Category: Regions

Contentions | AJCongress Must Revoke Erdoğan’s Award

Michael Rubin

On January 26, 2004, the American Jewish Congress presented Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with its “Profiles of Courage” award for promoting peace between cultures. In a press release, the AJC reported:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday told the American Jewish Congress that Turkey will stand firm to eradicate terrorism worldwide, offers security to its Jewish citizens, and will work to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Nothing could be farther from reality. Erdoğan has become Hamas’s leading cheerleader, a promoter of terrorism, and a force for instability in the region. It should have been clear at the time, however, that Erdoğan was insincere. After all, Erdoğan already had a history of embracing rabid anti-Semitism and harboring conspiracy theories during his tenure as Istanbul’s mayor.

The fact that Erdoğan filters everything through a religious lens became clear to me in 2005. After I had published an article about Erdoğan’s shady finances, a Turkish Jewish businessman in Istanbul contacted a Turkish Jew in Washington to tell me that Erdoğan was upset. I responded that if Erdoğan was upset, he might contact the Turkish embassy and have them, in turn, contact me care of the American Enterprise Institute. That Erdoğan thought that the proper way to do business was through religious channels, and that he saw American Jews as Jewish first and not as “real Americans,” quickly became clear in subsequent conversations. Alas, Erdoğan is not alone among Turkish officials and senior diplomats who, even if not sincere in their religious bias, certainly understand that the way to get ahead during Erdoğan’s tenure is at best to be silent and at worst try to outdo each other in their theories about world Jewry, dual loyalty, and the like.

Some in American Jewish organizations may take solace in the fact that Turkey was not historically anti-Semitic. Indeed, the basis of the Turks’ historical warm attitude toward Jews had to do with the fact that during the Ottoman Empire, Jews did not rebel the way so many others did. A little known fact about World War I was that so many Turkish Jews fought at Gallipoli, as the bulk of the Ottoman army was fighting the Russians on the eastern front when the ANZAC offensive began. Incitement takes its toll, however. President Barack Obama may toast Erdoğan, and the 135 members of the Congressional Turkey Caucus may run interference for Turkey’s worst excesses, but a decade of constant media incitement by Erdoğan’s state-controlled television and Erdoğan-endorsed film companies has, effectively, wiped out centuries of tolerance that Turkey has exhibited toward Jews, if not Armenians, Kurds, and others.

In recent weeks, Erdoğan has doubled down on bigotry. This culminated last week when the newspaper he uses as his proxy accused yours truly and the American Enterprise Institute of fabricating an elaborate plot culminating in the Istanbul protests. Never mind that the story is false. To Erdoğan and his followers, the Jews are like the Borg from Star Trek, all interconnected and occasionally ensnaring non-Jews like Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and Ambassador John Bolton in our nefarious plots.

Now, it’s perhaps a bit too much to expect that the White House would ever condemn such nonsense outright, even if anti-Semitism is often the canary in the coal mine warning of far greater problems. Nor should anyone ever expect the State Department to stand on the side of moral clarity, as Ambassador Francis Ricciardone’s statement made clear to all those Turks on the receiving end of police abuse and, alas, the new generation of Turks.

Perhaps the lesson for the American Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations should be this: Base awards on lifetime achievement, not only wishful thinking. The risk of bestowing legitimacy on platforms that run contrary to the AJCongress’ mission is otherwise too great. The AJCongress’ award to Erdoğan not only did not stop Erdoğan’s anti-Semitism, but rather it for too long provided cover for it. Perhaps the organization can now mitigate the damage it has caused—and also deflate Erdoğan’s buffoonery—by publicly revoking its award.

Commentary Magazine, 24.06.2013

June 25, 2013
ERDOĞAN ON THE HORNS

They threw their caps
As they would hang them on the horns o’ the moon,
Shouting their emulation.
Coriolanus, William Shakespeare

The ferocious antics of the prime minister over the past three weeks—or has it been three years or eleven?—made me think about hamburgers. And then bulls. Ever dangerous, always charging blindly ahead, the same instinctive tactic wired into their incomplete animal brains, always completely predictable, always ending up on the table….. chopped meat.

