Former Hampton Roads physicist arrested after Turkey coup attempt


Date posted: August 20, 2016

TAMARA DIETRICH

When Alicia Hofler of Newport News heard about terrorists bombing the Istanbul airport in June, she shot off an email to her old college friend, Serkan Golge, a NASA contractor in Houston.

Golge was born in Turkey, but has become a U.S. citizen. He and Hofler met as graduate students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk and stayed in touch over the years.

“It was just sort of a check-in email,” Hofler said. “He wrote back and said, ‘Yes, I’m safe, but I was in the airport just prior to that.’ ”

On the heels of that airport bombing came a military coup attempt to topple Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, so Hofler checked in yet again. And again, Golge assured her he was still safe, in Turkey visiting family, but planning to return to the U.S. July 24.

That was the last Hofler heard from him.

“Since he had been so quick to respond to the other emails, I sort of worried,” Hofler said. “So that’s when I did the online search and his name came up, and I was just stunned.”

What her search found was news reports out of Turkey saying Golge had been detained and arrested, suspected of involvement in the failed coup.

According to several online reports, Golge, 36, was arrested in the southern province of Hatay, where he was visiting relatives. Someone had accused Golge of being part of the Fethullahist Terror Organization, the government’s designation for the Gulen movement that Erdogan believes masterminded the overthrow attempt.

The Hatay provincial governor also noted Golge had studied at a school linked to the Gulen movement before attending Fatih University in Istanbul.

After earning a degree there, Golge came to Hampton Roads for graduate work. He studied accelerator physics at ODU from 2002 to 2010, followed by postdoctoral work at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C., from 2010 to 2013.

While at both universities, he conducted accelerator physics research at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, where Hofler is now a staff computer scientist.

In 2013, Golge became a senior researcher at the University of Houston, as well as a contractor at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where he studies the effects of space radiation on crew aboard the International Space Station.

University spokeswoman Shawn Lindsey said Golge was supposed to return from vacation on July 25.

“We are hopeful for his well-being and speedy return,” Lindsey said in an emailed statement.

Hofler hopes for the same, but in a tearful phone interview Wednesday said she was torn.

“I also have concern that, if we give too much publicity to his situation, that he becomes a high-value target,” Hofler said. “And I don’t want that to happen.”

She contacted the U.S. State Department to alert them to Golge’s arrest. On Wednesday, a State Department spokesman said they can’t comment on Golge, citing privacy concerns.

NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., referred all questions to the State Department.

Golge’s situation has attracted the attention of the Committee of Concerned Scientists, an independent advocacy group based in New York City.

The group’s executive director, Carol Valoris, said they just sent a letter to Vice President Joe Biden urging him to advocate for thousands of Turkish scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars detained and arrested since the coup attempt. Biden is scheduled to meet with Erdogan on Friday.

“There is a physicist, in particular — an American citizen, who went to Turkey prior to the coup to visit his parents and was arrested in the post-coup period,” the letter states. “He is a scientist with NASA and we are quite concerned about his well-being.”

Valoris said they see mixed results when they agitate for the civil rights of detained colleagues.

“I think it helps some,” Valoris said. “Sometimes it helps a great deal in that actually it changes the direction, the course that things are going in. I think it helps a little in that it makes them aware that … if they were looking to hurt somebody or torture somebody or have someone just disappear off the face of the Earth, knowing that people are looking.”

Golge is married and the father of two sons, ages 6 and 5 months.

Source: Daily Press , August 17, 2016


Related News

Gradual transformation of Turkey into an authoritarian entity under Erdogan’s leadership

As Erdogan moved on the Islamic path of authoritarianism with political ambition of becoming of leader of Muslim world, it has adversely impacted the stability of Turkey — both internally and externally. By crushing the Gulen movement it undermined the Islamic ideational resources needed most to fight Islamic terrorism.

Media freedom in Turkey takes another blow

On Dec. 25, Mahir Zeynalov sent out two tweets. “The first tweet contained a link to a news report about the second wave of a massive graft operation and how police blocked a raid involving more than 40 suspects, including Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi — listed as a specially designated terrorist by the United States,” Today’s Zaman reported Jan. 31. Zeynalov’s tweets are no longer present on his Twitter account. “’Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdogan’s appointed police chiefs refuse to comply,’ read the first tweet. In the second tweet, Zeynalov shared a news report detailing al-Qaeda suspects’ escape from the country after police chiefs blocked the raid on Dec. 25.”

DUTCH MP’S FURIOUS ABOUT PRESSURE FROM TURKISH AMBASSADOR

Parties in the Tweede Kamer – the lower house of Dutch parliament – are furious about statements the Turkish ambassador to the Netherlands made pressuring the Dutch government to help hunt down supporters of the Gulen-movement. Numerous parliamentarians expressed their annoyance to NU.nl.

Kimse Yok Mu sends next party of aid to Syrian refugees

Turkish government, nongovernmental organizations and public are doing their best to show the greatest hospitality to war-weary Syrian refugees across the country. Kimse Yok Mu’s Bursa branch also made its best to contribute these relief works and the organization sent the next party of aid worth at TL 300,000 (USD 150,000) on Thursday.

Jailed Zaman editor says we are journalists, not terrorists

Former Zaman daily Ankara Representative Mustafa Ünal, who is standing trial after 414 days in pretrial detention, said on Monday that he and other colleagues in the same case are journalists, not terrorists.

Pakistan Today Editorial: The Turkish connection and Turkish schools

Surely nobody at the joint session really believed Mr Erdogan’s warning about the threat the so called Gullen Network presents Pakistan. No doubt the Turkish president really believes the Network – which ran schools here till just before his visit – is just as dangerous for Pakistan as al Qaeda, etc.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Yamanlar Koleji crowns Turkey with second gold medal

The Erdoğan-Did-It Conspiracy

Online Interfaith Dialogue Workshop

Romanian Senate president inaugurates Turkish school in Romania

Turkish coup attempt: who is Fethullah Gülen?

Kimse Yok Mu offers a hand of compassion to Kyrgyz orphans

German translation of Gulen’s book at Frankfurt Book Fair

Copyright 2023 Hizmet News