Category: America

(ECO) NEW GLOBAL ORDER SHOULD BE ‘RESPONSIBLE GLOBALIZATION’, ZOELLICK

World Bank Group President, Robert Zoellick,
said Tuesday the new global order should be “responsible globalization”.
Speaking at the inauguration of the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank in Istanbul, Zoellick said that international institutions and countries should work for a globalization that is accountable. As a result of the global crisis, more than 59 million individuals will lose jobs. Up to 50,000 babies may die in the least developed regions of Africa, Zoellick stressed.
The whole humanity calls on us not to permit a global crisis again in the
future, Zoellick said.

AA

October 6, 2009
(ECO) ISTANBUL IS A BRIDGE BETWEEN CIVILIZATIONS, ERDOGAN

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday Istanbul was a bridge not only between continents but also between civilizations, cultures, economies and commercial regions.Speaking at the inauguration of the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank in Istanbul, Erdogan said that he welcomed all to Turkey and Istanbul with warm regards. Turkey and Istanbul hosted the annual meetings of IMF and World Bank in
1955. Turkey hosts the meetings again after 54 years. I would like to express the happiness of my people and myself over welcoming you, the distinguished guests, to Istanbul one more time, Erdogan said.
I hope that the meetings in Istanbul would be beneficial at a time when we
are going through a critical process as far as global economy is concerned,
Erdogan underlined. You are now on lands that invented the first currency in history. I would like to use this opportunity to remind you that you are also in a city that spreads on two continents, Erdogan said. The Bosphorus Strait connects Asia to Europe. I am confident that the city
of Istanbul, a city which unites civilizations, cultures and economies, will be
the host for a meeting that will leave a mark on the global economy and will help us bring together our strengths and experiences, Erdogan said.Erdogan stressed that strong policy measures have yielded positive results
in the world. This is a pleasing development. However, we must not let go precautions in our economies, Erdogan said.There is a need to re-evaluate the distribution of roles and responsibilities in the global economy, Erdogan noted.
I, once again, want to welcome you all to Turkey and Istanbul and hope that
you will enjoy the beauties of an unique city Istanbul, Erdogan also said.

AA

October 6, 2009
Turkish- and Armenian-American reactions to protocols

From: Javid Huseynov [[email protected] ]

I think the reactions shown by Turkish-American and Armenian-American organizations to protocols reveal some important structural differences worth noting.

Turkish-American organizations (much like Azeri-American ones, by the way) remain strongly in line with the concurrent foreign policy of originating nation (i.e., Turkey, Azerbaijan, etc.). This is the most fundamental deficiency in diaspora, inability to have an independent decision making mechanism based solely on community’s view and thinking. Ultimately, such approach visibly turns diaspora into another tool of executing the foreign policy of home government, makes organizations dependent (including economically) on foreign country, lowers their significance in influencing the politics of the host nation, the United States.

The reaction of Armenian diaspora shows exactly the opposite. It’s a strong and independent decision-making unit, able to influence the foreign policy of the United States, independently of Armenia, with or without its existence, and Sarkisian calculated this well too. Unlike Turkish reaction, the Armenian approach is driven by ideology and “soft power” not by state’s foreign policy, which makes Armenians so much more successful in achieving their goals on every front. And I hope both Turkish- and Azeri-American organizations can learn from this experience and have their own voice in future.

October 6, 2009
Sarkisian Continues Diaspora Tour

Serzh Sarkisian, President of Armenia, meets representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in New York, 03Oct, 2009

05.10.2009

Hasmik Smbatian, Gevorg Stamboltsian

President Serzh Sarkisian on Monday continued his weeklong tour of major Armenian communities to discuss and promote his far-reaching diplomatic overtures to Turkey that many in the Diaspora have been following with unease.

After his visit to French capital Paris on Friday that met with some protests from local Armenians, Sarkisian crossed the Atlantic Ocean to continue his tour in the United States, meeting with prominent Diaspora members in New York and Los Angeles. Sarkisian’s other scheduled stops include Beirut and Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.