With boring redundancy Erdoğan has shouted the blame to everyone and everything but his own splendid self. Now angry all the time, he yelled his strange, twisted, deceit-filled story to the world. Like Coriolanus, another tragic hero not properly educated to power, Erdoğan followed down the same doomed path: “What his breast forged, that his tongue must vent.” And he did, and the world exploded in outrage as his country had before. The prime minister’s outrageous claims and preposterous intrigues, his and his advisors lies and subterfuges, it was all too, too much.

The world is appalled. And what does the prime minister and his lackeys do next? Why they attack the world. What else? For no one understands democracy like the prime minister of Turkey. New York City police killed seventeen people in the Occupy Wall Street battle, Tayyip asserts
in full or feigned ignorance of the facts. (None were killed.) And so it continues to this moment. What can you do with people like this? Such a bunch that gives even criminality a bad name.

Now the beleaguered one claims that the police were correct in gassing most of central Istanbul. The lapdog Istanbul police chief earlier asserted that the police had won a victory greater than Gallipoli. Not only did the police gas unarmed, peaceful protesters but according to Erdoğan they had a “natural right” to do so. Why? Because they were fighting against “systematic violence.” One wonders what books Erdoğan has been
reading to present such a bizarre argument. Perhaps he skimmed through his wife’s new book, The Psychology of Dictatorship? In this day, in this world with the sordid legacy of using gas as a weapon, what leader in his or her right mind would launch such an offensive attack against the citizenry? Wanton, widespread violence occupies his mind and he threatens more and harsher attacks, excuse me, defensive measures.

Who talks to this man? Who recommended this horrific retaliation policy based on a ludicrous label of terrorism. This trick has been done already with the fantasy conspiracies that destroyed the Turkish military. It’s a nonsense. Everyone knows it. Who says to him, Look Tayyip, you are destroying yourself with all these garbage lies and threats. Don’t be a bull!

Instead, these low-level operators shout their emulation and clap their hands, thrilled with the sounds of their own magnificence. “Don’t worry beloved leader,” they coo, “your people will believe only you and certainly not their lying eyes?” And just to be sure, they arrest doctors, lawyers, journalists, and threaten and fine television channels and draft legislation to control the social media, the great “menace” according to their beloved leader. And all of it in front of the world’s eyes-wide-open. Ah, it’s so tiresome writing about these people.

They had planned to reach 2023, the centennial year anniversary of the establishment of Atatürk’s republic. Of course, all memory of Atatürk would have disappeared by then. And surely they would have reveled in its destruction. The journey had begun with Erdoğan’s first election victory in 2003. He gave a balcony acceptance speech and wore a tie of green, Islamic green. I have never forgotten that moment. Nor have I forgotten the flood of rich and famous flocking to his favor. But that was then.

And this is now. I will never forget these stirring days and the heroism of the youth of Turkey in their struggle for the future promised to them by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. He also prophesied that they would have to fight for it. And so they now fight. And they know his fighting words by heart. And like good soldiers of Mustafa Kemal, they know the enemy. I will never forget the beautiful women in smart dresses getting gassed by the fascist police, not flinching, and emerging even more lovely. The polite, embattled young men, resolute and courageous in the face of brutal
police attacks. Young people of all ages participating in this war of liberation from a religious fascist government. All of this will surely serve as a model for youth around the world who also suffer from the policies of arrogant men and women wearing thousand dollar suits. These young Turkish people are bringing a renaissance to their country, a flourishing spirit of gentility and grace the while being falsely accused of the vilest acts by a desperate regime. But the truth has been revealed through the overwhelming power of technology and the amazing facility of youth. And the government can only resort to a policy of unabashed lying. I will not forget any of these astonishing things. Certainly not the complete inability of the Turkish government and its supporters to understand this spontaneous combustion of youthful energy which is nonnegotiable. It is obvious these young people will continue for as long as it takes. And surely the process will continue to confound all the “experts,” so don’t bother watching the talking TV heads. Ah, the brilliant, unifying generality of it all. It resides outside the bounds of politics, religion, wealth, business, national borders, and surely government itself. It’s in the realm of hopes, expectations, peace, youth, friendship and, I’ll say it, love.
What revolutionary group has ever established hot lines for injured animals? None. Except this one. And such attention to detail characterizes this movement and is why its success is inevitable. Lastly, how wonderful is the incredible resilience of the spirit and principles of Mustaf Kemal Atatürk, an unstoppable, singular man for the ages who remains both the stuff of dreams and the driving spiritual force to forge this better, this much better future. For all these people, the young, the older, the departed, I shout out loud my emulation and admiration. Your dreams are hanging on the horns of the moon. Seize them. No more words needed.

