Dear Congressman Lynch,

The following is intended to comment on recent grave events emanating from Turkey. As is well known, the political situation in Turkey is less than stable. The failed Coup in July exposed the reality that Turkey has been neither democratic nor secular. This could be said of Turkey even before the rise to power of Recep Teyyip Erdogan in 2002. The post Coup era however should guarantee that Turkey no longer be considered an ally of the United States.

As of this writing, the Erdogan government has been threatening to destabilize the Middle East. Ankara is making unreasonable demands to participate in the liberation of Mosul. The major fight against the Islamic State has been carried out by the Kurds and the Iraqi Arabs. It is they who should win the support of the United States for their recent achievements against the Islamic State. Earlier this year, a report from Columbia University concluded that Turkey was supporting the Islamic State.

Erdogan is moving to revive traditional Turkish policies of expansionism at the expense of its neighbors. In 1922. Mustafa Kemal conquered the Greek liberated City of Smyrna and presided over the slaughter of its Armenian and Greek Christian inhabitants, while also taking over Greek territory in Eastern Thrace and the Black Sea region of Trebizond. Turkey’s modern history is one of ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians. In 1938, in one of his last acts before his death Mustafa Kemal engaged in a blatant act of aggression against Syria.

In 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and ethnically cleansed the occupied territories of 200,000 Greek Cypriots. There are those of us who have gotten very tired of the double standard surrounding Turkey. Turkey can engage in crimes against humanity and escapes all retribution under the pretense that Turkey is a democracy and an ally. Turkish contempt for the United States was demonstrated throughout the summer as a result of the tantrums thrown by President Erdogan and his numerous accusations against the United States.

It is time to rebuild policies toward the Middle East. This necessitates recognizing the Kurds as serious players in the region and considering their future. Considering their role in fighting the Islamic State, the Kurds must not only receive support, but should do so at the expense of Turkey. Turkey has been and remains a liability for the United States. It is an Islamic dictatorship that threatens security and stability not only in the Middle East but against neighboring Greece.

Erdogan has made comments suggesting that the Greek islands should have gone to Turkey and he has even raised the issue of  Turkish rights in the region of Western Thrace and the Northern Greek City of Thessalonika. These are the statements of an outright fanatic and a fascist. For too long, Greece and Cyprus have been bullied and pressured by the United States to make concessions to  the Turkish aggressor.

The once thriving Greek Orthodox community of the ancient City of Constantinople barely exists and the occupied territories of Cyprus have been completely cleansed of Greek Cypriots. All these human rights violations have been perpetrated by the American and NATO backed Turkish governments. In the end, Turkey has demonstrated what it really thinks of the United States.

I am an American of Greek descent and Orthodox Christian faith. I wish to raise the ongoing and historic injustices that have been perpetrated by the Turks. The opportunity has arisen for all parties involved, particularly the United States to be rid of this brutal  and unfriendly country once and for all. The United States should prepare the ground to disarm Turkey before this hostile and now firmly entrenched Islamist government can further disrupt the interests of the United States in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Theodore G. Karakostas