This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
Personnel News

NASA Employee Imprisoned By Turkey For No Reason

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
April 3, 2017
Filed under
NASA Employee Imprisoned By Turkey For No Reason

A $1 Bill Has Landed a NASA Scientist in a Turkish Prison for Nine Months, Houston Press
“When asked whether NASA can or will try to help Serkan, NASA spokesman Allard Beutel referred the Press to the U.S. State Department. That agency acknowledged it has no influence over Turkish authorities in this case. “We can confirm Turkish authorities arrested and detained U.S. citizen Serkan Golge last July,” a U.S. State Department official stated. “We remain concerned for Mr. Golge and have raised his case with Turkish authorities. Although the United States does not have a legal right to access dual U.S.-Turkish citizens detained in Turkey, we continue to press for such access as a matter of courtesy. We have no further comment at this time.” Even though NASA has stayed quiet, the scientific community has been trying to draw attention to Serkan’s case. The Endangered Scholars Worldwide group and the Committee of Concerned Scientists have both issued sharply worded statements over his detention, urging that he be released. A petition has also been filed asking the White House to intervene. If the petition garners 100,000 signatures by next month, it is supposed to be reviewed by President Donald Trump. It has only about 150 signatures so far.”
A NASA Scientist Has Been Imprisoned in Turkey for 8 Months, New York Times
“A NASA scientist, Serkan Golge, has spent the last eight months in a Turkish prison. An attempted coup in Turkey last summer resulted in the government arresting thousands of people on flimsy evidence, and Serkan, a Turkish-American, is one of the casualties. Serkan’s case signals how bold the Turkish government has become, even imprisoning a well-regarded scientist, when the only evidence against him is a $1 bill. He will soon go to trial, facing a sentence of up to 15 years in prison for being “a member of an armed terrorist organization.” There’s been little domestic or international press attention to Serkan’s detention, but a three-month investigation suggests the injustice surrounding the case of a man caught in a national hurricane. … Serkan, 37, has been working at NASA for the past three years as a senior research scientist studying space radiation effects on the human crew at the International Space Station. He first traveled to the United States in 2003 and gained American citizenship in 2010.”

Petition

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

3 responses to “NASA Employee Imprisoned By Turkey For No Reason”

  1. ThomasLMatula says:
    0
    0

    Hopefully by highlighting his case someone in Washington will take an interest in it. Turkey gets a large amount of military support from the U.S., that should give the U.S. leverage in getting his release.

  2. stonemoma says:
    0
    0

    He choose to keep his Turkish citizenship. So subject of Turkey. The same is true for several other people for example Deniz Yücel.

    • Andy Rowhouse says:
      0
      0

      Has anyone of Turkish citizenship at birth who only had another citizenship at time of arrest been accused of anything in these recent investigations? I ask because I don’t know and suspect that if the Turkish authorities believed such a person was implicated, they would not fail to arrest them due to their only holding a non-Turkish passport.