Open Letter to the American People

I write to explain how ordinary Turkish people feel about the prospect of a U.S.-led war against Iraq. Iraq is a country that is Turkey's neighbor. We are also a country that has still not recovered from the effects of the Gulf war in 1991. If you live in New York, imagine a war in New Jersey. If you live in Washington DC, imagine an attack on Virginia-and the terrible effects that would have on your life.

Recently I was among the many thousands who filled the streets of Ankara, Turkey's capital city, to demonstrate against an attack on Iraq. That evening, ordinary Turks celebrated the decision of Turkish parliament to reject the demands to let Turkey's airports and harbors be used to support this attack, or for Turkish military troops be sent abroad. Those who joined me in Ankara's streets were elated we would not have to share the shame of watching our neighbors be killed for a fee of a few billion dollars. We felt proud of the way our Turkish democracy functions.

I know that my words will be shocking to some in the U.S. I was in your country a few months ago, as a guest of HRW. I visited New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco, met many people, NGOs and members of the press. Then it was I who was shocked, seeing that many Americans have accepted that war with Iraq is inevitable; that there was not more questioning of facts as presented by the Bush administration and the mass media.

It is true that Saddam Hussein is a monster. We have not forgotten how he gassed Kurdish civilians brutally. But we also remember that it was the US who helped to create this monster, including giving him weapons and money to attack Iran. Bin Laden is also a monster. We have not forgotten the tragic scenes of September 11th in New York. But we remember too that this monster was also backed by the US, which gave him the money and weapons to him to fight against Soviets in Afghanistan.

We remember other monsters: Colonel Papadopoulous in Greece, General Pinochet in Chile, and General Evren in our country, who tortured and killed their own people. They all were backed by the same government. Even today, a number of the US "allies" in the war on terror in South America, Africa, Asia and Middle East are brutal dictatorships. You can never speak of democracy in any of them.

Put simply, I ask you to consider whether your own government and your media are misleading you. I hope this message from Turkey-a longtime ally of USA in the region-can help you wake up from this dream before it turns out to be a nightmare. On March 1, the Arabic League said, "We think that war is not the proper solution." Apart from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, you cannot find any neighbor in the region who supports Mr. Bush in this war.

It appears from our part of the globe that Mr. Bush is determined to show his irresistible power to the world, regardless of international law. But there is only one thing to which that he cannot close his eyes. This is you, the people-the voters-who represent public opinion in America. We hope that you can stop a second Viet-Nam war before it is too late and many innocent people are killed. Please put yourselves in the position of your friends in Turkey, in the position of ordinary Iraqis who will suffer in this conflict.

There is still a chance for peace, dear people of the USA, and this chance is you.

Yours sincerely,

Sanar Yurdatapan

Composer, Turkish citizen

Human Rights Monitor of HRW

Nacak Sok. 21/11, TR- 34 674 Istanbul; Tel.:+90 216 531 7080, +90 216 492 0504 E-Mail: [email protected]