A former Turkish-American NASA scientist, detained in Turkey for nearly three years until his release last week, told AFP in an interview that he would do everything he could to clear his name.
The arrest of Serkan Golge — who took US citizenship in 2010 and has worked for NASA in Houston since 2013 — is just one of a number of incidents that have caused relations between Washington and Ankara to deteriorate sharply in recent years.
US consulate staff,journalists and even an American pastor have all been detained, accused ofhaving ties with Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is in exile in the USand whose extradition Ankara has requested over his alleged role in the failedJuly 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Pastor Andrew Brunsonwas released in October 2018.
Golge, 39, wasinitially sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in July 2016, but then saw itreduced to five years before finally being released on probation last week.
In an interview at his parents' home in Antakya, southern Turkey, he said people tended to believe there must be something to the charges if a NASA scientist is detained for so long.
But "I will giveyou an answer straight out: there was nothing," he insisted.
Golge said he wasarrested on an "anonymous tip", of which there were many in themonths following the coup attempt.
Vowing to take hiscase to both Turkey's Constitutional Court and the European Court of HumanRights, Golge pledged to "do whatever I have to do to fulfil myobligations" in the meantime.
These includedreporting to police four days a week and not leaving Antakya.
Nevertheless, thescientist is hoping that the restrictions will be lifted so that he can"go back to the US and get back to my work" as part of a teamstudying the impact of space radiation on astronauts.
