Joe, stop US aid to the Turkish dictator
Joe, Alîkariya DYA ya ji dîktatorê Tirk re rawestîne
Edip Yuksel, J.D.
19 August 2021
Dear Joe Biden,
I am writing to you as an American-Kurd whose brother, Metin Yuksel, was killed by Turkish nationalists. As a Kurd who was tortured both physically and psychologically in Turkish prisons. As a Kurd who saw one of the convicted murderers of his brother, İhsan Barutçu, being elected to the Turkish National Congress from fascist party MHP, Erdogan’s coalition partner. As a Kurd who cannot speak his mother tongue as the result of forced assimilation policy in my country of birth. I am just one of the millions of Kurds who has and continues to suffer under paranoid uniculturalist policies in Turkey, a NATO ally!
Let me make it clear from the outset. I will not be asking you to include Turkey among the long list of countries bombed by the USA-Inc. Nor will I be asking you to help Kurdish people. Kurdish people consider American people as ally, but lost their trust to the US government, which is manipulated by powerful domestic and foreign lobbies.
However, I will be asking you to stop helping a dictator, your ally, my former friend and comrade, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Let me refresh your memory regarding the atrocious character of this US ally; prompting us to address you via this letter:
As the world has learned, Erdogan is a heartless dictator to his people, but he is extremely obedient to those more powerful. For instance, during a press conference at the G20 Summit 2019 in Osaka, when introduced by his then “close friend” Donald Trump as an easily managed Hollywood Actor, Erdogan smirked, taking it as a complement. Whilst looking at Erdogan, Trump praised him by stating, “And look at these people, how nice they are. Look at them. They’re so easy to deal with. Look at them. Central casting. There’s no Hollywood set where you could produce people that look like them.” Erdogan was also an obedient stooge when he was warned in Oct 16, 2019 in a public letter sent by Trump, “don’t be a fool.” In few words, Erdogan is a coward outside Turkish borders, but a brutal dictator to his people when he unilaterally makes laws, occasionally in violation of the Constitution and international treaties, inside his 1150 room palace, nine times bigger than White House.
Turkey has around 20 million Kurds, yet the Kurdish language was banned for decades. Until recently, singing in Kurdish and giving your children Kurdish names was a crime. Even the original name of the town I was born in, Norşin, which is also the “place of birth” on my birth certificate, was changed. Kurds in Turkey have experienced countless racism and atrocities. Denial of their existence, their heritage, their language, their songs, their cultural holidays has been a national policy. They are considered as the default enemy. Kurds are and will remain guilty in the eyes of the law until they accept what is imposed on them and dedicate their lives to the superior race: Turks and their holy state.
Erdogan supported ISIS terrorists for years, and when the barbarians attacked Kobani, he prayed for their success for more than a month, until the world pressured him to allow Kurdish pajmarga to help the brave Kurdish freedom fighters. Then, in January 2018, after the blessings from Trump and the permission from Putin, he invaded Afrin, a Kurdish town in Rojava. He terrorized Kurds by using jets and weapons he received from the US, Europe, Russia, and Israel. Even though Kurds have suffered countless atrocities at the hands of brutal dictators like Saddam, Assad, and Erdogan; they still stepped up and fought against ISIS savages. These brave Kurdish men and women gave their lives to defeat ISIS, an enemy of not only the West but the whole world. Instead of being honored with medals, the Kurdish freedom fighters were demonized by the Turkish government.
Recently, all major Kurdish mayors were deposed and replaced by Erdogan’s corrupt and racist trustees. Numerous Kurdish members of Congress have been suffering in Turkish prison for years. These include: Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, İdris Baluken, Çağlar Demirel, Selma Irmak, Gülser Yıldırım, Ferhat Encü, Burcu Çelik, Abdullah Zeydan. Just recently, the fascist AKP+MHP government targeted Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu. a human rights activist, who is also a member of Turkish National Parliament from HDP. The HDP is on the line to be banned by the Turkish version of Cannibal Democracies like many other parties, for demanding peace, justice, and liberty. The list of fascist policies and atrocities against Kurdish people are too long. Therefore, I will mention only a few from this year.