Cem Ryan, Ph.D
Istanbul
19 June 2013

June 19, 2013
The Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel triangle both in Tel Aviv and in the Muslim Middle East

Gulnara Inanc

Director, Ethnoglobus

An International Online Information and Analysis Center

(mete62@inbox.ru)

The first ever visit by an Azerbaijani foreign minister to Israel and Palestine, a visit all sides called historic, underscored the growing strategic partnership between Baku and its two partners in the Middle East. The first person Elmar Mammadyarov met in Israel was the chairman of the Knesset Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, who had long lobbied for close cooperation and a strategic partnership with Azerbaijan. In large measure as a result of his efforts, earlier attempts by the Armenian lobby to raise the so-called “Armenian genocide” in the Knesset were blocked. Last year, in response to the latest such attempt, Israeli President Shimon Peres and A. Lieberman, who was then Israeli foreign minister, openly declared that because of the country’s strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, the issue of the “Armenian genocide” would not be discussed in the Knesset.

Mammadyarov arrived in Tel Aviv on March 24^th, the very day Armenians have declared a memorial day for the “genocide.” Armenian media on that occasion put out information about a Knesset discussion of the “genocide,” but that did not happen. Undoubtedly, it was very important for Azerbaijan to receive reassurance that the recognition of the so-called “Armenian genocide” would not be considered in the Knesset.

Among the notable outcomes of the Azerbaijani foreign minister’s visit to Israel was Baku’s declaration on his return that Azerbaijan is ready to sign a broad agreement concerning the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. [1] Israel beyond any doubt is not in a position to promise something regarding that conflict or to resolve it in some way. But Tel Aviv is in a position to seek the broader support of Jewish groups around the world regarding the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict. And consequently, the growing ties between Azerbaijan and Israel open the way for progress in the talks just as was the case some five years ago.

Earlier this year, the Jewish community of the United States held a conference on “Israeli Relations with the States of the South Caucasus.” Avigdor Lieberman, with whom Foreign Minister Mammadyarov met in Israel, and President Shimon Peres have been devoting particular attention to the development of relations with the South Caucasus countries in general and Azerbaijan in particular. [2] Following his meeting with Lieberman, Mammadyarov went to Ramallah where the Palestinian authority declared its support for Baku’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and on the issue of the so-called “Armenian genocide.”

Azerbaijan supports the independence of Palestine and the division of Jerusalem, and in response to this support, it is seeking Palestinian backing on the two issues of greatest importance to itself. A conference in Baku scheduled to be held later this summer can be considered part of the result of the Ramallah talks.

Palestine enjoys authority and is at the center of attention of the Islamic world. Azerbaijan, in turn, has grown into an economically and politically powerful country not only in the South Caucasus, but more broadly as well. Rid al Maliki, the foreign minister of the Palestinian Autonomy, stressed this in his meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart, noting that Azerbaijan enjoys authority in the leading international organizations. [3] Therefore, the support of Ramallah is significant, because it brings with it the attention of the Islamic and international community. Thus, Azerbaijan was able to achieve its goal of gaining Palestine’s support for its positions. In view of this, it is worth recalling the declaration made by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Haled ben Saud ben Haled, that the international community must mount pressure on Armenia to secure a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict [4] and a second declaration by Iranian leader Ali Khamenei that “Karabakh is a Muslim land … something that is supported at the highest levels.”

