Cemil Ozyurt

Stop Lobbying, Start Writing a Letter!

Cemil Ozyurt
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“Honorable Senator, in the eve of coming elections, we kindly ask you to reconsider your promises one more time before you make any decisions that would upset Turkish Americans. Your support for the Armenian genocide claims deeply upsets us. We have been America’s best friend and ally. We fought side by side in Korea and during the Gulf War…”

November 15, 2004
Published in TOA Authors

Get Over It!

Cemil Ozyurt
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I don’t know whether it emanates from our educational system or our interest in being superior, but we live in another dimension in Turkey. We consider ourselves to be living in the most beautiful country of the world and repeatedly claim that we have the best landscape, the best beaches, and the best food.

June 15, 2004
Published in TOA Authors

The Anatolian "Melting Pot"

Cemil Ozyurt
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There’s an old lady in our neighborhood. She’s probably around eighty. Every time I pass in front of their door, I ask her how she is. I can see her happiness when she hears me speak Turkish. She seems to have a craving for a passerby or an acquaintance saying hello.

April 15, 2004
Published in TOA Authors

Good Old 'Foreign Forces'

Cemil Ozyurt
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When I was an elementary school student, politicians, ordinary citizens and academicians, whose opinions were asked on state television, would all talk about theories in which “foreign forces” were involved. Every time I heard this argument, I used to visualize men behind masks, holding automatic guns, conspiring to weaken our beautiful country!