To the Editor:
I was appalled by Taso G. Lagos’ article "Europe Should Welcome Turkey
into its Fold," in the press clippings section of your October 29 edition.
If Dr. Lagos were my student, I would give him an A for promoting Turkish
propaganda and rewriting history, but an F for glaring omissions and
inaccuracies. Although his article is full of holes, at least he enjoys
Freedom of _Expression in the United States, a freedom which numerous
courageous Turkish writers, journalists and publishers are still
struggling for. Currently, they are excessively fined; their books
confiscated; and they are imprisoned and tortured for simply writing the
truth.
Ragip Zarakolu, a Turkish publisher and writer of Belge Publishing House
for the past 30 years, is presently facing trials and brutal imprisonment.
Zarakolu said, "We have to learn from history and avoid denying the past
tragedies, which should cause shame in us. Otherwise, history is bound to
repeat itself."
A few days ago, the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople was attacked
and violated for the umpteenth time by Turkish nationalist mobs. In 2001,
the Assyrian Orthodox priest, Yusuf Akbulut, was arrested in Turkey for
offhandedly affirming (when asked) that the Assyrians were massacred.
There is no Turkish Cyprus north or Greek Cyprus south. There is only one
Cyprus. The northern part of Cyprus is illegally occupied by Turkish
troops after the Turks ethnically cleansed the territory’s Greek Cypriot
inhabitants in 1974.
Until recently, Turkish travel brochures boasted that Turkey is
"homogeneous and 99 percent Moslem." How is it possible that its original
inhabitants no longer live in Turkey? It was made possible after 28 years
of organized and systematic extermination of Asia Minor’s indigenous
Christian populations from 1894 to 1922 – when 2 million Greeks, 2 million
Armenians, and 1 million Assyrians were brutally massacred.
One would expect a fair and truthful report from a fellow Greek. Instead,
Lagos’ report misinforms and insults the memory of our fellow Greeks of
Thrace, Asia Minor, Constantinople and Cyprus, whose very lives were
shattered by a yet unrepentant Turkish Regime.
Respectfully submitted,
Sofia Kontogeorge Kostos
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania