaring) on him in view of his conviction of 21 January 1994 and seven-year prison sentence. The Deputy Minister considered that the general interest in ensuring public safety and the prevention of disorder and crime outweighed the applicant’s interest in being able to continue his family life with his partner, children, parents and brothers in the Netherlands. 21.  The applicant lodged an objection (bezwaarschrift) against this decision, arguing that the offence in question had been committed long before, in May 1993, that he had not reoffended, that there was no indication that he would reoffend, and that his partner and children could not be expected to follow him to Turkey. Following a hearing before the Advisory Board on matters concerning aliens (Adviescommissie voor vreemdelingenzaken) on 1 July 1997, at which the applicant was assisted by an interpreter, the Deputy Minister rejected the objection on 4 September 1997 and ordered the applicant to leave the Netherlands as soon as he was released from prison. 22.  The applicant appealed to the Regional Court of The Hague, sitting in Zwolle, submitting that, as there was no risk of his reoffending, there was no necessity to impose an exclusion order on him and that to do so amounted to the imposition of a second penalty. 23.  The applicant was released from prison on 14 January 1998 and subsequently placed in aliens’ detention (vreemdelingenbewaring) pending his deportation. 24.  Following a hearing on 28 January 1998, the Regional Court rejected the applicant’s appeal on 4 February 1998. The Regional Court did not accept the applicant’s argument that the period of time that had elapsed between the date on which his criminal conviction had become irrevocable and the date on which the exclusion order had been imposed was so long that the Deputy Minister should be deemed to have acquiesced in the applicant’s continued residence in the Netherlands. Furthermore, it did not discern any facts or circumstances capable of justifying a reduction of the period for which the applicant would be excluded from Netherlands territory. The applicant’s claim that there was no risk of his reoffending was based solely on his own statements and was not supported by the facts, given that he had also been convicted of violent offences in 1990 and 1992. In addition, it did not appear that the applicant had put down roots in the Netherlands or become dissociated from Turkish society to such a degree that he would be unable to return to his country of origin. Finally, the Regional Court considered that the interference with the applicant’s family life was justified for the purposes of preventing disorder and crime. 25.  The applicant was deported to Turkey on 11 February 1998. However, it appears that he returned to the Netherlands soon afterwards, as he was apprehended there on 29 May 1998. He was again deported to Turkey on 4 June 1998, and a request for a provisional stay of execution of the deportation order, which he had lodged with the Regional Court of The Hague, was declared inadmissible on 24 August 1998. He was also convicted of the offence of residing illegally in the Netherlands while subject to an exclusion order (Article 197 of the Criminal Code (Wetboek van Strafrecht)) and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. 26.  On 17 September 1998 the applicant requested that the exclusion order be revoked. The Deputy Minister of Justice refused the request on 26 October 1998 and on 13 April 2000 dismissed an objection the applicant had filed against that refusal. The applicant subsequently lodged an appeal, which was declared inadmissible by the Regional Court of The Hague, sitting in Zwolle, on 2 August 2000. No appeal lay against that decision. 27.  The applicant submitted that, prior to his deportation in 1998, he had only been back to Turkey once in order to attend the funeral of his grandmother, and that he did not speak the Turkish language apart from understanding certain expressions. His only relative in Turkey was an uncle with whom he had no contact. 28.  According to a report drawn up by a psychiatrist in Turkey on 9 June 1998, the applicant was suffering from psychological problems as a result of being separated from his family. In particular, not being able to see his children was making him depressed. Treatment had begun in March 1998 and was continuing, though some improvement had been noted. 29.  On 29 March 2006 the applicant was discovered working at an illegal cannabis plantation in the Netherlands. He was arrested and subsequently placed in aliens’ detention. This detention was discontinued on 1 May 2006 in order to execute the judgment whereby the applicant had been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment (see paragraph 25 above). On 16 May 2006 the applicant was deported to Turkey.