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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
28 July 2013<\/p>\n
The Honorable Barack H. Obama
\nPresident of the United States
\nThe White House
\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
\nWashington, DC 20500
\nUSA<\/p>\n
Dear Mr. President:<\/p>\n
It has been three years since I last wrote to you advising that\u00a0there was a political force rising in Turkey to throw off the Islamo-Fascist ruling party, the now infamous AKP. Mr. President, you know AKP well, even\u00a0embracing the malevolent prime minister as a friend. I am sorry for the harm\u00a0this has done to your reputation and America\u2019s. This damage is irreducible and\u00a0nothing can be done either for you or the Turkish prime
\nminister. But plenty can\u00a0and should be done for the Turkish\u00a0people.<\/p>\n
I was wrong in using the words \u201cpolitical force\u201d in my earlier\u00a0letter. The force that has arisen\u00a0transcends politics and politicians. It is sui<\/i> generis<\/i>\u00a0and it is for real. Its name, GEZI PARK RESISTANCE; its success is inevitable.\u00a0Inevitable, yes, inevitable despite you and your agents destructive and\u00a0subversive meddling with the democratic, secular Republic of \u00a0Turkey. The world\u00a0knows the truth, Mr. President, that the AKP is the main
\ndestructive force in\u00a0Turkey. And before the Turkish Constitutional Court was destroyed it opined\u00a0similarly.<\/p>\n
After a ten-year on-going coup by the now-radical Islamic AKP,\u00a0Turkey is fully under occupation. You and your CIA and all your other subversive operators have achieved another great victory over another secular country. For shame, Mr. President, to spout about democratic values the while undermining and destroying all institutions along with the culture essential for democracy. There is no democracy in Turkey. And that\u2019s why the Turkish youth took to the streets. To restore the nation\u2019s embrace of the founding principles of Atat\u00fcrk. To assure that they, the Turkish young people, would have a viable future, just like\u00a0 young people in America. You wouldn\u2019t gas them, would you, Mr. President? Then why, in the middle of all this unspeakable violence, did you sell the lamentable Erdo\u011fan even more toxic pepper gas? Why?\u00a0(I have copies of the invoices, Mr. President.)<\/p>\n
To\u00a0maim the young, patriotic Turkish democrats who chose to fight for their\u00a0freedom? Over ten thousand injured. Eleven have lost eyes from gas capsules\u00a0directly aimed at their faces by the fascist police. 106 people suffered severe\u00a0head trauma damage. Five dead. And blindings, poisonings, deaths, beatings by\u00a0 the police, and pursuits by AKP \u201ccivilian\u201d police with scimitars… And now eleven\u00a0thousand more imprisoned in an AKP nazi-style round-up. And still you sell this\u00a0criminal government more deadly chemicals for the desperate Erdo\u011fan to injure,\u00a0blind and kill his fellow Turkish citizens. History will not be kind to you\u00a0for this, Mr. President. Nor will it be kind to your mouse of an ambassador, one Francis Ricciardone, who described the AKP government\u2019s apalling violence against Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s Turkish Youth as its having a \u201cconversation\u00a0 about your future.\u201d\u00a0Such a conversation! Such disgusting words! What benumbed diplomatic brain would\u00a0utter such stupidity? He has further encouraged the fascist criminals in the AKP\u00a0government with additional \u00a0platitudes about the USA sharing democratic values\u00a0with these AKP gangsters. How could you tolerate such tripe from such a\u00a0 high-level representative of our country, Mr. President? How?<\/p>\n You, on your first visit to Turkey, stood misty-eyed at\u00a0Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s grave on April 6, 2009. There and then, you wrote in the guest book\u00a0that you looked forward to \u201csupporting Ataturk\u2019s vision of Turkey\u201d and\u00a0\u201cproviding \u2018peace at home, peace in the world.\u2019\u201d Were these remarks sincere, Mr.\u00a0President? Perhaps. Or were you lying through your crocodile tears? Perhaps. But\u00a0the real truth is that your words have indeed proved hollow. You unashamedly embraced and continue to support the repulsive policies of Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan,\u00a0policies that have brought disasters at home and chaos in the world. Do you\u00a0still stand behind your ambassador\u2019s lamentable support for one of the greatest\u00a0ongoing human rights violations since America\u2019s murderous antics with Pinochet\u00a0in Chile forty years ago? Would you dare return to Turkey and repeat your past\u00a0words about Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk? I doubt it. The roof at An\u0131kabir would crash\u00a0on your head. Do you still believe that a violent government like AKP, rotten to its core with human rights violations, shares America\u2019s values? Given America\u2019s\u00a0\u201cvalues\u201d over the past ten years as applied to Turkey and the world you probably\u00a0do. But do you know what you are supporting?