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Locked on 07/17/2002 8:21:33 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Flame war. |
Posted on 07/16/2002 1:32:12 PM PDT by Hipixs
It's from a pro-Iraqi website.
Real good friends of Jews, those Iraqis.
I know my Turkish leaves something to be desired. I also know that Turks are endlessly polite. But, what I’d like to talk today about two other qualities that characterize so many Turks and characterize Turgut Ozal in particular: those are the qualities of courage and tolerance.
Let me begin with a remarkable story, a story that has a place in humanitarian acts of courage beside the feats of a man like Raoul Wallenberg, but much less well known. In 1943, a man named Necdet Kent was the Turkish consul posted to the southern French city of Marseilles. One evening, a Jewish worker at the consulate alerted Kent that some Turkish Jews living in Marseilles had been loaded into cattle cars for transport to Germany. Kent rushed to the Saint Charles train station. He saw the cattle cars, heard the moans and sobs from within, and now I’ll quote his words.
"The one single memory of that evening which will never be erased from my mind was the inscription which I saw on one of the wagons: ‘This wagon may be loaded with twenty heads of cattle and 500 kilograms of grass.’ Inside the wagons were about 80 people packed on top of each other.
"The Gestapo commander at the station, having heard of my presence, approached me and angrily asked me what I was doing there. I forced myself to civilly say that these people were Turkish citizens, that there had been a mistake, which must be immediately corrected. The Gestapo commander answered that he was merely following orders and that these people were not Turks or anything of the sort, but just plain Jews.
"Realizing that my threats … were in vain, I suddenly turned to [my assistant] Sidi Iscan and said, ‘Come on, let’s go; we, too, are getting on this train.’" Just imagine that.
"And, pushing aside the soldier who tried to stop me, I entered one of the wagons…. Now it was the Gestapo officer’s turn to do the begging. I didn’t respond to anything that was said, and the train began to move in sight of the Gestapo officer….
"[At the next station when the train stopped] a few German officers got on the wagon and said that there had been a mistake, that the train had left Marseilles without giving me a chance to get off, that those responsible would be punished, that I could return to Marseilles with the special [Mercedes they had placed] at my disposal….
"I explained to them that there was no question of a mistake, that more than 80 Turkish citizens had been loaded onto these animal wagons because they were Jews, and that I was a representative of a government that rejected such treatment….
"The officers, promising that all manner of wrongdoing would be corrected, asked if everyone in the wagon was Turkish. A crowd of women, men and children had surrounded us watching, motionless as stone, this play dealing with their lives. Probably due to the orders received from their superiors, as much as to my own uncompromising stance, all of us got off the train together. A little later, the Germans left us alone.
"I cannot forget those embraces around our necks and hands…. The inner peace I felt when I reached my bed towards morning that day is one that I have not savored much since then."
In later years, retiring as ambassador, Ambassador Kent said, with what I think is extraordinary humility: "What I have done is what I should have done. I knew I had to act."
But there are many who lack the courage to do what should be done. In Necdet Kent, the extraordinary qualities of courage and tolerance came forth at an important moment in history. And his was not an isolated example. It was the policy of the Turkish government, stated forcefully in a demarche to the Vichy government in the summer of 1941, that, I quote here: "Turkey itself makes no discrimination, as imposed by the French government on those of its citizens who are established in France, so that the Turkish government can only reserve entirely its right in what concerns those of the latter who are of the Jewish race." Through the determined and courageous efforts of a large number of Turkish diplomats, many Turkish Jews – and many non-Turks as well – were rescued from the Holocaust.
It is the great good fortune of the United States to have in Turkey a friend and ally that has stood with us through war and peace, going back to the days of the Korean War. That is where American troops got their first look at Turkish courage—a fighting spirit and self-reliance that is also legendary in the annals of history. It is a courage that is captured in a story that I imagine is apocryphal, but there is a large grain of truth in it as well; it’s a story I first heard from a Turkish officer many years ago.
During the Korean War, the story goes, a Marine company came to relieve an Army battalion, a much larger unit, that was holding a crucial position, and the Army officer in command said, "You only have a company. How do you expect to hold this position? We can barely do it with our whole battalion" And the answer was, you can guess, "We’re Marines." Not too long afterward, a Turkish platoon [Laughter] came to relieve the Marine company and the Marine commander now asked his Turkish relief, "Why do you think you can hold this position with just a platoon?" And the Turk responded, "We’re Turks." [Laughter.]
Now, my old friend, General Al Gray, a former Commandant of the Marine Corps, fought with Turkish troops in Korea. And I imagine he would disagree with any implied comparisons with his beloved Marines, but he has told me that Turkish troops were as brave as any he’s served with. Coming from Al Gray, who is one tough Marine, that is high praise indeed. And it is an opinion that is shared, by the way, by many of my colleagues in the Defense Department today who have had the experience of serving with Turkish troops in Somalia, in the Balkans or now today in Afghanistan.
Only a nation of great courage could manage successfully to sit at the crossroads of so many contending international forces as Turkey has done through the crises of the Cold War and those that have followed. And only a nation of great tolerance could serve as a beacon to others.
It is a long history, going back at least 500 years to 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Spain, and the Ottoman Sultan welcomed them into his lands, supposedly having said, "In impoverishing Spain, [Ferdinand and Isabella] have enriched Turkey." And for several hundred years, the Sephardic Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire enjoyed a far greater level of freedom and esteem than did Jewish communities in other parts of Europe.
During the period of the Nazis when Jews were being expelled from other countries in Europe, Turkey once again welcomed Jews—and other dissidents—into the country.
More carping about the Battle of Manzikert, I see. Groan. When was that, 1071? I swear, the grudge against Turkey felt by some Hellenophiles at this forum never ceases to amaze me. It's like reading a history of the US Civil War that starts out "When the Yankees invaded America..."
Nick the Greek, you have been misinforming people on this website about Greece. You stated that Turkey recognized the USSR, yes but Greece WELCOMED the communists in.
The Turks have long been enemies and allies throughout European history, and have always been honorable. The Ottoman Empire was amongst the most organized dissolutions of Empire then I have ever recalled.
I am of Eastern European descent, I am interested in my history but will hardy martyr myself for it. You claim that you are "the birthplace" of western thought. That does not give you the right to dictate terms to us. You burn our flag and spit at us, 50% of the USA is like me. You should remember that when you cast doubt on our allies while your own behavior is far worse. If I am not mistaken, Greece annexed Istanbul and some of the European part of Turkey. Turkey has seen many empires in its history, I thought Ataturk(I do not know the honorific, excuse me.), worked out a perfect solution and was the first country to break out of the restrictive Treaty.
NOw, having worked with both Turkish and Greek Froces in Desert Storm I can assure anyone that the Greek Forces are too violent and unstable. We did not have ONE incident with the Turkish forces.
A group of Greek Businessmen I know go to Greece every year. You know what? Soon after Sept 1th, there was a soccer game in Greece and the American flag was burned on Greek TV. Was it stopped? No, the whole crowd cheered and then they burned the Israeli flag. Disgusting.
What happened? About 200 AMERICANS cancelled thier trip. YEs, they were Greek, but they were disgusted.
I have never seen this behavior in Turkey, until I do, I can say get on the right side because US flag burning is not seen in a good light in the USA.
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