In American soil, meanwhile, Sarkisian was also reportedly greeted by protesters outside his meeting places. Many urged the Armenian president not to sign a deal with Turkey in its current form that they claim will be damaging to the state and national interests of Armenia and will disregard the national

Serzh Sarkisian meets representatives of the Armenian Diaspora in Los Angeles, 04Oct, 2009

aspirations of Armenians in Diaspora communities.

Thousands of Armenian Americans from throughout California reportedly gathered near Beverly Hilton Hotel as part of a protest organized Sunday by a local campaign group.

During his meetings in all three cities, Sarkisian attempted to persuade Diaspora Armenians that the initialed protocols between Yerevan and Ankara on establishing diplomatic ties and developing bilateral relations do not harm Armenian state and national interests, but, on the contrary, open new opportunities for resolving the centuries-old feud between the two neighbors.

The leading Armenian organizations in the world have expressed conflicting views on Armenia’s dramatic rapprochement with Turkey that Sarkisian initiated last year by inviting his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to Yerevan to attend a football match between the two countries’ national teams. The yearlong process culminated on August 31 in the publication of two draft protocols expected to be signed by Yerevan and Ankara later this month and submitted for further ratification to parliaments.

Some Diaspora leaders have expressed serious concern about key points of the two draft protocols envisaging the normalization of bilateral relations. They are particularly critical of the planned creation of a Turkish-Armenian panel of historians that would look into the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, claiming that this provision is tantamount to questioning the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

Diaspora groups also object to another protocol clause that commits Armenia to recognizing its existing border with Turkey. They argue that it would preclude future Armenian territorial claims to areas in eastern Turkey that were populated by their ancestors until the 1915-1918 massacres.

There are also lingering concerns in and outside Armenia about a possible linkage between Armenian-Turkish normalization and the Armenian-Azerbaijan talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

In Paris, New York and Los Angeles, President Sarkisian reiterated that Armenia is pursuing an unconditional normalization with Turkey.

“I think that we have managed to get the maximum for now,” said Sarkisian in New York on Saturday, as reported by his press office.

Sarkisian, in particular, said that the Russo-Georgian war in August 2008 created a new situation in the South Caucasus, which, according to him, to some extent prepared ground for an Armenian-Turkish dialogue. He added that the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations would in turn promote regional détente by creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence.

At his meeting with several dozen Diaspora representatives Sarkisian emphasized that the fact of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire cannot be discussed in the context of rapprochement with Turkey.

“The only question in connection with the Genocide that can become a subject for discussion is how we can help the Turkish people to be more unbiased in going through the pages of their own history or, to be more precise, how to overcome the consequences of the Genocide,” Sarkisian stressed.

On the third leg of his tour in Los Angeles, Sarkisian met Sunday with Diaspora representatives of the western coast of the United States as well as South American countries with large Armenian communities.

Speaking about the Armenia-Turkey dialogue, Sarkisian underscored that negotiations with Ankara have been conducted ever since Armenia became independent in 1991 and simply became “public” following the initiative during his presidency.

“I believe that it is possible to have normal negotiations, have normal relations with Turkey and benefit from it,” Sarkisian underscored.

Meanwhile, American-Armenian groups voiced mixed reaction to Sarkisian’s meetings in New York and Los Angeles.

New York – Representatives of the Armenian Diaspora protest possible signing of Armenian – Turkish protocols, 03Oct, 2009

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America Aram Hamparian, who coordinated the protest actions of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in New York, said to RFE/RL: “The negotiations on these protocols proceeded in a secret atmosphere. A six-week period was set for the Armenian and Turkish sides to give approval to the documents. In reality, however, the protocols are not subject to change, even to the slightest alteration.”

“Two leading Armenian publications in the United States, Asbarez and The Armenian Reporter, conducted opinion polls among 2,400 local Armenians. The polls show that 90 percent of the respondents are against the protocols. And between 94 and 95 percent of the respondents consider that the protocols are more favorable for Turkey,” said Hamparian.

