Dr Atac Thank you for your long and passionate response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Mustafa Atac\u2019s recent open letter, though emotionally charged and eloquently delivered, reads less as a fair-minded critique of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s present condition and more as an overextended lament rooted in selective outrage and outdated narratives. As someone who deeply values the principles of civic discourse and constructive dissent, I feel compelled to respond\u2014not out of blind loyalty to any individual or government, but out of respect for the truth and the dignity of the Republic of T\u00fcrkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Atac laments that T\u00fcrkiye is economically isolated, diplomatically desperate, and intellectually bankrupt. These are serious claims. But are they true?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s begin with the economy. Contrary to Dr. Atac\u2019s assertion that T\u00fcrkiye is \u201cexcluded from serious international financial circles,\u201d recent data reveals the opposite. In 2023, T\u00fcrkiye saw a 25.9% increase in foreign direct investment (FDI), with notable inflows from the UK, Germany, and the U.S.\u2014nations known for their financial due diligence. T\u00fcrkiye continues to attract global capital in logistics, fintech, infrastructure, and energy. It is no secret that T\u00fcrkiye faces challenges, including inflation and high interest rates, but to declare it an economic pariah is demonstrably false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The portrayal of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s education system as devolved into \u201ca madrassa\u201d ignores both facts and nuance. Turkish universities such as Koc, Bilkent, and Middle East Technical University consistently rank within the top 500\u2013600 globally, according to QS and THE (Times Higher Education) rankings. T\u00fcrkiye is also a key participant in the European Higher Education Area through the Bologna Process and hosts over 300,000 international students\u2014a testament to its growing global academic appeal. The same institutions have trained engineers who developed drone technologies now exported to NATO members, such as Poland and the UK. That is not a failed system; that is a transforming one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Atac also evokes preess freedom and judicial independence, citing various Western rankings. Yet the same rankings routinely downplay systemic abuses in their own backyards. When France detains over 11,000 protesters during the Yellow Vest movement or when journalists in the U.S. are jailed while covering civil unrest, no one questions the democratic character of those states. Why then does T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s struggle against terrorism, foreign subversion, and the remnants of a violent coup receive no such contextual consideration?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s not forget that many of the so-called “journalists” imprisoned in T\u00fcrkiye post-2016 were found to be complicit in the FET\u00d6-led coup attempt. Encrypted communications via By Lock, militaery coordination, and direct involvement in the July 15 tragedy are well-documented. It is not dissent that was punished\u2014it was treason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Atac sneers at T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s alliances with Qatar and Oman, as if diplomacy with non-Western partners is inherently suspect. Yet T\u00fcrkiye maintains robust ties with Germany, the UK, Itaaly, and Japan, and sits at the G20 table, not as a guest, but as a permanent member. It hosts NATO\u2019s second largest military, plays a key role in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and leads humanitarian aid convoys to Gaza and Ukraine alike. This is not isolationism , itt is strategic pluralism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, there are challenges as Inflation must be controlled, and bureaucracy modernized. just two are valid points deserving of nuanced debate. But equating T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s evolution to North Korea\u2019s oppression or Russia\u2019s autocracy is not debate, it is distortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One cannot claim to uphold Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s legacy while dismissing T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s national achievements as mere propaganda. Atat\u00fcrk was not only a revolutionary but also a realist a leader who demanded progress be grounded in national sovereignty, self reliance, and global presence. T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s military drone industry, its diplomatic activism, and its investment in critical infrastructure reflect precisely that spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To critique is a right, even a duty, in a republic. But critique without proportion, without fairness, and without factual foundation becomes what Dr. Atac himself warns against: a betrayal not of the government, but of the very Republic he claims to defend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s T\u00fcrkiye, there is space for dissent. The opposition governs major cities like \u0130stanbul, Ankara, and \u0130zmir. The Constitutional Court continues to rule independently. And millions vote in fair, competitive elections with turnout rates that shame much of the democratic world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If one chooses to speak of T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s future, let it be done with courage but also with clarity. Let it be done with love not just for what we remember, but for what we are still building. Also, one should not be disparaged or vilified for holding a differing opinion. If the freedoms you invoke are only extended to those who share your particular worldview esspecially when that worldview is steeped in relentless criticism and hostility toward T\u00fcrkiye then they cease to be freedoms at all and instead become instruments of intellectual exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us be very clear, Dr. Atac: T\u00fcrkiye is not perfect but it is far from broken or in disarray, as your narrative suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are searching for signs of a nation in crisis, you need only look at the United States. Here, citizens are at times arrested on the streets without due process; elected judges are removed from their courtrooms; city elected officials are taken into custody without being read their rights. Billions of taxpayer dollars are poured into endless wars, while over $15 billion has been funneled into sustaining the Netanyahu government despite its role in brutal campaigns that have drawn international condemnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In America, a citizen can be gunned down with 35 bullets into their bodies for JUST making eye contact with the wrong police officer and if you are lucky if your family will find your body<\/strong><\/em> . So before you accuse T\u00fcrkiye of institutional collapse, perhaps turn your lens toward the realities unfolding in your own environment with the venom of hate dripping fromyour lips .<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for your claim that I am a \u201cmouthpiece\u201d of Ankara\u2014how dare you? You do not know me? Sir, You have never sat with me, Sir, never asked whom I voted for, never once attempted to understand my beliefs. You attack from afar with venomous words, but you know nothing of the person you seek to discredit.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you seek a professional debate, I welcome it anywhere, anytime. I will personally sponsor your travel to New York City and host you at New York University for an open forum. If New York is too far, I will gladly bring you to my village of Demirhisar in Rize\u2019s Cayeli district. Perhaps the breathtaking beauty of the Black Sea, my village of Demirhisar and the sincere hospitality of our people will soften the bitterness in your heart toward the freely elected government of the Republic of T\u00fcrkiye founded by none other than Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk himself.\u00a0Until then, I urge you to raise your critique with honesty and clarity not with the language of exclusion, not with personal insults, and certainly not with a tone that denies others their right to hold a different view point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And if we are to elevate the our NATO ally of the Republic of Turkiye, Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk’s Turkiye, it will not be through despairing editorials and historical amnesia , but through unity, reform, pride, and above all, honesty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ibrahim Kurtulus<\/strong>
Demirhisar Koy\u00a0 – Rize – Cayeli<\/strong>
New York<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n