{"id":6667,"date":"2021-05-20T21:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/?p=6667"},"modified":"2021-10-04T13:19:49","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T12:19:49","slug":"fleeing-torture-and-persecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cov19chronicles.com\/fleeing-torture-and-persecution\/","title":{"rendered":"Fleeing Torture and Persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I’m from Turkey, where Erdogan’s fake coup attempt in July 2016 changed the life of millions overnight. As a man who never went to the police station in his life, I worked as a university psychology lecturer when suddenly the regime declared me a ‘traitor’. Like hundreds of thousands of people in Turkey, I was detained twice, I was tortured and I got thrown into jail. I was lucky- I was in prison only for 6 months, in the country with the world’s most journalists and academics in prison. However, after I got out, the pressure of the state on me and my family increased even more, and at the end of 2019, I had to leave my beloved country and be separated from my wife and 2 young children<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had to cross illegally to Greece because the regime did not issue a passport and a foreign ban was imposed. On a cold winter day, I was able to reach Greece after a long, tiring, freezing, dangerous and deadly journey. The Greek people and security forces showed me all their hospitality, but since my family was in the UK, Greece could only be a waiting place for me. I experienced that the hostility between Turkey and Greece, which I had learned in my previous life, consists entirely of politicians’ propaganda. The problems between the two states simply don\u2019t exist on the ground. I realized how helpful, friendly and hospitable the Greek people are. They are also very close to Turkey culturally. Their food, culture, character and interests are very similar to Turkey. The last year here had a great impact on me; the new culture, new country, new people caused tremendous difficulties and questions in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to being a very beautiful country, Greece is also a country that has difficulties for refugees. The aid given to asylum seekers and refugees is very low compared to other European countries and it is not possible for a refugee to live on this assistance. In this country where millions of refugees live, the unemployment rate is close to 20 percent. This country is struggling with the economic crisis, it cannot even provide job opportunities for its own people, let alone for refugees. As someone who knows the difficulties of living in this country and because my family also lives in the UK, I made an asylum application to the UK. Towards the end of 2020, I got on a plane with the approval and invitation of the Home Office and came to the UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I continue to struggle with the difficulties of life in this country as well. I have a new country, a new language, a new culture, and it is not easy to struggle with them when the pain of being separated from my children for 1.5 years is still added (we are currently split between Swansea and Cardiff). <\/p>\n\n\n\n