Both of these declarations can be seen as the result of Baku’s careful and balanced foreign policy. Of course, one should focus attention on the fact that this historic visit to Israel took place after the Turkish-Israel rapprochement. Interestingly, one of the clearest opponents of that rapprochement, A. Lieberman, nonetheless agreed with it. The Israeli media suggested that he had not been informed about the plans for this new coming together. Lieberman thus had to “close his eyes” and put out the red carpet for Mammadyarov. Having lost its Arab partners after the Arab spring, Israel had no choice but to return to strategic relations with Turkey. That, in turn, has increased the importance of the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Israel triangle both in Tel Aviv and in the Muslim Middle East.

Azerbaijan’s geographic location next to Iran also increases its strategic significance, something that Israeli President Peres went out of his way to stress. This does not mean that Baku offered or is planning to offer its territory as a place des armesfor a military operation against Iran. Baku has repeatedly indicated that cooperation with Israel does not include that and is generally not aimed against Iran, even though many observers tend to see Baku’s cooperation with Israel as the former’s way of restraining Iran.

Notes

[1] See https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/elmar_memmedyarov/1649480.html (accessed 28 April 2013).

[2] See http://izrus.co.il/dvuhstoronka/article/2012-02-28/17144.html#ixzz2QngVkiJZ (accessed 28 April 2013).

[3] See (accessed 28 April 2013).

[4] See (accessed 28 April 2013).

AZERBAIJAN IN THE WORLD

ADA Biweekly Newsletter

June 12, 2013
WE FIGHT!

YA İSTİKLAL YA ÖLÜM!

Good morning America! Sorry to disturb your sleep but….the Nazi Istanbul police (which you supply with weaponry) is again attacking the demonstrators with gas and water cannons. Again by a sneak attack early this morning. Another provocation. The same tired lies. The government mouthpieces are all over the compliant TV channels with their BS about “marginal groups.” Know this, America! I and millions of others are one “marginal group.” We are fighting against the dark-minded fascist forces, once heavily backed by a now not-so-sure America, that is the Islamic fascist government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He, like your other ex-puppet dictators, is now gassing and in some cases killing his own people. The air is full of his rancid invective, more appropriate for the Third Reich than the peace-loving Turkish people. As throughout history, the great lies being told by the fascists are laughable in their blatant stupidity. But that doesn’t matter because your ex-tough guy has the armaments. And you, America, allowed him to destroy the Turkish army. So we the people now face against the overwhelming strength of the fascists that you, America, armed to the
teeth. And we will continue our struggle to regain a secular, democratic Turkey. We will fight on secure in the justice of our cause, ever encouraged by the stirring words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk…“INDEPENDENCE OR DEATH!” YA İSTİKLAL YA ÖLÜM! These are fighting words, indeed. And so we “marginal groups” FIGHT!

Cem Ryan

Istanbul

11 June 2013

June 11, 2013
ERDOĞAN: TURKEY’S “MARGINAL” MAN

Erdoğan is desperate and finished as a political leader. He has that inappropriate smirk-sneer on his increasingly sullen face. His credibility is finished. His judgment has been horrific and criminal. His tragic flaw has been fully revealed during his weeklong death spiral. From his beginning ten years ago, he has been surrounded by flatterers and outright nincompoops. I heard his “key advisor” on Aljazeera Saturday. He constantly argued with the interviewer then lied about not using pepper gas when the live feed from Istanbul clearly showed the canisters bombarding Taksim Square during the police retreat. There are many more examples. Erdoğan has attracted lamentably low quality people. Deliberately of course, to feed his capaciously overwhelming ego. In Turkish, such a yes-man or yes-woman is called a “dal kavuk” literally a diving turban. It was coined to describe the palace toadies of the sultan who scraped and bowed to him while securing their wavering turbans on their heads.