In response to this, Haig Deranian, the head of one of American-Armenian organizations, the Knights of Vartan, that supports the ratification of the protocols, said: “This is not true. Armenian organizations with a more moderate position are very angered at the circumstance that the ANCA speaks on behalf of the entire Diaspora. They represent a small group of Armenians who are treated with respect, but they have no right to speak on behalf of the majority. I can speak only on my behalf and on behalf of my organization, but not all Armenians.”

“The Armenian government should know well that the Diaspora has an emotional approach to this matter as it has felt the consequences of the genocide from the very beginning. But emotions notwithstanding, we should also be objective and try to support the Armenian nation and promote the welfare of our country,” Deranian emphasized.

According to the schedule of the tour announced by Sarkisian’s office, the Armenian president’s next stop is in Beirut to be followed by his meetings in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.

Meanwhile, Sarkisian’s spokesman Samvel Farmanian on Monday confirmed to RFE/RL that the Armenian president had received an official invitation from his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to visit Turkey to attend the return match between the two countries’ national football teams.

The FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier between Turkey and Armenia will be held in the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa on October 14.

According to announcements made by Turkish leaders that yet need to be confirmed by the Armenian side, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey are scheduled to sign the protocols in Switzerland on October 10.

https://www.azatutyun.am/a/1843752.html

October 5, 2009
Azerbaijan: the next flashpoint between the U.S. and Iran

by Maksud Djavadov

“The most widely propagated idea by the state controlled media in Azerbaijan is not the liberation of occupied Karabakh but the “unification” of Tabriz with the Republic of Azerbaijan: essentially, the partition of Iran. In the coming years, if not sooner it will not be surprising to witness Azerbaijan as the next U.S. theatre from which political, social and economic pressure will be exerted on Iran. The U.S. knows that Azerbaijan is Iran’s vulnerable spot.”

Iran has played an important role in the crucial events affecting global politics for at least 3,000 years. At no time in history, however, has Iran been more important in global politics than since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Some historians might contend that during the rule of Cambyses II in 530 bc, Persia was at its peak because of the vast territory it controlled and the great power it wielded. But the Persia of those days was only first among equals. Indeed it controlled vast territory but it was a pagan state ruled by an absolute monarch with a hierarchy of social values and a political system similar to most other existing states at the time.

Thus, it was simply part of an established political order lacking its own unique character and an alternative system. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 is radically different because it challenged the Western-imposed political order by demolishing many key pillars of its control through the implementation of an alternative system of governance. At no time since the victory of the Islamic Revolution has Iran been more of a challenge to the colonial powers, especially the U.S., than it is now. This challenge manifests itself at different levels globally. The next most probable point where this confrontation will heat up will be the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The U.S.-Iran confrontation in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq must be briefly analyzed in order to understand the potential for a new flashpoint. Before its invasion and occupation of Afghanistan the U.S. did not have direct military presence in regional conflicts. Prior to 9/11 the U.S. was mostly involved through its proxies, namely the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and Central Asia. The only occasion when it became directly involved in a Middle Eastern conflict before the invasion of Afghanistan was the Gulf War of 1991, but even then Washington tried to reduce its involvement by making other countries pay 85% of the total war bill of $61 billion and by not marching on Baghdad.

After 9/11, the U.S. became a direct party to conflicts in the region. Many US officials thought that after invading and occupying Afghanistan, that borders Iran, Washington would gain the upper hand vis-a-vis Iran. In reality, the U.S. weakened its most powerful anti-Iranian partner in Afghanistan, namely the pro-Wahhabi movement of the Taliban. After the fall of the Taliban, Iran quickly moved into Afghanistan by investing over $600 million into the reconstruction of Afghanistan and strengthening the Hizb-e Wahdat Party, which shares similar ideals to that of Islamic Iran. Tehran also engaged selected elements in the newly formed Afghan government and secured some support. Through careful use of ideological and cultural bonds that unify the people of Iran and Afghanistan, Tehran managed to isolate the U.S. both politically and socially in Afghanistan. Washington tried to correct and compensate for its failure to pressure Iran through Afghanistan by occupying Iraq.