Two Kurdish villagers, Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut, were detained in Van by Turkish police and then thrown out of a helicopter; one died, and the other was found in a critical condition. This barbarism was neither investigated nor tried, just like the hundreds of similar massacres, tortures, assassinations, and murders against Kurds throughout Turkish history. The message to Kurds has been consistent and clear: Our gestapo can arrest any of you, torture any of you and kill any of you! What is even more disturbing about these racist and unlawful acts is that, not only were the police not held accountable for their crimes, but the reporters who informed the public of this brutal act were detained.
Therefore, it came as no surprise when the Turkish Police openly displayed their lack of care towards millions of Kurdish women when they launched their new domestic violence phone app. In a recent tweet, the Turkish Police organization which is followed by more than 1.5 million Turks, announced the launching of a public contact number for domestic violence. It was in 6 languages: Turkish, Arabic, Persian, English, Russian and French. The native language of the Kurdish people was not included. The great irony is that, although Kurds; their history, culture, and language is completely ignored officially, the Turkish government remains paranoid and obsessed with the Kurds.
However, do not assume that the police and the government care about women or domestic violence. Domestic violence calls are not answered; beating and killing women is a national sport. This tweet was just a red herring to distract people from the retraction of the Istanbul Treaty, aiming to protect women against misogynistic culture and practices, which was initially promoted by the very Erdogan to join the European Union. Whilst not believing in the ideologies of the West, Erdogan has been on a mission to join the European Union. His motives are dubious at best as indicated in the YouTube video available online where he confessed in 1995, “To achieve my goal, I wear a Christian Pastor’s cloth”. Well, he is now getting ready to wear Sultan’s turban.
Dear John, let me be frank with you. I voted for Bernie in primary, and you in general election. Though I find some of your political ideas inadequate, I know that you are a man with great empathy.
So, we ask you to stop supporting this Sultan-wannabe dictator. Erdogan is the Turkish version of Donald Trump without a US Constitution and without the checks and balances of Supreme Court and Congress. He controls everything in Turkey, including the media. He even controls Twitter. For instance, following Erdogan’s order, Twitter suspended my popular Turkish account @edipyuksel in April 2020, with no specific cause (and was unexpectedly unsuspended it 3 days after I filed lawsuit in US District Court in Arizona, in March 30, 2021). Further, Erdogan had the audacity to beat American citizens in Washington DC on May 16, 2017. The title of the article at The Atlantic said it all: “Presidential Silence After an Attack on American Soil: When protesters were assaulted by Turkish agents on American soil, Trump stayed out of it.” In short, Erdogan is getting away with his crimes because of the support of US corporations and the US government.
Erdogan is as greedy as he is paranoid; he is as ruthless as he is a coward. As I said earlier, we do not expect you to help Kurdish people, but we expect you and demand from you to stop supporting Erdogan, the enemy of the Kurdish people, as well as Turks, Arabs, and humanity.
It is time to tell Erdogan that “As your fascist boss was fired by the American people, you too are fired from your job as Trump’s Hollywood actor. You are no longer the co-leader of the BOP (Greater Middle East Project) which you have bragged about 34 times in the past. Stop stealing, stop killing, stop imprisoning and terrorizing people!”
I urge you to stop helping the Sultan/Caliph-wannabe Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Otherwise, you will be responsible for creating another Saddam, or perhaps another Hitler.
Hevi Jiyane!
Aştî, dad û azadî
Edip Yuksel, J.D., is an American-Turkish-Kurdish author, philosopher, and inventor. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
PS: As an American-Turkish-Kurd, I shared my personal experience in a journal article titled Yes, I am a Kurd and made a few videos on the subject, such as: My Experience in Turkey as Kurd and Tweets on Kurds. My website is 19.org and English Twitter account is @19org