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Someone whom I respect and admire very much—a senior friend of mine—has asked me to write this letter to you, the American People. He is a businessman who has done business with you for years in the past and is still full of positive energy and appreciation for what and who you are. He has asked me to inform you by sharing with you the facts that the Obama Administration’s policy for Turkey and the Middle East are totally misdirected. Obama’s policy will send future generations into chaos and confusion and will cause our children to consider each other as enemies.

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Currently the Obama Administration is, for the sake of short-term benefits, endangering your long-term future benefits regarding the security of future generations of Americans, your universal values, your principles of democracy and human rights, all the foundational ideals of the American people so solidly written into your Constitution.

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Erdogan and his government are trying to wipe out in Turkey the ideals, symbolism and modern reforms of Ataturk. I do not know how much you know about Ataturk but he is the leader who brought Turkey into the modern age, enabling renaissance and enlightenment periods to develop in Turkey which the West had produced so painstakingly in its past. He is, for us, akin to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, combined. Without those reforms, Turkey would have remained in the Middle Ages.

Do you know that the Obama administration together with Erdogan and some backward Gulf states are exporting terrorism to Syria, Turkey's southern neighbor? Are you aware that al-Qaeda-related murderers in Syria are supported by the American administration and are cutting and eating the hearts and livers of live people?

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Do you know that the CIA is behind the operations in Turkey called Ergenekon and Balyoz, created to allow the Erdogan government to make regime changes in Turkey? Do you know that because of this, prominent and modern-thinking leaders from universities, politics, the military and media have been thrown into jails? There is no longer law or justice in Turkey. Since I have my roots in the military as a retired admiral, I know for sure that all the members of the Turkish Armed Forces, from the enlisted men to the top generals, hate the United States because of its support of Erdogan. This is the result of the U.S. administration’s short sighted leaders' inability to see the future.

Do you know that Erdogan and the AKP government, who are backed by the U.S. administration, made recent education policy changes called 4+4+4 that take the Turkish educational system back to the darkness of the middle ages? The best thing that will ever come from this educational system will be the fundamentalist suicide bombers. If tomorrow, somewhere in the world, you lose your children or grandchildren with the bombs exploded in the name of religion, wouldn't your consciences be pained for your government's support of those bombers?

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Dear American People, as I conclude my appeal to you, in all honesty, I wish you to know that the Obama administration’s policies are the root cause of the enmity between the American and Turkish peoples. It remains a threat to regional and world peace. Last Sunday, I noticed a hand-held sign during the demonstration in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. It read “Obama Supports Terrorism.” It is actually very true! Regrettably, the US government, for the sake of short term gains all over the world including in Turkey, supports terrorism. I happen to think that democracy is not this, or better put, this is not democracy!

MY APPEAL TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Admiral Türker Ertürk (Retired) Former Superintendent, Turkish Naval Academy