Letter to New York Times Columnist Mr. Friedman for his Article about Turkey January 11 2004.

Dear Sir:

My name is Theodoros Georgiou Karakostas, and I am writing to you
to protest your unjustified endorsement of Turkey's candidacy for
membership in the European Union (January 11 2004). Mr. Friedman, you
have totally disregarded the fate of the Greek populations of Asia
Minor and Constantinople in your biased and inaccurate portrayal
of Turkey. The modern Turkish Republic is an authoritarian dictatorship
with Islamic roots which are again manifesting themselves.

To lavish praise on the modern Turkish Republic in light of the November
2002 national elections in that country, is truly astounding. The victory
of an Islamic party one year after the 9/11 attacks should have been
perceived by all Americans as a profound insult. It should be apparent
that a nation that chooses Islamist rulers in the aftermath of the
discrediting of Islamic regimes in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, is
clearly not qualified to join the European Union.

Those of us of Greek ancestry and Orthodox faith are fully aware of
crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the Turkish leadership that you
have ignored. Our Church annually commemorates in September,
the martyrdom of Archbishop Chrysostom of Smyrna who was butchered
by Islamic fanatics loyal to Mustafa Kemal. This Archbishop symbolizes
the fate of 1,000,000 Greeks throughout Asia Minor who were
systematically exterminated under the Genocide of Mustafa Kemal and
his movement. To fully create a Turkish entity however, the Turks had
to further ethnically cleanse Anatolia and Thrace of over 1,000,000 Greek
inhabitants.

During the 1950s sir, Turkish leaders conspired to terrorize and expel
the 100,000 Greeks that had still been residing in Constantinople. State
sponsored pogroms and terror campaigns have led to the demise of
the Greek population in Turkey. Furthermore, Ankara has taken its
policy of terror abroad as can be seen by the Turkish invasions of
Cyprus in 1974, where over 200,000 Greek Cypriots have been
ethnically cleansed.

It is abundantly clear that the European Union is entirely justified
in rejecting Turkey. What cannot in fact be justified is American,
NATO, and Israeli support for Turkey which is in fact supporting and
promoting terrorism. Your endorsement of Turkey is one that is
morally, historically, and politically unjustified. It appears that you Sir,
are not entirely familiar with the historical and political events that
have occurred in Turkey over the past century.

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey, and the sponsorship
by Ankara of notorious terrorist groups such as "Hizbullah" and
"Grey Wolves" are the direct result of the propping up of every
Turkish regime by the western powers of the day since Mustafa
Kemal began waging his campaigns of terror and genocide against
the Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian populations of Asia Minor. Your
endorsement of Turkey is repugnant and a form of censorship. Your
column is biased, and your conclusion is severely compromised by
the lack of information regarding Cyprus and the plight of Christian
and Kurdish minorities in Turkey. These are among the reasons
cited by the European Union for rejecting the candidacy of Turkey.

Respectfully,

Theodoros Georgiou Karakostas