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IT IS HIGH TIME TO DECIDE-
Tomorrow is an important day for the US-Turkey relations.President Donald Trump will call our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.Why is it important? The two leaders have spoken face to face twice and three times on the phone so far since President Donald Trump took office about a year ago.During the same period of time President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with President Putin of Russian Federation seven times and spoke to each other thirteen times on the phone.On the other hand our trade with Russia is about thirty five billion dollars while with the US it is approximately only one half of that.
Today is also the fourth day for''Operation Olive Branch''.Turkish Armed Forces have moved towards Afrin city in North Western part of Syria.The southeastern borders of my country have been under continuous threat since 1984.The aim of this operation is to provide freedom for the Syrian citizens of Afrin as well as securing our borderline with Syria.Our longest borderline is with Syria which is 911 kilometers.We have provided shelter,food,education, hospitilization and jobs for our Syrian neighbours and so far have paid more than thirty billion dollars since 2011 and the only reimbursement has been some two billion dollars so far from the international community.The PKK Terrorist organization backed by some western countries have cost more than fourty thousand lives in my country since 1984.As you know Turkey has been part of the Nato Alliance since1952.Even though the US and Turkey have been on opposite alliances in the first world war historically both countries have not fired on each other because they were fighting on different fronts.That is why our President specially asked his counterpart to bring down the American flags in and around Afrin otherwise it would not be nice to shoot down the flags of a Nato ally.
Therefore how can you justify Turkey having less trade with her Nato ally?How can you forget all those years of the Cold War days when two thirds of the Nato Alliance and Warsaw Pact boundries was formed by Turkish frontiers.We have paid and still keep paying our tax payers money to sustain the second largest Nato Armed Forces army since 1952.Turkish Armed Forces is about ten times bigger in numbers than the British Armed forces.It is second only to the US Armed Forces in size.
Our Nato ally the US has sent some 5000 truck loads of ammunition and 2000 plane loads of heavy equipment to PYD;extension of the PKK guerrillas in the last several years.Their objective was such that this terrorist group of Kurdish background was fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.Just do some research in the internet to see how Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden in time evolved into ISIS and starting in 1979 with the invasion of Afghanistan by Russia and how the CIA funded Taliban and their leader Bin Laden who later on turned against America after Saddam invaded Kuwait.Italians have a saying ''Rome was not built in one day''.Now America with all these arms being sent to a terror group is asking Turkey not to over extend this operation''Olive Branch''.That is why our president has asked his American counterpart ''when will you leave Afghanistan and Iraq''.Therefore it is high time that I would like to warn our American friends to make a U turn and collaborate with their Nato ally rather than a terrrorist organization.You can not fight with terror collaborating with a terror group.But as one can see with the next video if our Nato Ally has committed such crimes in the Middle East then we should talk ''Cold Turkey'' and readjust all our policies.
The video I would like to share with you next was recorded on April 28,2016 at 11:38 am ET.The American Senator Lindsey Graham is questioning Secretary Ashton B.Carter and General Joseph Dunford consecutively.It was twenty one months ago that the US Senator was blaming the American policy for almost losing Turkey as an ally.The gravity of this misconduct on the part of the US politics has increased when Turkey two and a half months later than this recorded questioning;faced its worst coup attack and invasion plans masterminded by the Fetö terror organization whose head still lives in Pennsilvania since 1999.For the record during the night of July 15 ,2016 coup attempt 251 of our citizens have been martyred and 2092 were wounded.Another U turn opportunity is available between our countries when tomorrow our Presidents will talk to each other one more time:Return the head of this Fetö group as of tomorrow to face trial in Türkiye and let us all start fresh with a new chapter for a lasting peace between our countries.
It is very much like when the US government wanted Edward Snowden's return from Russia and this demand was rejected please emphatise how most Americans felt despised at the time is very similar to how the general public in Türkiye feels like right now over the return of Fethullah Gülen.Now I leave you with the video so you can decide.!
The next video will also help you to understand why it is high time tomorrow to make a historical marker stone in order to reach a more peaceful tomorrow.We need allies whose promises we can count on.!
I dedicate this blog to all my international friends with love and respect for each others feelings.
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Sapanca,Türkiye 23 January 2018-23.55 local time
The next video was sent to me by my wife,Özlen Eroğlu this morning and it definitely shows you the atmosphere in the Turkish freed; safe zone of Syria.The future generations of Turkey and Syria soon will have a better future to look forward to Inshallah.
Sapanca,Türkiye 24 January,2018 12:37 local time.
The next video link was just sent to me by a colleague.I would like to thank her for her contribution to this blog.She has been around as long as I have been in the Tourism sector.Thank you ''Küçük Ayşe''.
Inspirational teachers change lives.The question to be or not to be:How much of your glass of Turkish tea is full?
As I watched this video I tried to remember all my students I had in the last forty-five years.When I see them somewhere and they greet me I may not remeber their names but I still can remeber their faces and the times we spent together so then I try to express my gratitude to Allah for all the blessings He had provided.In the Islamic culture there is a belief:When a Muslim person dies his/her book of deeds will be closed.As he/she can not commit anymore sins the section of the book where the sins were recorded will be tallied up and will be ended however the section where the good works were recorded will stay open so that if the deceased had children who after their parents had passed away will remember them in their prayers and pray to Allah for the forgiveness of their parents sins then that will be credited to the parents good deeds.The same situation is true with students who will pray for the forgiveness of the sins of their deceased teachers.Last but not the least if someone had done good works for the community like building schools,hospitals,librearies and mosques with their own financing then those people who will use and benefit from those facilities will say a prayer and ask forgiveness for the donor then that will also be recorded as a good deed for the donor alive or deceased.
To all my past guests with whom I travelled through Türkiye in the last fifty one years here is an answer to your questions:You asked me several times whenever we would see a fountain in the middle of nowhere on the road and you asked me who had built it and why was it built at that location my answer was it was done for ‘’charity’’ and whoever benefits from it his/her prayers will be credited to the donor.
Sapanca,Türkiye,24 January 2018-13:13 local time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=N0ITDwZZU7s