Apo, Selo, Kayyum

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:

As a humble but honorable citizen of the Republic of Turkey, I wish to address you from afar, as a modest columnist for a local internet newspaper in Iğdır:

For 20 years, you have directly governed our beautiful country as Prime Minister and President. In the midst of the crises and troubles of the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea, like a captain battling the enormous waves of the ocean, you have steered and continue to steer our glorious ship, named "Republic of Turkey," with fortitude and courage. Undoubtedly, you have taken your place in history as a world leader.

Dear Mr. President:

I am aware of your sincere approach to the Kurdish Issue. You gave the Solution Process a chance. However, you struggled to find interlocutors who would take your outstretched hand. I also believe in Mr. Bahçeli's good intentions on this matter, and I wholeheartedly wish for you to take the necessary steps for common sense to take root in our country once again.

Dear Mr. President:

While those who plot against Turkey are amassing forces in Alexandroupolis, and our enemies are racking their brains to use the "Kurdish Card," you too would appreciate that we need Turkish-Kurdish Strength and Unity more than ever during such a sensitive period.

Without the protection of the Turkish Sultan Nureddin, and without the emergence of Turkish-Kurdish Strength, it would not have been possible for the Kurdish Saladin to drive the Crusaders out of the Holy Lands. Without the 10,000 cavalrymen of the Marwanid Kurdish Principality, the Great Turkish Commander Alparslan might not have emerged victorious against the Byzantines. If the Turkish Yavuz Sultan Selim had not cooperated with the Kurdish Idris-i Bitlisi, he might not have been able to establish himself in Anatolia. Without the Kurdish Hamidiye Regiments and the people of Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep, we might not have achieved the desired outcome in our War of Independence. In Korea and Cyprus, Turkish-Kurdish strength and solidarity have made the nations of the world admire us.

Kurds have been experiencing a painful process since 1959. The 49ers Incident in 1959, the 55ers Incident in 1960, the 23ers Incident in 1963, the DDKO arrests in 1971, the young people, students, and intellectuals arrested in 1980 without distinction between guilty and innocent... Unsolved murders in the early 1990s... Only you can disperse this accumulated negative energy, these dark clouds.

Dear Mr. President:

We have entered an election period. We need Turkish-Kurdish solidarity and unity more than ever. As we commemorate the anniversary of the July 15 Resistance and Epic, I believe that as spiritual heirs of Mevlana, full of human love, of the magnanimous Fatih Sultan Mehmet, and of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who said "Peace at Home, Peace in the World," and by following their path, Your Excellency must now take a great step.

To forgive, whatever their crimes, is greatness, it is virtue. I wish for you to issue a special amnesty for Abdullah Öcalan, Selahattin Demirtaş, and the mayors imprisoned due to trustee appointments, and to initiate a new era. Let the longed-for Turkish-Kurdish strength shake itself off and rise again to strike fear into enemies, let Turkish-Kurdish power and unity from Central Asia to Europe be reinforced under the leadership of Turkey and yourself.

Every great decision belongs to its owner. We, ordinary citizens, can only wish for this noble and courageous step you will take. Know that your successes are our successes.

Sincerely,

Mücahit Özden Hun