Official thinking in Washington was that by deposing Saddam Husain so easily and installing a new government, the U.S. would whip up Arab and Kurdish nationalist sentiment to exert pressure on Iran. Again the U.S. failed to see the strong Islamic bond between Muslims in Iraq and Iran. Elimination of the former U.S. ally Saddam, created a political, economic and social vacuum in Iraq. Islamic movements who shared the same political and existential ideals of Islamic Iran quickly filled the vacuum. Once again, the U.S. became isolated politically and socially and had to rely entirely on its military to pressure Iran. However, after targeting those forces the US deemed “pro-Iranian” and triggering Islamic resistance spearheaded by the Mahdi Army, the US realized the limits of its power due to its political and social isolation and halted its military offensive. The U.S. desperation forced its military and intelligence services to establish links with former al-Qaeda members. This new structure came to be known as al-Sahwa whose main purpose was and remains countering political movements in Iraq that are not hostile to Iran. This also backfired and the mighty “superpower” was for the first time accused by its allies in the region of incompetence due to its inability to fully control former al-Qaeda members. Nevertheless, the U.S. has not given up on its desire to dominate the region.

The U.S. launched its most desperate attempt to make up for losses against Islamic Iran by supporting Israel’s July 2006 aggression in Lebanon. Again, the US plan implemented by the Zionist military suffered a historic defeat at the hands of Hizbullah’s valiant resistance. The U.S. is currently trying to make up for its defeat by instigating armed conflict in Lebanon. This too is doomed to fail because of Hizbullah’s popularity among all segments of Lebanese society owing to its courageous defence of Lebanese territorial integrity.

The foregoing review brings us to the next point where another U.S.-Iran conflict, this time in Azerbaijan, is a strong possibility. No two countries bond more strongly religiously, culturally and historically than Iran and Azerbaijan. Although ethnic Azeris inhabit a large part of Iran where they have always played a key role in various aspect of the Islamic Republic, Tehran appears not to have paid as much attention to securing its interests in Azerbaijan as it did in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. Azerbaijan is the only country where Iran’s interests are vulnerable while the U.S. has struck deals with Baku to secure its interests. Azerbaijan alone openly supports the presence of forces hostile to Islamic Iran despite no direct U.S. military presence on its soil. Anti-Iranian forces are protected by the current regime in Azerbaijan. All other strategic locations bordering Iran that host opponents of Islamic Iran, also host U.S. military personnel because the proxy governments alone are not able to fully secure American interests. This is not the case in Azerbaijan.

Over the years, the U.S. has built two radar stations in Azerbaijan. The first is located north of Baku while the second is near Azerbaijan’s southern border with Iran in the region of Astara. Officially, the American sponsored radars are designed to monitor the movement of weapons of mass destruction; unofficially, they are there to spy on Iran. The current Azeri regime has been a staunch supporter of U.S. strategic advances in the region. Baku supported the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq by contributing troops and therefore conferring legitimacy on the fiction that the US had international support. Apart from siding with Iran’s political rivals, the Azeri regime that maintains tight control over the media has also been bolstering anti-Iranian sentiment inside Azerbaijan for over a decade.

The most recent example was the anti-Iranian propaganda played out on September 3, 2007. From this date onward, major Azeri media sources continuously reported “breaking news” about alleged Iranian citizens serving with armed gangs of Armenian nationalists in Karabakh. The propaganda portraying Iran as an ally of the occupation forces in Karabakh is an old stunt, but one that has a strong effect. Iran has so far not countered even such false reports by simply reminding the Azeris that it was Iran that aided the arrival of 1,300 Afghan volunteers to fight for Azerbaijan during the war with Armenia. The Azeri regime blocks all information that may show Iran as a friend of the Azeri people.

