Serkan Golge

Serkan Golge (Serkan Gölge) is a Turkish-American scientist who was held in prison and house arrest in Turkey for nearly four years, as part of a crackdown by Turkish authorities after the country's failed coup d'état attempt of 2016. His imprisonment stemmed in part from his possession of a single American $1 bill, which, according to the Erdoğan government, was a sign of a Gülen movement link.

Career Golge worked as a full-time NASA contractor on NASA's proposed human mission to Mars, where he researched the effects of solar radiation on astronauts in space. As a dual Turkish-U.S. citizen, Golge lived in a southwest Houston suburb with his wife and two young children. Golge was one of more than 110,000 people, including at least nine American citizens and several U.S. Consulate employees, detained during the post-coup crackdown by the Turkish government in July 2016. a sentence that was later reduced to 5 years.

Release After nearly three years of imprisonment, Golge was abruptly released in May 2019 into house arrest and frozen Turkish bank accounts. He returned to the United States in June 2020.