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LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA regarding deteriorating conditions in Turkey.

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What I have told you over the past year are plain and terrifying truths. The current parlous state of Turkey was a long time coming. As I earlier noted, religious fundamentalism and fanaticism did not vanish with the arrival of Atatà ¼rk. If you read Mustafa Kemal Atatà ¼rk's Great Speech that I sent to you last year you will readily see that. You will also readily understand where these current dark-minded politicians came from. I realize, Mr. President, that you have no power over the particulars of the devastating internal events now transpiring in Turkey. Except you do. To the extent that the CIA is involved, as it is always involved, you do. To the extent that the Department of Defense (and its secretary, Robert Gates, a CIA careerist) is involved, you do. To the extent that the Department of State is involved via the interconnection of its embassies, consulates, and CIA undercover operators, you do. But whether you do or don't is really not my business. The seriousness of the situation in Turkey today is vastly beyond finger-pointing and blame. Something must be done, Mr. President. Zola wrote "that when truth is buried underground, it grows and it builds up so much force that the day it explodes it blasts everything with it." We are now at such a point in Turkey; the nation faces disaster. Hopefully, my letters demonstrate that truth is on the march, and nothing will stop it. "La và ©rità © est en marche et rien ne l'arrà ªtera." (8).

But this letter is too long, Mr. President, and it is time to end it. Listen again to Zola on 13 January 1898 come to the defense of Alfred Dreyfus, and France. It is as if he were describing Turkey today.

"And what a nest of vile intrigues, gossip, and destruction that sacred sanctuary that decides the nation's fate has become! We are horrified by the terrible light the Dreyfus affair has cast upon it all, this human sacrifice of an unfortunate man" Ah, what a cesspool of folly and foolishness, what preposterous fantasies, what corrupt police tactics, what inquisitorial, tyrannical practices! What petty whims of a few higher-ups trampling the nation under their boots, ramming back down their throats the people's cries for truth and justice, with the travesty of state security as a pretext. Indeed, it is a crime to have relied on the most squalid elements of the press, and to have entrusted Esterhazy's defense to the vermin of Paris, who are now gloating over the defeat of justice and plain truth. It is a crime that those people who wish to see a generous France take her place as leader of all the free and just nations are being accused of fomenting turmoil in the country, denounced by the very plotters who are conniving so shamelessly to foist this miscarriage of justice on the entire world. It is a crime to lie to the public, to twist public opinion to insane lengths in the service of the vilest death-dealing machinations. It is a crime to poison the minds of the meek and the humble, to stoke the passions of reactionism and intolerance" that, unchecked, will destroy the freedom-loving France of the Rights of Man. It is a crime to exploit patriotism in the service of hatred, and it is, finally, a crime to ensconce the sword as the modern god, whereas all science is toiling to achieve the coming era of truth and justice." (9)

Mr. President, the words I have written are the plain truths, and they are terrifying...for Turkey and for America. May they hasten the inevitable explosion of truth and justice.

With my deepest respect, Mr. President,

James (Cem) Ryan
Istanbul, Turkey

NOTES:

1. LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Turkey in an Arena of Trials 20 January 2009
http://forreasonsunknown-cem.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter-to-president-obama.html
http://www.ataturksociety.org/voa/Ataturk_winter2009_final_web.pdf

LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: The Islamic Republic of Turkey 20 October 2009
http://forreasonsunknown-cem.blogspot.com/2009/10/letter-to-president-obama-islamic.html

2. Yeats, W.B. "Gratitude to the Unknown Instructors." http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/gratitude-to-the-unknown-instructors/

3. Yeats, W.B. "The Second Coming." http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-second-coming/

4. Rugman, Jonathan. "Turkish Islamists Aim For Power." The Guardian, 27 November 1995.

5. Villelabeitia, Ibon. "Turkish Court says president should go on trial." The Washington Post, 18 May 2009.
http://paperdragon.newsvine.com/_news/2009/05/19/2836299-turkish-court-says-president-should-go-on-trial-

"Presidential office slams court stance." Hurriyet Daily News, 20 May 2009.
"No end in sight to GÃ ¼l immunity controversy." Hurriyet Daily News, 21 May 2009.
"Turkish president unconcerned about standing trial in fraud case." Hurriyet Daily News, 21 May 2009.
"I am not scared to go on trial." Hurriyet Daily News, 22 May 2009.
KanlÄ ±, Yusuf. "President in court." Hurriyet Daily News, 22 May 2009

6. Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father, page 457. Three Rivers Pres
s. New York, 1995.

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James (Cem)Ryan is a writer living in Istanbul, Turkey. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he has a MFA from Columbia University.

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