On the political landscape in Azerbaijan, Iran lacks the kind of allies it has in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Most socio-political NGOs in Azerbaijan and the so-called political “opposition” groups are funded by the U.S. and its allies. However, any contact between Azeri socio-political movements with Islamic institutions in Iran is immediately branded as espionage by the Baku regime and the people involved are punished harshly. In addition to the government’s systematic policies against Islamic Iran, the regime has also managed to create a strong sense of Iranophobia in a small, but significant portion of Azeri society.

The U.S. knows that unlike Iraq where Iran has the support of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and Lebanon where Hizbullah is a committed ally of Iran, in Azerbaijan Iran has few allies to counter U.S. pressure. Perhaps there is inadequate realization in Tehran that the Azeri government has supported all of the strategically important U.S. policies aimed at exerting pressure on Iran. The most widely propagated idea by the state controlled media in Azerbaijan is not the liberation of occupied Karabakh but the “unification” of Tabriz with the Republic of Azerbaijan: essentially, the partition of Iran. In the coming years, if not sooner it will not be surprising to witness Azerbaijan as the next U.S. theatre from which political, social and economic pressure will be exerted on Iran. The U.S. knows that Azerbaijan is Iran’s vulnerable spot.

Source: usa.mediamonitors.net/, October 4, 2009)

October 5, 2009
LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Turkey in an Arena of Trials

20 January 2009

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 USA

Dear Mr. President:

I write this letter to you, Mr. President, with my highest and warmest regards, best wishes, and my hope for a better, more just world. I have fond memories of this particular day, 20 January, your day of inauguration as president. Forty-eight years ago—six months before you were born— I, along with my fellow West Point cadets, marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to salute the newly sworn president, John F. Kennedy. Next to graduating from West Point, it was the highlight of my life. January 20, 1961—it had snowed heavily the night before and the day dawned windy with arctic temperatures. It was perfect, a memory crystal buried deep. How young we were, so enthusiastic about confronting a dangerous world with our young president. But while euphoria is grand, it is also dangerous, Mr. President. It didn’t take long for reality to take hold. And so time goes. I have now lived in Istanbul, Turkey for nine years. Over these years a “reality” has set in regarding our beloved country, America. And so I write to you today, Mr. President, to warn you about conditions in Turkey. “The world,” wrote Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “is an arena of trials.” And the Bush policy of making Turkey a “moderate Islamic republic” has been, and continues to be, an arena of disasters. Mr. President, time is of the essence to correct this. And you need to know more about Turkey to do so.

Accordingly, I have enclosed two books: one a biography, Atatürk, by Andrew Mango, the other, a copy of The Great Speech by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Nutuk in Turkish). The latter epic work flowed from the pen of Atatürk, a 36-hour speech delivered over six days in October 1927. Therein, he recounts the Turkish War of Independence and the founding of the Turkish Republic. It is an astounding document.

“I have tried to show, in these accounts, how a great people, whose national course was considered as finished, reconquered its independence; how it created a national and modern state founded on the latest results of science. The result we have today is the fruit of teachings which arose from centuries of suffering,and the price of streams of blood which have drenched every foot of the ground of our beloved homeland. This holy treasure I lay in the hands of the youth of Turkey. Turkish youth! Your primary duty is ever to preserve and defend the national independence of the Turkish Republic.” (Atatürk, The Great Speech, 715)

By reading this book, Mr. President, you will immediately understand the enormous genius of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. You will see how the forces of religious fundamentalism didn’t magically vanish after Atatürk ended the sultanate and abolished the caliphate. Instead, they continued to subvert his revolutionary reforms from the very beginning. This is the nature of religious fundamentalism here in Turkey. It never stops. It is vital that you understand this, Mr. President. Turkey has always been a target for these dark-minded forces. And now these ignorant minds run the country. Reading the words of Mustafa Kemal will also help you marshal your own significant resources and talents, for you seem to be blessed with a capacious mind much like Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s. Decisive, informed leadership is needed today by the president of the United States. These were defining characteristics of Atatürk, along with his great personal integrity. May you learn well from him, Mr. President, a man who fought a war against religious terrorists for his entire life.

