I’d like to protest the infamous, two-faced policy of our State Department with regard to former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, even as he is condemned by the entire world community. By not subscribing to the international initiative to prosecute Pinochet, the U.S. commits an injustice that brings to mind the disgraceful days when the CIA overthrew and killed the democratically elected Chilean President Salvador Allende, and choked off his democratic movement.
Exactly the same goes on today in Turkey, my birthland, where 20 million Kurds have no schools and no right to speak their language or a single representative in the Turkish parliament. Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan a few days ago was granted asylum by Italy, but our State Department wants him sent back to Turkey for trial as a terrorist. Mercifully, the Italian government so far is resisting the strong pressure by the U.S.
With such morally confused policies, the U.S. cannot expect to retain its position of world leadership.
