Services:
Written country-conditions reports and expert declarations; case-specific risk assessments; document/plausibility commentary; consultation and briefings for counsel; telephonic/video testimony.
Based in Canada; serves U.S., U.K., Canadian, Irish, Australian and E.U. asylum/refugee matters remotely (invoiced from Canada). Fee schedule (hourly or fixed) and references available on request; selected writings available on request.
Türkiye country conditions | South Caucasus (Georgia, Azerbaijan) | Apostasy & blasphemy-law enforcement (Penal Code Art. 216(3)) | Treatment of atheists, non-believers & apostates | Freedom of religion, belief & expression | Secular and LGBTQ+ activists | State surveillance & repression of civil society | Belief- and political-opinion-based persecution | Sur place claims | Refugee & asylum country-of-origin analysis
Reports prepared to the standards expected by the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Practice Direction and equivalent rules; understands the expert’s overriding duty to the court/tribunal and the duty of impartiality — evidence is marshalled for and against the proposition, with no advocacy role.
Fees are never contingent on the outcome of a case or the content of the opinion.
Written declarations and telephonic/video testimony accepted from outside the jurisdiction (e.g., U.S. immigration proceedings and U.K. tribunals).
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Qualifications:
Consulted source, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Research Directorate) — published Response to Information Request TUR200821.E (25 Nov 2021) on the treatment of atheists in Turkey; Ateizm Derneği (which the expert co-founded) is listed among the sources consulted.
Oral statement to the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council (Geneva, Mar 2026), Item 4, on blasphemy provisions (Turkish Penal Code Art. 216(3)), on behalf of Humanists International and Ateizm DerneÄŸi.
Statements at the adoption of Türkiye’s Universal Periodic Review outcomes, UN Human Rights Council — third cycle (45th Session, Item 6, September 2020, jointly with Humanists International) and fourth cycle (60th Session, September 2025).
Written submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues (Prof. Fernand de Varennes) on the situation of atheists and non-believers in Türkiye — Ateizm Derneği, 29 June 2020; cited in Humanists International’s Freedom of Thought Report.
Contributor, Freedom of Thought Report — Türkiye (2015–2018). Through Ateizm Derneği (which I founded), provided country information reflected in the Türkiye entries of the Humanists International Freedom of Thought Report across the 2015–2018 editions.
Personal testimony quoted in Humanists International’s Freedom of Thought Report — Türkiye country entry (2022 edition).
National campaign that repealed Canada’s blasphemy law (Criminal Code s.296, 2018), including Department of Justice lobbying — applied expertise in blasphemy-law frameworks and enforcement.
Sponsor, House of Commons e-Petition 3114 (2021) on asylum and immigration reform; supporter and advocate (with CFI Canada) of e-Petition 3750 (2021–22) for the expedited resettlement of 40,000 Afghan refugees.
President, Atheist Alliance International (2016–2017); Development Director & Board Member (2024–present) — UN consultative status re-established 2024.
Founder, Board Member & Director of International Relations, Ateizm Derneği (2014–present) — first legally recognized atheist organization in a Muslim-majority country; UN ECOSOC Special Consultative Status (2025).
President, Ateizm Derneği International Foundation, Canada (2020–present).
Founder, Society of Agnostics and Atheists, Georgia (2016) — first atheist organization in Georgia; basis for South Caucasus regional knowledge.
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Experience:
Case Manager, Secular Rescue — Center for Inquiry (U.S.) 2024–present
Directs emergency-assistance casework for persecuted secular activists worldwide: 97 international-protection cases assessed under UNHCR/IRC frameworks — direct, current knowledge of how persecution operates on the ground.
Director, Assistance for Apostates (A4A) — Centre for Inquiry Canada 2022–present
Leads Canada’s first Group-of-Five private-sponsorship program dedicated to atheist refugees.
Founder & Director, Atheist Refugee Assistance Program (ARAP) 2020–present
Built and directs a 30-member multilingual assistance network; 355 refugee case files spanning housing, employment, legal referrals, support letters and resettlement guidance.
Director, Atheist Support Network — Atheist Alliance International 2015–present
Oversees casework and peer support across 311+ UNHCR-registered cases.
Chair of Human Rights (2021–present); Board Member (2019–2026) — Centre for Inquiry Canada
National human-rights governance and advocacy; led blasphemy-law reform (s.296) and House of Commons petition work on asylum and refugee policy.
National Research — Secular Chaplaincy in Canadian Prisons (BC Humanists / CFIC) 2022–present
A mixed-methods research and produces sourced, evidence-based reports — the same rigour applied to country-conditions declarations.
Producer, Director & Host — AD TV (Ateizm Derneği’s YouTube channel) and CFIC programming 2019–present. 400+ long-form programs documenting belief-based persecution, apostasy and secular-rights conditions in Türkiye and the region, in Turkish and English.
Founder & Chief Editor, Ateist Dergi — the Middle East’s first printed atheist magazine (2013–2014); Editor-in-Chief, Secular World Magazine — Atheist Alliance International (2016)
Documented belief-based persecution and secular-rights conditions for international audiences.
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Fees:
180
Categories:
Court Reporters , Expert Witness/Services , Expert Witness , Expert Witness Referrals , Expert Testimony
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