November 22, 2017

Who really cares in the world about what’s happening in Turkey? Who really knows?

Aydogan Vatandas

Compassion has many faces. But the absolute universal truth about it is that compassion is not a luxury necessity. Without it, humanity cannot survive.

It is not only humanity actually but it is all species on the planet that can’t survive without compassion and empathy.

The most wondrous thing in the world is that all around us people can be dying suffering from all kinds of pains and we don’t realize it can happen to us.

We never forgot the Syrian baby pictured washed up on a Turkish beach who became a symbol of the refugee crisis. But people continue to die in the Aegean seas.

A Turkish family of five drowned in Aegean Sea yesterday as they were trying to flee from the persecution in Turkey.

The bodies recently found by Greek authorities on Lesvos island belong to Turkish man Hüseyin Maden, who was affiliated with the Gülen movement, and his family members.

Three of them were little children.

They had hope to start a new life with their parents in a new country that they have never seen.

Why do they flee their country?

Well, no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.

Many people tried to escape Turkey via illegal ways as Turkish government cancelled their passports like thousands of others.

The global response to the ongoing persecutions in Turkey against the Gulen followers since 2013 corruption probe which targeted the Erdogan Government has just been an utter disaster.

Here is the link of the full report appalling facts behind the death of Gökhan Açıkkollu, a 42-year-old history teacher who died after enduring 13 days of torture and abuse. (https://stockholmcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Tortured-to-death-holding-gokhan-acikkollus-killers-to-account_report_21.11.2017.pdf)

President Barack Obama signed the Magnitsky Act in December 2012 as a retaliation against the human rights abuses suffered by Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian accountant who found dead in his cell in a prison in Moscow. The law at first blocked 18 Russian government officials and businessmen from entering the United States, froze any assets held by U.S. banks and banned their future use of U.S. banking systems. The act was expanded in 2016, and now sanctions apply to 44 suspected human rights abusers worldwide. The act was recently signed by Canada, many E.U members and Great Britain.

Why don’t the same Governments see that what’s happening in Turkey is worse than what happened in Russia?

There are lots of stories like that from Turkey and here is the link of another one: (https://stockholmcf.org/severe-post-coup-tortures-by-ali-tuksen-a-founder-of-turkeys-new-party-exposed/)

With compassion, courage and understanding, we can walk side by side and support one another.

Who really cares in the world about what’s happening in Turkey? Who really knows?

Published on The Huffington Post, 21 November 2017, Tuesday