TIME ran out this week for the owner of a Tavistock kebab shop, who was deported to Turkey last Saturday after an eleventh-hour bid to halt the order.

Ali Ekber Ademoglu, an Alevitish Kurd who sought asylum in the UK five years ago, was detained at Tavistock police station last Monday. He was sent to Harmondsworth Detention Centre, while West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett battled with officials to get permission for him to stay in this country.

But despite the MP?s efforts, Mr Ademoglu was flown out to Istanbul from Heathrow. He was forced to leave behind his partner of more than four years, Alison Shearer, and their three-year-old son, Felix.

Alison Shearer said Mr Ademoglu, who is 28, is in hiding and has no money. She spoke to him in the early hours of yesterday (Wednesday) morning and said things were looking ?very bleak?.

?He went to the embassy yesterday but he couldn?t speak to any English people,? she said.

?There were Turkish police at the door and about 250 Turkish people in the queue, wanting to get visas to come to England. The police were vetting them as they came to the door.

?He was there two hours at the back of the queue and in that time, it only moved forward one person,? said Miss Shearer, adding that Mr Ademoglu was so worried about the police presence he eventually left the embassy.

He later telephoned and was told he would not be able to get a special appointment and he would only be able to get a visa if his passport had at least six months to run ? his has just four.

Miss Shearer said: ?To get a passport in Turkey you have to go to a main police station. They would go through his records and put him straight in the army.

?He is so desperate about Felix. He was saying that if he went in the army and came back after two years minimum, Felix would be a different child, he would have missed so much ? he?s just desperate and we just seem to have come to a dead end.?

Mr Burnett said he was appalled at Mr Ademoglu?s situation and was trying to help him obtain a fiancé visa.

?That means he will then be able to return to this country, but you can only apply for it abroad ? I will do all I can to help him get the visa. I will try to get him an appointment myself at the embassy,? said the MP.

Mr Burnett said he found Mr Ademoglu?s treatment by the British authorities ?shocking?.

Since Mr Ademoglu?s application for asylum was turned down, he had been reporting once a week to Tavistock Police Station, while waiting for his appeal to be heard.

?Ali is an absolutely genuine asylum seeker. He is an Alevitish Kurd, they are a small ethnic group and they have been particularly victimised, they have received merciless treatment from the authorities,? said Mr Burnett.

?A whole lot of people, like Ali, who have genuine claims, are being booted out. Because they obeyed the rules, they are the easiest ones to get hold of and deport,? said Mr Burnett, who said he was also ?extremely dissatisfied? with immigration officials in Plymouth.

The MP said they advised Mr Ademoglu and Miss Shearer that it would be unwise to get married.

?Given the circumstances, and the fact they have a child, that is a dreadful thing to do,? said Mr Burnett.

A Home Office spokesman said the fact Mr Ademoglu had ?gone by the book? was irrelevant when considering claims for asylum.

He said: ?We don?t comment on individual cases. Asylum claims are determined entirely on their merit, taking into account factors like danger to the individual and persecution, should they be returned to their own country.?