Turkey changes

Submitted by MikeKu (United States), Jan 21, 2013 at 04:48

Thanks for your excellent comments. I worked on Turkey for many years with the US Dept. of Agriculture and met some of their top leaders including Ciller, Erbakan, two of the Ozal brothers, others. Turkey was said to have great potential for decades which seems to finally have come to fruition after Turgut Ozal opened the country up and allowed free enterprise teo flourish. Erbakan, I recall built mosques instead of schools and was taken out. Erdogan was in jail for 3 years and should have been banned from politics thereafter precisely for the Islamism that Turkey is now undergoing.

The military allowed itself to become irrelevant while Erdogan controls major institutions. He has gone as far as putting 80 journalists in jail without habeas corpus and criticism of him is preetty much vorbotten. I recall that either under Erbakan or Erdoagn Mein Kampf was translated into Turkish and promulgated as is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Attaturk took Turkey out of the Middle Ages and brought into the 20th century. Jews and Christians prospered. Now I understand most have moved to Israel and certainly Erdogan's meddling in Gaza has posed great danger for the Jewish population remaining.

Erdogan is a hypocrite of the first order; chastizing Israel for defending itself against Gaza rockets but he has no problem in sending his troops into Iraq to pursue PKK "guerillas." You can't have it both ways.

The Turkey I knew was moderate and progressive. I would probably find myself very uncomfortable walking in Istanbul with all the hijabs for they lead to discrimination against women, Jews, Christians and the end of freedom of free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly freedom to criticize. I suspect that Attaturk would be turning in his grave if he saw Turkey today.

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