Erdoğan’s stumble-tongued advisers protected him from ever confronting the real impact of his behavior, actions and words. Instead of polishing him, they allowed him to cultivate his tough –guy image. But in the real world he came across as just another street thug. a made-in-America puppet with no capacity to moderate his behavior. He was always unable to act appropriately in public, scowling, sneering, spewing his stoop-shouldered, pugnacious vitriol. Every day he grew more distorted and weird and last week he became just another jerk with lots of power and not a trace of humanity. And now even the dead have wised up to him.

And so he has crashed, still in full arrogant-mode, unaware of himself as a disaster. His now famous rant-week was tantamount to a political psychotic break, and maybe more. What he does now is what he knows: to threaten and name-call. The enormous throngs opposed to his fascist rule are “marginal groups.” They are “looters” and “plunderers.” Actually, he and his henchmen and henchwomen are exactly that, looters and plunderers, and are well on their way to being marginalized. Erdoğan is what he has been all along, a one-trick pony, an undereducated ruffian who betrayed his nation for favor, fame and fortune. He sits in the middle of his own demise like the Turkish youth sit in the gas-drenched, blood-soaked streets gasping from pepper gas, bloody, bruised, beaten by his nazi robo-cops. But the kids get up. But Erdoğan, like an idiot yelling at the moon, rants about building more mosques, bridges, canals, all irrelevant monuments to his own deluded magnificence. He is deaf and blind to reality.

The man has nothing except money. And that will kill him. His divisiveness and abysmally poor judgment have destroyed any notion of gaining a presidency of anything. His Middle East ambitions, bizarre from the outset are finished. The USA effectively dumped him and his manically dangerous foreign minister Davutoğlu three weeks ago when Kerry announced intentions for a Syrian peace conference. So for Erdoğan, no more White House smiley-face visits. No more USA boondoggles with his hundred businessmen friends in tow all working their deals. No more Syria invective. Assad has prevailed, kicking his butt in the world arena, making him and Turkey look like buffoons and criminals both. And the monstrously ludicrous Ergenekon fiasco will soon collapse.

He’s a beaten man, this Erdoğan. He exhibits the eccentric end-game behavior of Mubarak with the vicious police violence, gang attacks and claims of foreign influences. Strange isn’t it that the man imposed and supported by foreign powers on the Turkish nation now fingers as enemies his former staunch allies? But then remember what he did to former friends Gaddafi and Asad? Physically he looks beaten, ashen-faced with the out of sync gestures of Richard Nixon during his own last, dark days. And his rage is at its peak at the worst, most visible times. Witness his awful press conference yesterday with the Reuters journalist.

Now, with the entire world focused on Turkey, he stumbles, fumbles and stares down his audience like a street corner bully. He continues on his own obstinate journey and that’s why the violence from his gangster police worsens by the hour. The cops are his alter ego. And violence is what he knows hence they know. It’s the last hope of a desperate man to retain power and relevancy. He is worry-wracked man, this prime minister. He knows the jig is up with all the not so secret deals, bank accounts and CIA involvement. It’s a lot to handle even for a normal egomaniac. Erdoğan is either heading for a genuine psychotic break or a public statement or incident so humiliating to the Turkish Republic that he has no alternative but to give it up. Of course, I could be wrong. And if so, that’s when the real “fun” will begin. For what if the remnants of the so-called Turkish Army (the real army is in jail courtesy of Erdoğan) ) is called to reestablish order? Maybe it will take a lesson from the valorous resistance movement, screw up its courage and arrest Erdoğan for treason. It would certainly be an appropriate charge and the force used would surely be proportional. Both of these adjectives would have to be explained to the former prime minister and his former advisors. But I am sure they know what treason means. All will be revealed shortly.

