And He Calls Himself a Politician!
By Ercument Kilic, President, ATAA - An ATAA delegation visits a neighboring country to Turkey every summer as Turkish-American goodwill ambassadors. ATAA's visit to Bulgaria last June which my predecessor Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan wisely planned was an eye opener in more then one ways. Not in the order of importance but as the curser of my brain clicks randomly, they were as follows: More

Visions of a Union: Europe Struggles to Define Its Identity
By Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, December 15, 2002, COPENHAGEN, Dec. 13 - In redrawing the map of Europe, the 15 men whose countries represent Europe's most important and exclusive club tore down one border and built another. They formally invited 10 new members, most with dysfunctional economies, to join their European Union by 2004, thereby expanding eastward into territories whose economic and political development was long stunted by Communism. More

The True Birth of Republican Ideas
"United States is the alpha and omega of Republicanism"
By Bruce Fein* - I am informed by reliable authorities that Turkish youths are customarily taught that Republican ideas spread from France to the United States, not vice versa. As a United States citizen, I cannot claim scrupulous neutrality in the matter. But I would submit that a candid evaluation of the facts demonstrates that the United States is the alpha and omega of Republicanism, and that France does not even deserve a consolation prize. More

Bulgarian Democracy and the Armenian Connection - 3
"The original Bulgars were Turkic tribes running away from the Mongols of Central Asia"
By Ahmet Gursoy, Special to The Turkish Times (Part III of IV) - For the Russian Armenians, Article 61 of the Berlin Treaty was a victory, but for the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul it was a great disappointment. While the Congress granted a self-government for the Bulgarians, the Western powers offered nothing more than empty promises of reforms for the Armenians. In his closing statement the Patriarch warned European delegates: "The Armenian delegation will return to the East, carrying with it the lesson that without struggle and without insurrection - such as the Bulgarians had launched - nothing can be gained."(30) More

Turkey for NAFTA
Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2002 - "In today's discussion I proposed to President Bush that they take us into NAFTA." So said Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington this week. We think it's a brilliant idea. In the global economy, physical proximity matters little. And if the European Union leaders meeting today in Copenhagen won't give Turkey a firm date for membership talks, the U.S. should assume responsibility for further anchoring Turkey to the West. More

LETTERS

"Islamic jihadists" and need for reform in Islam TO: Editor, Wall Street Journal November 26, 2002 Dear Mr. Melloan, Thank you very much for our outstanding article in today's WSJ, "America's Problem is Jihadists, Not the Whole of Islam." In my opinion, your analysis was exactly on target and your endorsement of Daniel Pipes' views very appropriate. By extension, you suggest that we are unlikely to be able to rid ourselves of Islamic jihadists until there is a reform of Islam itself, i.e., until Islamic societies are free from the tyranny of ignorant men with guns and a medieval concept of Islam that they believe they have a right to impose on everyone else. On this point, one hope is that the millions of Muslims who live in the U.S. and Europe will be able to spearhead such a reform by separating themselves from the repressive influence of clerics in the countries of their origin. At present, however, such would-be reformers fear for their lives as much as the women in the Nigerian beauty pageant. By contrast, you might want to examine the successes of the Turks in this area. The General Directory of Religious Affairs in Ankara has recently authorized the ordination of the first female imam! Best regards, Albert Nekimken Virginia Why Emphasize the Suffering of Only One Group? TO: Washington Post Letters to the Editor Dear Sir/Madam,More on "Living Stories of a People's Slaughter" Editorial Page, Washington Post, Dec 6, 2002. I deeply regret the death and suffering of Ms. Nersesian's family members during the war and ensuing collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early years of the last century. During that same time almost every Turkish family lost their loved ones either at the hand of invading Russians and the collaborating Armenians in Eastern Anatolia, or during the relentless ethnic cleansing of Muslims in the Balkans, or by the soldiers of invading Greek armies in Western Anatolia. A controversy arises when the suffering of one group is emphasized while ignoring the totality of suffering and loss during this period of war and turmoil. Oya Bain A Turkish American Vice President, Capital Region Assembly of Turkish American Associations Washington, D.C.