*By Theodore Karakostas

The following letter is in response to the commentary, “Turkey’s Wild Elections” by Jude Russo (April 4). Mr. Russo is completely wrong in describing Turkish President Erdogan as a “moderate Islamist”.

This entire commentary reads like the traditional neoconservative propaganda that was common during the days of Turkey’s Kemalist era. Indeed, Turkey under Erdogan continues to be favored by the foreign policy establishment that includes liberal internationalists and neoconservatives alike.

Columbia University published an entire report documenting Turkey’s support for the Islamic State. President Erdogan ordered the conversion of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Hagia Sophia into a Mosque despite international protests by secular historians and Christians alike. More seriously, the Erdogan government has imported jihadists from Syria and Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh where the Turks helped their Azeri allies slaughter Armenian Christians.

The government of President Erdogan has repeatedly threatened to invade Greece and to seize the Greek islands. What sort of “moderate Islamist” is this? Despite this, the Biden administration continues to arm Turkey despite its bloody and genocidal policies against the Armenians and the Kurds in Syria. The Syrian Kurds fought with the United States against the Islamic State and were subsequently sacrificed in order to appease the murderous and bloodthirsty Erdogan regime.

Mr. Russo’s “moderate Islamist” has threatened to fire a missile into Athens and Turkish officials openly discuss on Turkish television their plans to invade and seize the Greek islands. Everything that Mr. Russo says about President Erdogan is demonstrably false.

Theodore Karakostas, ΙΗΑ member
Boston, MA USA

---

Τα άρθρα που δημοσιεύονται στην ιστοσελίδα του ΙΗΑ εκφράζουν αποκλειστικά τους συγγραφείς – μέλη του ΙΗΑ. Η ιστοσελίδα του ΙΗΑ δεν λογοκρίνει, ούτε επεμβαίνει σε άρθρα – κείμενα των μελών του ΙΗΑ

---

International Hellenic Association