Job Discussion Forums

[mongrelcat]

Last summer when I was in Ankara, I was offered a very good job at a private kolej. It didn't come to pass though, because I needed to revoke my citizenship...somehow it interfered with their hiring of "native speakers." Keep in mind this is a very reputable school.

So, I told them that the process would take until October or November. They said call us then. So I'm back in the US and I've spoken with them, but all they'll say is "If you come here to sign your (revokation) papers and we still need a teacher we will employ you. I'm fairly certain they still need teachers.

Are they trying to get out of giving me airfare? Or do they not believe that I've revoked my citizenship?(It's a really long story. Suffice it to say that I am now a single person!) Whaddya reckon?

[gelin]

That's really weird. You revoked your Turkish citizenship? How in the world did you do that -- my son would like to to avoid the army. I know that parents of private school students sometimes really squeal about having "Turkish" teachers. It's ludicrous, but the pressure they exert on the schools is amazingly strong.

[mongrelcat]

I'm not Turkish. My ex-husband was.

[Faustino]

A friend of mine, who had lived in Luxembourg for many years, was politely requested (!) to come back to Turkey to fullfil his military service requirements. Upon turning down this cordial invitation, he was told that he was no longer considered a Turk and that his citizenship had been revoked. As you can imagine, he was heartbroken at losing out on the myriad benefits that come with holding a Turkish passport, but was able to overcome this by immediately obtaining an E.C passport. Granted, this was only because he had been there for many years, but this hasn't stopped him from visiting Turkey as a foreigner since then.

[mongrelcat]

well, thanks for the replies.....but, what i'm really wondering is, how does the behavior of the school seem? I mean, if I drop everything and move off to Ankara without them telling me for certain I can work there, would that be really stupid?

I'm a US citizen who was married to a Turk(thus the citizenship). At the school they were all set to hire me, until I (foolishly) handed over above information. They then said something to the effect of "Oh dear, well we can't hire you if you are now a Turkish citizen, that negates all of your higher education from your home country, so then we really can't hire you as a 'Native Speaker.'"

That baffled the hell out of me. ?

[vre]

I think that if you just drop everything and go to Ankara without having been offered anything, or even signed any contract or anything, you would be making a big mistake or taking a huge risk. I personally wouldn't do it until something was concrete.

[NMB]

That is an incredibly ludicrous story. Why would you even want to work for a place that discounts you as a native speaker because your husband is Turkish?? Your personal life is not their business, anyway. At the school where I worked, a couple of teachers were married to Turks (including the Head Teacher), and such an inane issue never came up. It's about where you grew up and were educated, not about whom you're married to!

[Faustino]

I've never heard of such a situation either, but it is common practice for places (not all) to pay you less if you have Turkish citizenship, regardless of where you were born.

[gelin]

So you really were a Turkish citizen. There are some people who also took the citizenship like you and lived to regret it. They were subject to the Ministry's courses on being a teacher, etc. I'm just curious on how you renounced it. I understand it takes an act of the parliament to get that done. Once a Turk, always a Turk was the motto I have heard. So, let this be a warning to all contemplating taking it because it would mean they wouldn't have to get a work/residence permit -- don't do it. You lose more rights than you would ever imagine. Anyone disagree on that?