Now the democratic, secular, social state of the Republic of Turkey, governed under the rule of law, is under siege, both from without and within. I know this, Mr. President, I live here, and what I know is not sanitized by political niceties and outright propaganda. The undoing of this nation, created in Atatürk’s mind as a young army officer, has been long underway. But now the day is here. The black-minded ignorance of religious fundamentalism becomes more apparent every minute. Alcohol bans, women shoved under politically symbolic headscarves at the behest of duplicitous politicians, a compliant, subverted media. Here, so-called “liberals” work in compliance with outside forces (your CIA, for example, Mr. President). And the corruption of the religious ruling party is stunning and stinks to the high heavens from theft, rampant bribery, and election fraud. Currently, a scam called Ergenekon purges the left-wing opposition rivals (all adherents of the enlightened principles of Atatürk). To further contaminate his work, a smattering of outright criminals is added to the list of detainees. All this and more has brought democratic Turkey near its knees. And Mustafa Kemal Atatürk never knelt for anyone, ever. As a child he even refused to play leapfrog.

European Union members, who never read him, wonder why so much fuss is made about Atatürk. Of similar traitorous stripe as the “entente liberals” of Atatürk’s day who conspired with the British occupiers for a mandate over Turkey, today’s “liberal” Turks (liboş) fall over themselves subverting secular Turkey and the principles of Atatürk, in the name of democracy. The ruling party works its religious agenda demeaning the integrity of women at every turn, debasing the liberation of women by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. And the United States of America, our country Mr. President, directly aids and abets these subversive forces. This is shameful.

Mr. President, most Americans remain ignorant about Turkey and, amazingly, even more so about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Without knowing this man one knows nothing about this country. The enclosed books are my attempt to prevent you learning about Turkey solely by reading sterile briefing books, self-serving CIA studies, State Department policy papers, memoranda from your national security advisors, and, most particularly, reports from the western press. Most of the Turkish press, and, in particular, the current Turkish government are similarly ever-willing purveyors of self-interested propaganda. Beware, Mr. President, for you will receive regurgitations of superficial, stale, and even incorrect information, like the Bushian nonsense that Turkey is a “moderate Islamic nation.” Via the headscarf issue—the “ocular proof” of piety for western consumption—this ill-conceived initiative, without any Koranic justification, has created a gigantic, violent, societal schism in Turkey. Mr. President, is America a moderate Christian nation? I mean, should Americans wear visible crucifixes? Please reconsider this nonsensical policy, Mr. President. (Again, read The Great Speech to see how religious subversions beset Atatürk at every turn.)

“One will be able to imagine how necessary the carrying through of these measures was, in order to prove that our nation as a whole was no primitive nation, filled with superstitions and prejudices. Could a civilized nation tolerate a mass of people who let themselves be led by the nose by a herd of Şeyhs, Dedes,Seyyits, Çelebis, Babas, and Emirs, who entrusted their destiny and their lives to palm readers, magicians, dice-throwers and amulet sellers? Ought one to preserve in the Turkish State, in the Turkish Republic, elements and institutions such as those which had for centuries given the nation the appearance of being other than it really was?” (Atatürk, The Great Speech, 714)

Mr. President, even worse than misinformation, you will be regaled with assertions and protestations that the current religious-rooted government is representative and similar to the majority of Turkish people. Mr. President, it is extremely dangerous for you, and for the United States, to be deceived in this manner. Indeed this must sound strange to you, Mr. President, but it is true. There is a great muffling happening in Turkey today. So I caution you, to become truly aware of the situation in Turkey, you must first meet Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in depth. You must come to enlightenment about Turkey on your own recognizance, Mr. President, and not rely on the misinformed, the flatterers, and the deceivers, of whom there are legion.

While you may think you are different, Mr. President, be forewarned that, despite your access to the bright minds of the CIA, the State Department, and your White House staff, you will not get a true idea of the essence of Turkey, the nation. You may learn about this Turkish government, but that’s not learning about the Turkish nation. And you will certainly not learn anything from members of the present Turkish government about the nation’s soul.

