Just Turkish

[Mina76 0]

Tough one. This is why civil rights laws are in place.

If it were me, I, too, would take it up with management immediately. But he might put his job at risk by doing so. Employers find ways around the rules.

Or he could say nothing and let it go. Just be mindful in the future not to discuss religion, etc. at the job again.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of narrow minded ppl in this world.

Tell me about it Awaterlily, yes there are alot of narrow minded ppl in this world!

My husband did went ahead and reported this incident to his supervisor and believe it or not he said they have been treating him a little better now

Thanks for your input in this matter

Mina

[Mina76 0]

Hi Mina,

I am a HR Manager and working directly with a PR Company as well as Accounting Manager and really it depends on how much he wants to rock the boat. Yes, he can make it a huge issue and go thru the process...file a complaint....possible.... put his job on the line.

I am a convert to Islam...I don’t discuss my religion with anyone also most people wont feel so comfortable to approach me; I am normally a very serious person. I also don’t discuss my personal life or talk chit chat...I don’t do that and am not that type of person.

BUT I have had 1 person at my work that approached me with comments which are totally unacceptable. BUT, I know in my possition..As the only woman in upper management, it would be a problem for me if I proceeded.

I had another top employee approach me with why I was not eating pizza at a Company Pizza party. I made a simple statement that I do not eat pork. He said to me, Oh...your husband is Muslim right? I said yes, and he continued on to TRY to tell me how Muslims where and what they believed in.....I quickly and firmly said: I will NOT discuss my or my husbands religion with you and walked away. In doing this, he understood he was not welcome to discuss this issue with me and that I was offended.

I know my company and how we terminate and also how we build the file to do so legally. SOoo in time, it happens if the employee makes a little mistake a few times it will lead to a quick termination. I deal with issues daily.

This government has made it very difficult for Muslims...inflecting hate across this land...Dead Truth People!!

So Mina.....It all depends.

Legally, yes He can proceed and report it. The company can feel as he is a threat and walk softly until a reasonable reason comes for a quick termination...Sorry, this is fact. AND on the other side he can always file a law suit in rebuttal…OR the company can give a warning the other employee ….done…..BUT not for the 2 involved.

Ya, we have laws to protect people and on and on and ….some people believe firmly in these laws and the freedom and so on…Fact is it happens daily, no one is untouchable and nothing is free ;-) All comes to an end.

Ahh….I have talked too much and gave too much of my opinion.

Take care and BEST wishes to you both.

Peace.!

Debra

Thanks for your input too Debra,

As I had mentioned to Awaterlily, my husband did went on to report this incident to his supervisor and things have been a little better for him at work now, interesting enough of the outcome of this situation when he was expecting the worst to happen!

What a country I tell you, you never know what this kind of discrimination feels like until it hits so close to home with your loved one, interesting enough I had never discussed religion or politics with any of my co-workers and I prefer it that way!

Thanks again for sharing your opinions,

Mina

[awaterlily 0]

We rec'd the biometrics appt. letter - 2/14

Yay!

[Ctrl+alt+delete 0]

We rec'd the biometrics appt. letter - 2/14

Yay!

Congratulations now on to a quick finish

Hi Mina,

I am a HR Manager and working directly with a PR Company as well as Accounting Manager and really it depends on how much he wants to rock the boat. Yes, he can make it a huge issue and go thru the process...file a complaint....possible.... put his job on the line.

I am a convert to Islam...I don’t discuss my religion with anyone also most people wont feel so comfortable to approach me; I am normally a very serious person. I also don’t discuss my personal life or talk chit chat...I don’t do that and am not that type of person.

BUT I have had 1 person at my work that approached me with comments which are totally unacceptable. BUT, I know in my possition..As the only woman in upper management, it would be a problem for me if I proceeded.

I had another top employee approach me with why I was not eating pizza at a Company Pizza party. I made a simple statement that I do not eat pork. He said to me, Oh...your husband is Muslim right? I said yes, and he continued on to TRY to tell me how Muslims where and what they believed in.....I quickly and firmly said: I will NOT discuss my or my husbands religion with you and walked away. In doing this, he understood he was not welcome to discuss this issue with me and that I was offended.

I know my company and how we terminate and also how we build the file to do so legally. SOoo in time, it happens if the employee makes a little mistake a few times it will lead to a quick termination. I deal with issues daily.

