Dear Friends,
This is a circular letter aiming to warn friends living in the US about the treatment meted out to Dr.Haluk Gerger, one of the foremost Marxist intellectuals and human rights activists of Turkey, by the Bush administration and the INS. This incident is even graver than that experienced by Tariq Ali at the beginning of this year as he was flying out of Germany, since as I will shortly explain, this was methodical and deliberate whereas in Tariq Ali's case a lot of bureaucratic stupidity and overshooting was involved. Hence it is clear proof that, in its attack on civil liberties, first and foremost those of aliens, the Bush administration targets not only so-called Islamic terrorists, but also leftist critics of the imperialist system. I firmly believe that publicising Dr.Gerger's case would be very important for the struggle against the policies of the Bush administration and for civil rights in the US. That is why I am sending out this letter to you.
Dr.Gerger, accompanied by his wife, arrived at Newark Airport, NJ, on October 1, 2002 for a private visit. He was immediately interned and told that his 10-year visa, granted in 2000, had been revoked by the State Department. He was also told that he would be questioned, which he promptly refused. He was then fingerprinted and photographed and was put on the return flight of the plane aboard which he had arrived. (His wife was told that she was free to enter the US, but declined to do so out of solidarity with her husband.)
Dr.Gerger is a specialist in international relations renowned for his work inside Turkey. He received his Master's degree at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, and also studied and did research at the American University of Beirut, Stockholm University and Oxford University. He was associate professor of international relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University until 1982, when he was illegally removed from his post by the military junta of the early 1980s. (Those of you who know me well may remember that I myself resigned from my post at Istanbul University in 1983 in protest against such practices.) He has taught as visiting professor at Darmstadt Technical University and the University of Applied Sciences of Darmstadt, Germany, on various occasions.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Dr.Gerger stood out as a staunch defender of democracy, human rights and the fight of the Kurdish people for recognition and dignity. He was convicted twice for pure crimes of opinion by the notorious State Security Courts in the 1990s and imprisoned for a total period of 24 months in 1994-95 and 1998. His relentless defense of human rights was recognised by many international and local human rights and progressive organisations and he was awarded, among others, the Hellman-Hammett Award of Human Rights in 1966, was an honorary guest of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) the same year and was made honorary member of the British and Austrian chapters of Pen Club International. Apart from numerous articles in journals and newspapers, he has published many books on international relations, containing a healthy dose of critique of the imperialist policies of various US administrations. (I will forward a brief résumé of Dr. Gerger to those who may wish to have a more detailed information.)
It was no doubt for his outspoken critique of such imperialist policies and his unswerving struggle against the reppressive policies of the Turkish government, one of the closest allies of Washington, that he was considered to be a "threat" by the State Department, which, to add insult to injury, did not notify Dr. Gerger of the revocation of his visa, despite the fact that tha American embassy in Ankara was in full possession of his coordinates. Since Dr.Gerger is such a prominent figure in Turkey itself as an opponent of the repressive policies of the government, there can be not a shade of doubt that the State Department acted on the basis of purely political motives in the hysteric atmosphere of the post 9/11 period.
I personally believe that publicising Dr.Gerger's case within the United States would be a service to the American movement against the imperialistic amd militaristic policies of the Bush administration and for the protection of civil rights. The impending war on Iraq makes this even more urgent from another point of view. Turkey will be a major frontline state and an ally of the US on the ground and Turkish intellectuals will no doubt suffer new instances of repression at the hands of the Turkish state.
I can think of at least two different modes of action. One would be a petition to be circulated among American intellectuals condemning this blatant attack on the left and defenders of human rights and published in some prominent US publications. The other would be to take legal action against the US. (Both Dr.Gerger and I are aware that all governments jealously guard their privileges to issue and revoke visas and, therefore, any legal action on that issue would probably be condemned to defeat. However, a civil case for the failure to notify Dr. Gerger in time concerning the revocation of his visa might perhaps be a possibility.)
I would thus ask those among you who think something can be done regarding this case to suggest any ideas as to how we might wish to go about these or other methods of publicising Dr.Gerger's case. I would also ask you to suggest any names of lawyers who would be experts on visa and immigration matters.
In solidarity.
Sungur Savran