The essence of the modern Turkish soul reposes in the materials I have sent, in a word, Atatürk. His accomplishments—military, political, social, educational, creative—represent a quest for justice for the collective life of his people, and in no small regard, for the world. “Peace at home, peace in the world,” he famously said. He possessed, as I suspect you do as well, Mr. President, what Reinhold Niebuhr called the “sublime madness in the soul,” saved from excessiveness by unusually astute powers of reason. So armed, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk battled against the powers of darkness and spiritual corruption in high places. So armed, he rescued his people from the debris of the Ottoman Empire. Today, his thoughts and deeds define the existential principles of the Turkish nation. But, Mr. President, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is now under attack from outside Turkey and within.

Nevertheless, his principles still inspire tens of millions of proudly secular Turks who long for the truly democratic nation he established. Believe me Mr. President, the “secular elite” described by the disgracefully biased and ill-informed writings of Sabrina Tavernise of The New York Times as “an immensely powerful coterie of generals and judges” is nonsense. Millions of us—yes, Mr. President, I too am a citizen of Turkey—took to the streets in the spring of 2007 against the policies of the U.S.-backed Erdoğan government. And matters have become even more dire since. Mr. President, perhaps you don’t know what’s going on with this government.

In the name of democracy, the ruling party, the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Justice and Development Party) has made a shambles of Turkey’s founding principles. In the name of democracy there is vast bribing of the AKP electorate, predominantly poor and uneducated, with coal and appliances. Higher court deliberations on suits against the ruling party are regularly attacked by the ruling party, particularly by the prime minister, and literal targets (complete with crosshairs) are made of individual judges in the religious press.

In the name of democracy and social justice and legal egalitarianism, an enormous purge of hundreds of alleged opponents of the ruling party is taking place in a “fishing expedition” called Ergenekon. A literal witch hunt, so-called suspect members of a military-coup conspiracy ring are held without benefit of writs of habeas corpus; they have been held in jail—some for over 18 months—without being charged and later prejudicially tried in jail. Writers, journalists, university presidents, labor union leaders, lawyers, retired army officers, leftists all, are caught up in this disgrace of a dragnet. (As mentioned earlier, some ordinary criminals are mixed in for pollution purposes.) Mr. President, I write to you on their behalf, the educated, western-thinking intelligentia, now imprisoned in a Turkish gulag called Silivri, the largest prison in Turkey, and in Europe. And that’s where they are tried! In the prison! So you, Mr. President, as an attorney, undoubtedly instantly understand the extremely prejudicial nature of this trumped-up case.

Mass arrests typically happen immediately after the ruling party suffers a legal or corruption setback. For example, consider its trial in early 2008 where the AKP was found guilty of being the center of anti-secular activity in Turkey. A second roundup occurred as a result of a German charitable foundation called Deniz Feneri, “lighthouse” in English. Organized by Turks in both Germany and Turkey, Deniz Feneri stole 41 million euros from pious Turks in Germany and transferred 17 million of it to Turkey, some to media companies friendly to the ruling party. The AKP manager, Zahid Akman, of the Turkish government’s televison and radio system (RTÜK), was identified by the court as the bagman. He remains in his position, dutifully protecting the nation’s morals by blurring televised images of smoking and the consumption of alcohol. The German prosecutor stated that links of the Deniz Feneri embezzlement were traced to the office of the prime ministery.

The movement of Turkey toward sharia continues. Vast areas of the nation have been made alcohol-free. Swimsuit advertisements are banned in Istanbul. The Atatürk Cultural Center, located in prime space in downtown Istanbul, has been closed. No details are given regarding its status. Consequently, the Istanbul symphony, opera, and ballet, all state sponsored, have been sent packing. They are rumored to perform occasionally, somewhere. So much for cultural enlightenment. Oddly enough, Istanbul has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture in 2010; this is known as political lip service.