Cem Ryan, Ph.D.

Istanbul, 4 June 2013

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley Ozymandias

June 4, 2013
THEY ARE NOT TURKISH

Al Capone, American Gangster

It is indeed a puzzlement.

How could a government that rose to power democratically then destroy democracy and all the freedoms it entails? I mean Hitler did so but that was then and this is now. Isn’t it?

Worse, how could this same government destroy the country’s army and then pick a fight with its friendly neighbor who happens to have a quite strong military backed by one of the world’s largest nations (Russia). This is quite stupid, isn’t it?

Even worse, how could a nation, supposedly comprised of a vast majority of Muslims, sign on so quickly to kill its fellow Muslims in direct violation of their sacred Koran (4:92) which says that for doing so “they will burn in hell forever.” This seems somewhat sinful, doesn’t it? Disrespectful, isn’t it? Even blasphemous, perhaps?

And how could this same nation disinherit the one genuine heroic figure it possesses (Atatürk) who almost one hundred years ago rescued it from the rubble of the collapsing Ottoman Empire? Oh, and the prime minister recently called him a drunkard. Imagine abandoning the man who intimately knew the past, acted decisively in the present, and clearly saw the future? Unbelievable, isn’t it? Disgusting even?

And how could the prime minister of this same country speak to the world through the United Nations about the world’s ecological crisis while simultaneously destroying mountains, streams, lakes, rivers, forests, green space in general and even agriculture? And all the while this same prime minister carpet bombs vast swaths of nature to build superfluous bridges, highways, tunnels, airports, and nuclear reactors on fault lines. This seems somewhat hypocritical, doesn’t it? Bordering on deceit, wouldn’t you say?

And this same steward of the nation’s wealth also divines a monstrous canal from the Black Sea to the Marmara sure to disrupt sea currents, water temperatures, and change salinity counts to disturb or even destroy fish life, fisheries and the fishing business, not to mention the possible release of enormous fields of swamp gas long-submerged in the Black Sea. This appears to be a bit grandiose, doesn’t it? Not to mention, recklessly uninformed perhaps?

Need a breath from all of this? Sorry, you cannot afford to have one. Time is of the essence! Anyway, the air in Istanbul and virtually everywhere the government treads stinks from pollution and its own toxic presence. This government has forged a new definition for the words “treachery” and “deceit.”

Actually there is no longer an Istanbul since its now all tricked up with garish lights and bizarre architectural glitter like a trollop on Broadway. All of its cheap finery disguises massive corruption, theft and favoritism.

The government’s trumpets blare about the wonderful economy. Wonderful, indeed. But, sorry people, nothing belongs to the Turkish nation anymore. Everything has been sold: roads, bridges, mines, electric power utilities, factories, businesses, airports, shipyards, ferries, piers, telephone systems…imagine something else, and it’s been sold. This is called the Turkish economic miracle. Weird, isn’t it? And meanwhile omnipresent shopping centers suck the money and lifeblood out of the people and small businesses. It seems all backwards, doesn’t it?

Oh, and let’s not forget the women, both secular and covered varieties. Women, the sex under threat of extinction: by honor killings, rapes, domestic violence, arranged, that is, “forced” marriages, enslavement via “religious” headscarves, by stifled opportunity, by education denial, by kitchen and household captivity, by denial of thought, that is, the right to refuse, rebel and reject, as well as the right to use their bodies anyway they chose: in birth, in abortion, in dance, anyway they chose without the government meddling on bogus religious grounds. And now this so-called government even asserts where and when kissing is appropriate.

