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SAN
MATEO
Like countless immigrants, Gultekin Bulutoglu came
to America to make a better life.
But the immigrant dream has taken a harrowing turn
since he was granted asylum in 2000.
Bulutoglu needs a kidney transplant. His sister, who
has the same B- blood type, wants to donate her
kidney. She lives in Turkey and has been denied a
visa to enter the United States. His mother wants to
care for him but also was denied a visa.
From Istanbul, where the family lives, Kibar
Bulutoglu, 58, said of her son, "We are handcuffed.
We worry. We don't know what to do."
Bulutoglu, who is 28, could live for decades on
dialysis, his doctor says, and is on a waiting list
to receive a donor's kidney in the next five years
or so. But with both of his kidneys shut down, he
has grown too weak to keep his job at a San Mateo
restaurant where he has worked for four years. He
fears that his health will not hold. He was admitted
to the emergency room twice last week.
While there are more than 80,000 people in the
United States waiting for kidney transplants,
Bulutoglu faces the added challenges of being
separated from his family and navigating a new
culture and language. In one instance, he failed to
file an appeal of the visa denial for his sister
because, he said, he didn't understand the form.
Officials said she was denied entry because no one
provided adequate justification for her to be
admitted.
A Kurd, Bulutoglu is fortunate to have been embraced
by members of the Bay Area's Kurdish community,
which numbers between 300 and 500. A San Francisco
restaurateur is rallying fellow Kurds to raise funds
to help with Bulutoglu's day-to-day expenses. On
Sunday, a fund-raiser called "A Night for Gultekin"
will be held in Belmont.
Bulutoglu's story involves the Department of
Homeland Security, the plight of Kurds in Turkey and
one family's anxieties that transcend place, time or
politics.
Walet Yuksel, who owns Bocce Restaurant in North
Beach, heard of Bulutoglu's case two years ago. A
Kurd from Diyarbakir, Turkey, Yuksel was granted
asylum in the United States in 1981. He sees
Bulutoglu as "a young man who should have a bright
future."
"Word of Gultekin spread in the Kurdish community,"
Yuksel said. "I heard his kidneys are failing. At
the beginning, I didn't really know the situation.
Later, we hear he is getting worse. We do what we
can to help."
Bulutoglu -- called "G" by friends -- said he had
been granted asylum because of the persecution of
Kurds in Turkey. He shares an apartment in San Mateo
with two roommates, also Kurds. All three are from
Bingol, a town in southeastern Turkey.
The apartment is fastidiously tidy, with shoes left
inside the door. Bulutoglu -- wearing baggy sweats
and Nike flip-flops -- offered tea, sweets and fresh
fruit. Yuksel sat beside him, translating when
necessary.
Bulutoglu lives with constant back pain, shortness
of breath, headaches and fatigue, he said. On the
slight side to begin with, Bulutoglu has lost nearly
40 pounds since 2002, when doctors discovered his
kidneys were failing from severe high blood pressure
that went untreated.
He goes to dialysis three times a week, taking a bus
from his apartment. The dialysis does the work of
his kidneys, keeping him alive by removing the
body's waste and maintaining chemical balance.
He thumbed through a thin stack of papers, including
the letter showing he was granted asylum in the
United States on June 27, 2000, and his efforts last
March to get his sister and mother into the country.
Those efforts were initiated by U.S. Rep. Anna
Eshoo, who wrote a letter to the U.S. Embassy in
Ankara on Bulutoglu's behalf.
Kenneth Leutbecker, director of the Department of
Homeland Security's Parole and Humanitarian
Assistance Branch, responded April 13 to the letter
from Bulutoglu requesting that his mother and sister
be allowed into the country because of special
circumstances.
The department offers what is called "humanitarian
parole" to "bring an otherwise inadmissible alien
into the United States for a temporary period of
time due to a very compelling emergency." The parole
is an extraordinary measure granted on a
case-by-case basis.
Leutbecker asked for additional documentation,
including medical records showing his sister is a
match as a kidney donor. Bulutoglu provided some but
not all of the requested documentation. He found a
sponsor for his relatives to visit, a requirement
for humanitarian parole. He failed, however, in the
key matter of providing his sister's medical
records.
Bulutoglu said he had grown overwhelmed by the
process and pessimistic that his sister would be
allowed in.
Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, said humanitarian parole
"is an action taken only in rare circumstances when
it's a life-or-death situation. We need to make sure
the person paroled in will comply with the law."
She said her agency "would reconsider (Bulutoglu's)
request if we receive additional information showing
the sister is a potential kidney match."
Bulutoglu said he would follow through, but he
doesn't feel optimistic. He said his sister had been
denied a visa twice. He said his parents, who live
on $250 a month, had spent close to $1,000 on visa
applications.
He can not go to Turkey to see his family or seek
treatment because of medical and political concerns,
he said, adding that it's hard to get treatment
there, "unless you are very important or wealthy."
And if he were to go, he said, there would be no
certainty that he would be allowed back into the
United States.
He also questioned whether he would be persecuted by
Turkish officials, because he was granted asylum as
a Kurd.
The Turkish government has not recognized Kurds as a
minority group and instead calls them "mountain
Turks," outlawing their language, costumes and
culture.
"I came here searching for a better future, to get a
better job, build my life, help my family,"
Bulutoglu said.
But despite his doctor's optimistic prognosis, he is
fearful. He feels his health is worsening.
"I'm afraid," he said. "I'm too young. I don't want
to have a short life."
A Night for Gultekin
A fund-raiser for Gultekin Bulutoglu will be held at
5 p.m. Sunday at the Twin Pines Senior and Community
Center, 1225 Ralston Ave., Belmont. Admission is $30
for adults; children are admitted free. All money
raised will go to support Bulutoglu.
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