This government has made it very difficult for Muslims...inflecting hate across this land...Dead Truth People!!

So Mina.....It all depends.

Legally, yes He can proceed and report it. The company can feel as he is a threat and walk softly until a reasonable reason comes for a quick termination...Sorry, this is fact. AND on the other side he can always file a law suit in rebuttal…OR the company can give a warning the other employee ….done…..BUT not for the 2 involved.

Ya, we have laws to protect people and on and on and ….some people believe firmly in these laws and the freedom and so on…Fact is it happens daily, no one is untouchable and nothing is free ;-) All comes to an end.

Ahh….I have talked too much and gave too much of my opinion.

Take care and BEST wishes to you both.

Peace.!

Debra

Thanks for your input too Debra,

As I had mentioned to Awaterlily, my husband did went on to report this incident to his supervisor and things have been a little better for him at work now, interesting enough of the outcome of this situation when he was expecting the worst to happen!

What a country I tell you, you never know what this kind of discrimination feels like until it hits so close to home with your loved one, interesting enough I had never discussed religion or politics with any of my co-workers and I prefer it that way!

Thanks again for sharing your opinions,

Mina

Great to hear everything went a-ok Mina

[Ctrl+alt+delete 0]

INFORMATION LINKS TO CITIZEN TESTING

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments...zation_Test.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-685.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/reading_vocab.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/writing_vocab.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Comparison.pdf

[awaterlily 0]

Thx for posting the quick links, Debra

INFORMATION LINKS TO CITIZEN TESTING

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments...zation_Test.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-685.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/reading_vocab.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/writing_vocab.pdf

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/Comparison.pdf

[awaterlily 0]

My husband had the biometrics appointment this morning. Got there abt. 15-20 minutes early. Lobby was empty. They took him in immediately - we never even sat down. Finished in abt. 15 minutes!

!!!

[Mina76 0]

Great, glad everything went fast and smoothly for you both!

Mina

[Mina76 0]

I would like to wish all the Turkish/American couples a Happy Valentine's Day!

[wendya 0]

My husband had the biometrics appointment this morning. Got there abt. 15-20 minutes early. Lobby was empty. They took him in immediately - we never even sat down. Finished in abt. 15 minutes!

!!!

That is wonderful news!!!! Tebrikler!!

I would like to wish all the Turkish/American couples a Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you Mina!! Happy Valentine's to you too!!

[JULIAFERNO 0]

I meant to post in this thread, but accidentally created a new topic, so here it is again...

Hi everyone. As you probably know, all Turkish males must complete their mandatory army duty. My fiance has not yet done his service (he was able to delay due to attending University), but will be eligible late summer/early fall 2008. We filed for our K1 in November 2007 and we are worrying that if his visa is not approved in time he will not be allowed to leave the country due to the fact that his army service delay is coming to an end and he must enroll. Does anyone know anything about this? Will they physically prevent him from leaving the country? Of course we don't want to create a situation where he isn't able to return to Turkey in the future.

If anyone has any experience, advice or insight into this matter I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you so much!

~Julia

[Ctrl+alt+delete 0]

CONGRATULATIONS

should be anytime now ;-)

My husband had the biometrics appointment this morning. Got there abt. 15-20 minutes early. Lobby was empty. They took him in immediately - we never even sat down. Finished in abt. 15 minutes!

!!!

[Ctrl+alt+delete 0]

Merhaba,

I just responded to your message but here is some other info for you. This is the Consulate my husband went thru for his military issues and to renew his passport. They will help you. We did it all in under 3 weeks by mail.

Military Services Department

Turkish Consulate General

6300 Wilshire Blvd. Suite2010

Los Angeles, CA 90048

Tel. (323) 655-8832

Fax. (323) 655-8681

website: www.e-konsolosluk.net

I meant to post in this thread, but accidentally created a new topic, so here it is again...

Hi everyone. As you probably know, all Turkish males must complete their mandatory army duty. My fiance has not yet done his service (he was able to delay due to attending University), but will be eligible late summer/early fall 2008. We filed for our K1 in November 2007 and we are worrying that if his visa is not approved in time he will not be allowed to leave the country due to the fact that his army service delay is coming to an end and he must enroll. Does anyone know anything about this? Will they physically prevent him from leaving the country? Of course we don't want to create a situation where he isn't able to return to Turkey in the future.