Mr. President, for too long a time America has attempted to efface the Turkish soul, to reshape this country, to include it in the American hegemony. All this subversion has been to, in effect, lobotomize the Turkish brain, ridding it of the noble thoughts of Atatürk, making it a congenial dolt, bowing and scraping to America’s wishes. Internally, this has been the primary responsibility of the ruling party. And it has done its job very well, almost bringing the once proud nation of Atatürk to its knees. Once, after a waiter dropped a heavily laden tray at a state dinner, Mustafa Kemal turned to his foreign guests and said, “As you can see I have taught my people to do everything but serve.” How ironic, how angering to the followers of Atatürk is the current servile, US-installed government. Consider this, Mr. President. Banned from running from office, without any legal credentials whatsoever, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was welcomed to the White House by George W. Bush as de facto head of the Turkish government. How outrageous! No wonder Erdoğan, habitually a dour, scowling man, beamed broadly whenever he visited Bush. Do not be deceived Mr. President, this government neither serves you, nor the Turkish people. In the name of so-called democracy, it serves itself.

It has long been at its destructive work, this imperialism. You know this personally, Mr. President. Why your very roots—one foot in Hawaii, the other in Kenya, your days of youth in Indonesia—all these highly personal experiences have surely informed your persona. Surely they speak to you of the same issue that so afflicts Turkey. Imperialism. Internal subversion. Corruption.

When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk rescued Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman six hundred year reign, he established a new way for the Turkish people to live their lives. It was the way of enlightenment, the western way. I hope that you can now begin to see how the west, for its own ill-reasoned self-interest, has encouraged the sabotaging of the enlightened principles of Atatürk. Most importantly, I hope that this whets your reading appetite to learn more about this incomparable man.

Mr. President, I am confident that you will adopt your policies, both within America, and without, in the spirit of those stirring words you wrote in Dreams from My Father about a different kind of politics: “That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived.”

The majority of Turkish people want the very same thing. And if the United States can get out of their way, they can have it.

Sincerely yours,

James (Cem) Ryan, Ph.D.

Enclosures:
Atatürk. Andrew Mango. John Murray Publishers, London, 2004.
The Great Speech (Nutuk). Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Atatürk Research Center, Ankara, 2005

Comments

Sunday, February 1, 2009
Erdogan Does Davos
(1 comments) By his courageous stand ErdoGan has unified a badly divided nation. We shall soon see the degree to which he is an equally passionate advocate for human rights in his own country.

Sunday, January 25, 2009
Letter to President Obama: Turkey in an Arena of Trials
I have now lived in Istanbul, Turkey for nine years. Over these years a “reality” has set in regarding our beloved country, America. I write to you today, Mr. President, to warn you about conditions in Turkey. “The world,” wrote Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “is an arena of trials.” And the Bush policy of making Turkey a “moderate Islamic republic” has been an arena of disasters. Mr. President.

Monday, January 12, 2009
THE ISRAELI-AMERICAN KILLING MACHINE
(3 comments) The tentacles of God’s bloody instruction have been embraced as a political policy by the ancient Israelites, the papacy in Rome, the new world colonizing countries, the early government of the United States, and the current governments of the United States and its favorite strategic partner-in-crime, Israel. It reaches back four thousand years. It has been a disgraceful, bloor-ridden legacy.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Forget Armenia, Turks Should Condemn American Indian Genocide
(2 comments) It is high time that Turkey takes the offensive on the matter of genocide. In this day of widespread destruction, it is high time to remind America, Americans, and their government, that they are up to their ancestral elbows in the blood of the American Indians. The Turkish government must condemn the American Indian Genocide, or itself be condemned.

Sunday, April 13, 2008
Turkey!s “Undemocratic” Constitution
The furor regarding the case accepted by Turkey’s highest court that could result in the banishment of the AKP ruling party makes me laugh out loud. Never forget that in the name of democracy, the institution that brought the Bush regime to power was none other than the Supreme Court of the United States. A judicial coup? Don’t make me laugh harder. No one said a word about that.

October 4, 2009