It's hard to watch this man pace his living space, to look at his two daughters with middle names selected by Gulen. I watch him walk a line in the carpet and wonder is his family safe?
He can't check because his tie to Gulen is known. Contact will make his family a target. Fortunately, they live away from the worst of the fray. Fortunately, they are old and poor and do not have much to offer in the way of potential for resistance.
But that doesn't take them off the radar. After all, their son is living in America, has sat with Gulen, studied with him, reveres this man who, as my friend has shown in action, believes that compassion is the greatest quality a human can possess.
I don't know what's happening in Turkey, but I know what is happening here. The last time I shared an article stating Erdogan's tactics were believed to involve torture, friends of his family messaged me to thank me for my interest in Turkey but I had my facts wrong and I should share this Erdogan sympathy piece instead: [http://www.dailysabah.com/war-on-terror/2016/08/01/turkey-coup-attempt-of-gulenists-explained-in-special-report]
I want to believe the Erdogan regime is built on the same loving and inclusive tenets the Erdogan girls, once friends of mine, put into practice. But then I see their extensive network policing social media in an effort to counteract the damage of image-based and first-person accounts that freedoms are being repressed in the name of Erdogan.
And I see my friend's ability to connect to his family interrupted.
And I wonder at the world.
Dont wonder about the world. Wonder about Turkish people. I am still trying to figure out that how its possible that Turkish people still love and support Erdogan, when this man has proven to be corrupted, dictator, an indirect ISIS supporter among other things. Your friend's family is a target, even if he doesn't contact them. I know that because when Erdogan visited my country he asked our government to shut down schools that are funded by Gulen foundations. Turkey's economic growth has been steady under his reign, but it was bound to happen, with or without Erdogan as PM or president.
I am sorry about your friend, his family should move out of Turkey (if they are living there, that is)
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His family is old and poor and unable to move. I don't know many who still support and love Erdogan. I only know those who are horrified and those who are promoting his agenda, like the woman who sent me that link. I don't know what even she believes. She is a cousin to Erdogan so it could be she has no safe choice other than to be part of his political agenda. This all feels very sad. I remember growing up without access to family. I don't wish that for my friend and his family.
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well i would suggest lets bring your friend in steemit :)
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Good plan! :) Why didn't I think of that?
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i am quite sure you thought about that. maybe u needed a small push :)
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lol Are you kidding me? You don't know many who support and loves erdogan? Most of the country loves him and thats why they voted him in. I got to agree he's stepped his oppressiveness lately. But i am sorry but Gulen is the very father of terrorism in turkey and if he takes over he will tranform turkey into an islamic califat. I am for democracy but if its between gulen or erdogan my choice is made.
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I'm not sure we have a democracy in the western Countries any more .
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Erdogan is not the problem anymore. Russia and Turkey just became allies and together will destroy isis. NATO is enraged at this hence the recent meetings.
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Unfortunately, this is the case for many of us in this chaos filled world, we can not go home.
Erdogan is proving to be a slippery cat. At one moment he is throwing the CIA out for infiltrating his organization and then the next moment cozying up to Putin. The very next day (almost) he is bombing the Assad regime along side of ISIS (a NATO, US, Israeli creation). Gulen, I believe was being groomed by the US to take over after they threw out their friend/puppet Erdogan. This maneuver did not happen.(yet?) and perhaps may not. Personally, I think things will be quickly shifting in that part of the world. So I see hope for the reuniting of this family
As far as being estranged from friends, family and relatives, it is not hard to find sympathetic ears all over the world. We left the US because of simply not being able to generate enough money to stay there (insurances mostly). We miss our kids, but they are in a different universe anyway since they follow the main stream media and we don´t.
I feel your pain, but in that area of the world, the situation is shifting so quickly that if his relatives can survive, there is a promise of a reuniting in the future. Stay hopeful.
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Thank you for this. I'm sorry your situation has been unstable. I have trouble wrapping my mind around his lack of access. I won't pretend to understand the political forces at play. My own family began when my father was separated from his family due to war. Too many thoughts to pin one down I guess, but thank you for sharing your thoughts. It helps.
