Visa-Exclusion as A Form of Inequality

The problems regarding visas to Turkish people are at a ridiculous level. I urge my colleagues in any type of position of power to tap into this conversation. This basically undermines any talk of inclusivity at any level of reality.

Just today, there were 2 events. A women engineer, whose husband is an EU Citizen, has been rejected for a visa for a Google event in Netherlands. This morning, after 6 days of campaigning, very much public attention(millions of views)…

She was told that it was a “technical issue” and her visa was granted. It is very important to note that she is not an ordinary citizen, the fact that her husband is an EU citizen is already a very much higher position of power than the ordinary Turkish citizen.

A master’s student affiliated with @MPI_NL , someone who has done 2 internships in Germany in the past, has been denied a visa for entry to Estonia for a summer school that he received funding for.

These are not individual events. Germany has suspended the visa rejection appeal process in Turkey for 6 months.

A pretty famous singer in Turkey, someone who has traveled countless times to different countries, has been rejected visa for entry to Germany two times and cancelled his concerts.

When you hold events, congresses, conferences in visa-exclusive countries, you are effective enablers of these strategies. You should acknowledge that these countries treat all citizens as potential asylum seekers. Their treatment is openly and bluntly exclusive and offensive.