COMMENTARY    

6/30/04 

President George W. Bush's speech to the Turkish people during the NATO Summit 
on June 30, 2004, in Istanbul, Turkey, was, in my opinion more, fiction than 
fact. Being of Armenian descent, if I were not aware of the Armenian genocide 
of 1915-1923 by Turkey's Ottoman predecessors, I would have thought he was 
announcing the second coming of Christ. It was so greasy that I almost threw 
up. 

During his speech, President Bush referred to Turkey as a "secular democracy," 
with 150 years of democratic reform history behind them. As the Turkish 
newspaper, Commuriet, later published, President Ahmet Nezdet Serez of Turkey 
told President Bush after his speech that they are a secular nation in that 
there is no religious influence in their decisions of State. At no time did 
he acknowledge that they were a "democracy." 

As to President Bush's frequent statement that Turkey should serve as a model 
for the Islamic world, Turkey's President Serez further rebuffed Bush by 
saying that he found the view "totally unacceptable."    President Bush went 
on to say that Turkey should be accepted into the E. U. (European Union).   
To which France's President Chirac took the liberty of diplomatically 
telling him to mind his own business.    Here is an American President who 
acknowledged the genocide of our people while he was campaigning for the 
2000 election, yet turning and calling Turkey a "secular democracy" for 
political advantage. 

What about your promise to acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians, Mr. 
President? Or the intermittent slaughtering of Iraqi Kurds--or the ongoing 
present-day blockade of Armenia by Turkey and Azerbajian? 

Turkey, a nation which our President Bush feels can be a legitimate model 
for the Islamic world.   Doesn't our President realize that almost every 
Islamic nation in the Middle East has nothing but loathing for Turkey because 
of their despotism during WW I. Has the world forgotten about Lawrence of 
Arabia? 

Turkey's President Serez told President Bush that Turkey being a model for 
the Islamic nations was totally unacceptable because he knew how much hate 
there is for Turkey in the Middle East. 

What befuddles me is how can a President of the United States of America, 
the greatest nation on earth, be so ignorant or so ill-advised when it comes 
to foreign policy? 

As far as Turkey goes, I have no doubt that there are many people of 
conscience among them. This was proven many times over during the massacres 
when Armenians were saved from being massacred by their Turkish neighbors, 
while facing certain death for doing so. And as far as that goes, I believe 
that there are many Armenians among us who would be willing to start forgiving 
if the government of Turkey tried engendering good will instead of trying 
to sweep their despotic past under their present-day moth-eaten rug of 
diplomacy. Furthermore, as far as our President Bush goes, they should also 
realize, as Turkish President Serez and French President Chirac did, 
that even a U.S. President can unabashedly speak with a `forked tongue'. 
  
Joseph Vosbikian