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Awful! ..the Kurds defended the Turkish border against all odds and with very little support ..THEY HAVE EARNED KURDISTAN ..paid for it with their blood!! Fuck Turkey for holding these people hostage for as long as they have.
..or am I off topic?
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OT but I hear what you are saying. I think there is a lot of pain in every place in the world.
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What a fuckin joke, these kurds were not holding the border they were trying to control an area that Assad has been trying to give them for nearly 2 fuckin years. They were the ones sending terrorist into turkey the pyd/ypg/pkk does not represent the kurds at all and if it was the case you would have seen the 15 M kurds in turkey wake the fuck up but hey guess what? These kurds militia are the equivalent of isis for the turkish kurds.
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CRAZY TALK and misdirection .. I never said anything about Assad! Fucking ISIS and fucking Turkey is who I speak of, the tactics that 'some' of the Kurdish groups have used, in a fight to stop the systemic negation of their fundamental human rights, and to end their political nullification by the Turkish central authority - IS JUSTIFIED ... and so I will say again! The Kurds defended TURKEY'S SOUTHERN BORDER AGAINST ISIL AGGRESSION, and are now being bombed by ASSAD because at this time, according Nicholas A. Heras, an analyst at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), "Neither the Assad regime nor Turkey wants an indefinite U.S.-protected Kurdish zone in northeastern Syria." http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/thousands-flee-hasakeh-government-strikes-hit-kurds-third-day-1721175161 .. FUCK TURKEY, FUCK ISIL, FUCK ASSAD! ... How's that for clarity? :-)
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I got to give it to you at least your one of the few who are able to stay objective in all this bullshit. If your able to say fuck turkey and fuck assad in the same sentence I respect you. I lost respect for erdogan a few months ago after he decided to go toward the extremist path but at the same time I understand why he is acting like he did recently with all these superpower trying to walk over him. But I would add Fuck RUSSIA in all the fuckitude, I can't stand people bowing down to russia as if they are really in syria to fight Isis. You know the funniest shit here? It's that the city of jarabulus which was held by isis for the past 3 years was never bombed by assad and his allies simply because they did not want to destroy the city assad wanted to hand over to the kurds, let me explain. The kurds and Assad never really clashed unless they had miss-understandings on a few territories held by the kurds. Assad and these kurdish millitias in syria were never ennemies and ill add to this , the reason why Assad wanted these kurds near the turkish border was that they could keep erdogan occupied by keeping what they've been doing for months now , sending terrorists in turkey ( the latest terrorist attack was against kurdish turks in a wedding!) By doing that assad would keep his only real opposition away, since the whole world gave him their support and erdogan is pretty much the only one who still doesn't see a future with assad. If i had to respect erdogan on something it would be his position on syria. Ill finish with this, the US wants a kurdish state to be formed so assad would be able to claim his own alawite state sect and syrian would then be left all alone and no1 would ever question israel holding the golan hostage for over 60 year. Who ends up winning here? The us and russia.
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Sorry to hear about this, may compassion and due sustainable human relationships rise among the ashes left of this madness. May you friend and family be safe, namaste :)
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Thank you! Namaste.
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Thank you for sharing this story. I have travelled to Turkey many times and I am saddened to see such a beautiful place deteriorating economically and socially so fast. Turkey is a very old country though and throughout his history it has gone through many cycles of repression and opening. I hope that this current cycle of repression will end fast and openness and democracy will flourish one again soon.
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I hope so too!
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gulen is evil . tahts only i know exactly
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I don't know (or care to know) much about Gulen other than that he has inspired some incredible goodness in my friend. I do care a great deal that people are willing to hurt one another over ideologies. I hope for peace.
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Жаль, что людей толкают на преступления, и они их совершают. Потом виноваты будут не те, кто толкает, а кто убивает, разрушает, насилует... Все просят помощи у Бога, а сами творят Зло.
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