If anyone has any experience, advice or insight into this matter I would greatly appreciate it!

Thank you so much!

~Julia

[tanyakaraman 0]

Mmmmm yes, hamsi! I first tried them in a restaurant in Instanbul and loved them! We actually found them (frozen) in a Turkish market in Peterson, NJ (that town has the most awesome Turkish/Middle Eastern section with many markets, halal butchers, barber shops, restaurants, etc!!) and cooked them at home! You can eat them just like french fries - heads, bones and all. It took a while for my kids to work up the nerve to eat fish heads, but they loved them too.

That was the dinner when I started to pour some milk for everyone and got a panicked look and quick advice that you can't drink milk with fish (or it could end badly for you)!

something's wrong with this board tonight..i keep trying to respond to posts and it won't let me!

to respond to wendya: are you referring to the little fish that are abt 3 in long? from the Black Sea? They're delicious!

Yes, they are the ones!!

[tanyakaraman 0]

Sorry for the late reply. I haven't visited the board very much lately...things have been crazy with my schedule the past few weeks! We did finally get the military issue resolved. We sent our info to the consulate in Los Angeles to register our marriage, then waited a few weeks, then Ozzy returned to the consulate in New York last Wednesday (we got so many conflicting stories from embassy representatives as for what documentation we needed to send, etc., that we thought it better to just go there in person with *everything*) and he was able to postpone the military service, I believe for 2 years. So that is a huge relief! We are planning to return to Turkey in late March (with my 13-year-old daughter) and didn't want to have to worry about him being detained at the airport or anything. I'm glad to hear that your husband had no problems...hopefully that'll be the case for us as well.

Well...turns out its a bit more complicated than I thought. For us anyway. My husband came to the US on a marriage-based visa (K1), so before we can file for the military postponement, we have to register our marriage with the Turkish embassy. Since we were married in Las Vegas, we have to apply to register our marriage with the consulate in Los Angeles (the NY consulate does not have "jurisdiction" to register marriages that took place in Nevada). THEN, after that process is complete, we have to bring or send his immigration papers back to the NY consulate to apply to extend his military service deadline. So basically, we made the 7-hour round trip to NY for nothing. Well, we had a good time exploring the city, but weren't able to accomplish what we really went there for. We are under a little bit of stress right now to get the process completed, as we have purchased plane tickets for late March to return to Turkey for a visit (they told us on the phone that it would be simple and wouldn't take more than ~2 weeks to complete)...I really hope we can get everything done in time!

Ozzy was so stressed out & disgusted after our visit to the consulate that he temporarily started smoking again (he had quit ~3 weeks ago) and now swears he is going to change his citizenship ASAP!

For your friend, it should be simpler. He should contact the Turkish Consulate for specifics, but probably all he needs to do is bring/send his green card (copy or original or both...I am not sure) probably with proof that he is a student or worker (basically that he is fullfilling whatever type of visa he came here with) to the consulate that has jurisdiction over the region where he lives. They can extend his deadline for military service for one year during which time he can visit Turkey with no problem. Apparently the process takes ~2 weeks normally.

Best Wishes,

Tanya

Thanks so much for your links & posts! I do really appreciate it. I think you guys are right, it's probably the military requirement that is holding him back from visiting.

Since he left to complete college here, he probably left Turkey before the required age of 20 there. I had no idea that the military requirement would be so strictly enforced. While reading on the link to wiki from Tanya, it said that you cant get married, cant stay at a hotel, if you are a draft evader. Yikes, they are serious.

Tanya, I'd appreciate if you could post or PM me how everything goes on Friday for you at the Turkish consulate. Best of luck to you!

Thanks again for all your help, from me, and my friend in need.

I am so sorry to hear about your problem with military issue tanyakaraman.

Candemir went thru this same issue but he just contacted the Embassy in California, downloaded the application and then sent it back along with his passport (he renewed that as well) and the $$. Back in his hands within a few weeks.

He was called to duty just as he was leaving Turkey to come here, so we had to really get on the ball and make sure the military issue was taken care of. The process has to be done yearly if he wants to go home. When he went back to Turkey last year, everything was perfect. He had the letter with him but no one asked for it ;-)

Best wishes,

Debbie