<\/p>\n In\u00a0less than a decade, the ruling party has imposed the shadow of the dark cloud of\u00a0sharia<\/i> over the land. The largest budget item is for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Mosques and mini-mosques (mescit<\/i>) are everywhere. Sounds\u00a0spiritual doesn\u2019t it? Well imagine what would happen in one of the occupying\u00a0power\u2019s land, say in America, if every theater, ballpark, shopping mall and school had a prayer chapel? That\u2019s a bit much for a secular country like America to deal with, isn\u2019t it? Sure it is. But that\u2019s what the government of Turkey\u00a0imposes on it\u2019s own soon-to-collapse secular\u00a0nation.<\/p>\n Moreover,\u00a0early morning knocks-on-the-door have imprisoned thousands opposed to this\u00a0government. All opposition are called terrorists and\u00a0bounced into jail by\u00a0\u00a0Erdo\u011fan’s\u00a0kangaroo\u00a0courts. University rectors have been defamed and deposed, replaced by government-friendly yes-men and yes-women. Same for the faculty members. Oh, and\u00a0freedom of speech on campus or anywhere else? None!<\/p>\n You, a constitutional lawyer by training, \u00a0know well that every democracy requires an independent judiciary. Not so in Turkey. Evidence is ill-gotten and\u00a0completely tainted. Witnesses give secret, unsworn testimony.\u00a0Those accused\u00a0spend\u00a0years and years in prison while \u201cevidence\u201d is gathered and contaminated. There\u00a0is no effective, or even ineffective, law of habeas corpus<\/i>. Judges and prosecutors are clients of the ruling party, in effect, the prime minister. Defense counsels are routinely punished and even arrested for making procedural objections in court.<\/p>\n You\u00a0also know that a free press provides a vital protection against an abusive\u00a0government. But not here, Mr. President. Except for a few minor and heroic\u00a0exceptions, Turkey\u2019s press and media is completely government-controlled. The\u00a0prime minister tells the corrupt media bosses who to fire and who to hire. It is a sick\u00a0joke, another travesty of justice. Yet most of the Turks read and watch the\u00a0government\u2019s puppet media. This speaks to the other requirement for democracy\u2014the necessity to have an informed electorate. Forget that too in Turkey. More journalists are in jail in Turkey than anywhere in the world, including China and Iran.<\/p>\n As\u00a0most people know, except perhaps Americans, Turkey occupies a dangerous spot in\u00a0the world. For centuries, religious extremists have been imposing sharia<\/i>\u00a0governments on the citizens. Since Turkey became a secular state in 1923, it has been beset by these destructive religious elements. Hence the historic need for\u00a0a strong army to protect itself from these dark external and internal forces.\u00a0But now, since the dark forces have taken over the government, there is no\u00a0longer a need for such an army. Why? \u00a0Because the Islamo-Fascist conspired to destroy the staunchly secular Turkish military. In a series of ridiculously implausible conspiracies worthy of an Adolph Hitler, the army\u2019s generals have\u00a0been jailed and replaced by government-friendly hacks. And since the nation is already under occupation by religious extremists, the historical internal security responsibilities for the military have been eliminated by the parliament. Amazingly, the major opposition party voted in agreement. And who now has the \u00a0responsibility for\u00a0internal security? The thoroughly violent, completely nazified police. Turkey is\u00a0indeed a nation under occupation. The dark forces are consolidating their power.\u00a0And the young people stand alone facing the oppressive, treasonous government.\u00a0And to the extent that you and your ambassador continue to provide deadly\u00a0weapons to its police force, the\u00a0young people face you too. Believe me, Mr. President, all of you should be\u00a0worried and careful about this.<\/p>\n Having widely, and illegally, ignored the Turkish Constitution, the fascist government\u00a0is writing a new one which will dramatically change Turkey to the presidential\u00a0system (like America\u2019s) and give even more power to the head of government. This is the hope and dream of the current prime minister. He will continue to do what\u00a0he knows best: demeaning, dividing, lying, scheming, repressing, hating and\u00a0revenging.