So back to the question. How could all this happen so fast? Well, examine the map of Turkey. The country is crawling to the point of infestation with American military personnel and American nuclear weapons, radar installations and bombs, bombs and more bombs. Everyone knows of the conspiracy to destroy Syria between America and Turkey, excuse me, between Obama and his best international friend Erdoğan. It’s a mafia sort of arrangement. Erdoğan’s close friendship with Bashar al-Assad was suddenly interrupted by Obama who, like Al Capone (pictured above), brandished a baseball bat during a telephone conversation with the Turkish version of Vito Corleone in August 2012. While Capone rearranged the skulls, faces and brain tissues of his troublesome lieutenants, Obama merely rendered a subtle post-modern hint of the “or else” side of the offer. Of course, Erdoğan could not refuse anything American and the rest is their shameful, mutual ongoing war crime.

So enthusiastic is al-Assad’s former friend that he even evokes Allah’s blessing on this exercise of imperialist power, a gross human rights violation and murder to the point of genocide. Political Islam and terrorism courtesy of the Turkish prime minister and America’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Shameful, isn’t it? Nauseating, isn’t it? So what needs to be done?

In fact, all of Turkey’s undoing has been done under the cover of Allah. Why? Because Turkey is an Islamic nation. Why so? Because you (and your government) let it be labeled as such. Is America known as a Christian nation? Not really. So why isn’t Turkey considered simply another democratic, secular nation, independent of religion? Good question, isn’t it? Sadly, Turkey is now an almost 100% political Islamic nation. Forget the Koran, it’s murder and money that matter. All the hard-earned secular and democratic rights are in the process of nullification. And all in the name of a politicized religion. The fundamentalist, fascist government is always rendering “spiritual” guidance to protect its “people.” Don’t allow them to do it in your name! Something must, and can, be done! Obama and his fellow schemers everywhere love the idea that Turkey is 99.8% Islamic according to the CIA Factbook. Know one thing! These subverters don’t care if you’re Turkish as long as you’re Islamic. And they get away with murder in your “Islamic” name. Don’t let them! Don’t be an “Islamic” Turk. Instead, be what your government is not. Be a “real” Turk, a secular Turk living life without being labeled by a fascist regime. Let the government and their collaborators be Islamic political hacks. They are not real Turks in the slightest. The proof? Simply examine their behavior, their attitude, their grim-faced arrogance, their VIP mosques. I don’t know what they are but they’re not the Turks that I know. Maybe they’re from Hollywood, central casting’s attempt to characterize Turkish tough guys? Who knows the ways of the CIA? Who cares? Just protest your official assignment of a religious designation! Remove it! Make your secularity official! Be Turkish and nothing but! How?

It is so terribly easy. Do you know that you are so powerful that you can make Turkey no longer be a 99.8% politically Islamic country? That you can force a true election for secularism? And by so doing you will stun the world. Just have the religious identification on your ID card, your kimlik, changed to a blank, like mine opposite. No police clubs. No pepper gas. No water cannons. No demonstrations. No being beaten by the fascist police. Just one little visit to the Population (Nufus) Bureau and you will feel like you have done something tangible to save your country. You can accomplish more in one hour than the incompetent political opposition has accomplished in ten years. And suddenly the CIA Factbook reveals that what had been a 99.8% Islamic nation is now only 48% or perhaps even less. And who does Erdoğan speak for then? A minority of the people, that’s who. Imagine the earthquake in the imperialist capitals of the world? And nobody gets hurt. Except, hopefully, the ones who deserve it. So do it! Your government is not even Turkish. Politically Islamic Turkishness is irrelevant in the real world, the secular world, our world. Turkey has become politically Islamicized courtesy of America and its collaborators. The Turkish nation, like genetically modified food, has become exclusively political fare for western consumption only. And we all are being devoured. And in case you haven’t noticed, it’s extraordinarily hazardous to our health. In the name of religion this government is destroying your country, your children, and you. Say NO! Change your ID card. Don’t let the fascists label you! Become an OFFICAL secular Turk. You will be amazed at the results. And you will keep your spiritual beliefs in your heart where they belong.

Cem Ryan, Ph.D.

Istanbul

30 May 2013

“It’s a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes.”

Robert De Niro as Al Capone in The Untouchables

May 30, 2013