<\/p>\n Meanwhile murderous cops go free. Thousands of protestors (now\u00a0known as terrorists) are in jail under unspeakably disgusting conditions. Every public assembly is considered a terrorist gathering. So-called \u201ccivilian\u00a0police,\u201d more accurately described as Hitler-Brownshirts, roam the streets with\u00a0scimitars, meat cleavers, clubs and knives. This unspeakable, genuine\u00a0terror has the full\u00a0 support of the prime minister. In fact, they are \u201chis people,\u201d AKP street thugs.\u00a0And, in case you are wondering, the actual police are just as bad. The police\u00a0force is under the de facto<\/i> control of one of your CIA assets living\u00a0under protection in rural Pennsylvania. Violence. Violence. Violence. None of this is\u00a0mentioned by your representative in Ankara either. Nor you for that matter. The\u00a0world knows, but you don\u2019t? You need much better advisors, Mr.\u00a0President.<\/p>\n Sadly for humanity, the Erdo\u011fan of Turkey is also sui\u00a0generis.<\/i> Stubborn, arrogant, always straight ahead at full speed, the first\u00a0ten days of the Gezi Park Resistance revealed his true essence in all its\u00a0ignominy. And so it continues with rants about conspiracies, plots,\u00a0name-callings, arrests, an overall disgraceful show of bad government and\u00a0criminality. Erdo\u011fan may have destroyed everything: the constitutional court, the media, the judicial system, rules of evidence, university independence,\u00a0social life, the arts, the army and virtually all aspects of what had been the,\u00a0as you yourself so movingly called it, \u201cAtaturk\u2019s\u00a0vision of Turkey.\u201d All these things may have been destroyed. But then Erdo\u011fan called Atat\u00fcrk a\u00a0drunk. And that will finish him.<\/p>\n These kids have Erdo\u011fan\u2019s number. There is no way he can stand against their dazzling intelligence and\u00a0creativity. I wish you had\u00a0been with me in the streets to meet some of them. Then you would fully understand all that I have written. History tells us that fascists are like bulls, going forward ever forward, punishing and restricting and arresting. And at their end, they blabber into the wind and get their ravings blown back into their faces twice as hard. Turkey is now at that point. You may have noticed this, Mr. President. That’s why when the end comes for fascists, they fold up like cheap suits, their distorted world and their faults reeking of their doom. They, the fascists, are few, and the people, in Turkey’s case, the UNIFIED\u00a0young people, who chant proudly that they are Mustafa Kemal\u2019s soldiers, are many. And remember, Mr. President, both in the\u00a0arena and out, the bull never wins.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sincerely yours,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n James (Cem) Ryan, Ph.D.<\/p>\n 28 July 2013<\/p>\n Istanbul, Turkey<\/p>\n <\/p>\n BRIEF BIO: PREVIOUS <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You, on your first visit to Turkey, stood misty-eyed at Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s grave on April 6, 2009. There and then, you wrote in the guest book that you looked forward to \u201csupporting Ataturk\u2019s vision of Turkey\u201d and \u201cproviding \u2018peace at home, peace in the world.\u2019\u201d Were these remarks sincere, Mr. President? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":76003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,34,922],"tags":[1211,957,5378,1018,2501],"class_list":["post-76001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","category-usa","category-world","tag-akp","tag-cia","tag-francis-j-ricciardone","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-turkish-police"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ABD_BA~1\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/ABD_BA1.jpg\")
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“We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal!”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nJames (Cem) Ryan was born and raised in The Bronx, New York City. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he holds
\nadvanced degrees in economics and English literature, a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in literature. He is a proponent for peace\u00a0and founder of\u00a0\u00a0West Point Graduates Against the War: http:\/\/www.wpgaw.org\/\u00a0and Service Academy Graduates Against the War: <\/p>\n
\nLETTERS TO PRESIDENT\u00a0OBAMA:<\/p>\n