June 19, 2002

The Honorable Jeb Bush
Governor of the State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001

Dear Governor Bush:

I write concerning a decision by Florida Atlantic University (FAU) to establish the Kenan Evren Eminent Scholar Chair in Turkish Studies. The decision to create a scholarly chair in honor of a Turkish military dictator who (1) ordered the illegal invasion of Cyprus in July 1974, (2) ordered the coup d'etat against the elected civilian government in September 1980, and (3) led the Turkish military's ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against its 20 percent Kurdish minority, is reprehensible.

The reported decision of Florida to contribute $400,000 towards a $1,000,000 endowment fund is unreasonable to say the least. We assume you and your staff were not aware of these facts, and we respectfully call on you to reverse this decision in the best interests of Florida.

A brief restatement of the facts might illuminate our deep concern over state money being used to fund this program. General Kenan Evren, the chief of the Turkish General Staff and head of Turkey's National Security Council, ordered the illegal invasion of and aggression against Cyprus on July 20, 1974 and the renewed aggression of August 14-16, 1974, three weeks after the legitimate government of Cyprus had been restored on July 23, 1974.

The European Commission of Human Rights, in its report of July 10, 1976, found Turkey guilty of violating the following articles of the European Convention of Human Rights:

1. Article 2—by the killing of innocent civilians committed on a substantial scale;
2. Article 3—by the rape of women of all ages from 12 to 71;
3. Article 3—by the inhuman treatment of prisoners and persons detained;
4. Article 5—by the deprivation of liberty with regard to detainees and missing persons‹a continuing violation;
5. Article 8—by the displacement of persons creating more than 170,000 Greek Cypriot refugees, and by refusing to allow the refugees to return to their homes‹a continuing violation;
6. Article 1 of the First Protocol of the Convention‹by deprivation of possessions, looting and robbery on an extensive scale.

On January 23, 1977, the London Sunday Times published excerpts of the report and stated: "It amounts to a massive indictment of the Ankara government for the murder, rape and looting by its army in Cyprus during and after the Turkish invasion of summer 1974."

The story of Turkey's brutality in the summer of 1974 has also been documented by such neutral sources as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others. These reports and judgments paint a chilling picture of a Turkish invasion and occupation which was designed to ethnically cleanse 170,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes and villages in the occupied areas of Cyprus. By August 16, 1974, the Turkish military had occupied some 37.3 percent of the nation, leading to large scale refugee flight, ethnic partitioning and vast property destruction. To this day, 28 years later, Turkey continues to occupy Cyprus and has sought to alter the ethno-demographic nature of the island by importing over 80,000 mainland Turkish settlers to occupy the land that was "cleansed" of its Greek Cypriot inhabitants. This tragic situation endures to this day, as 35,000 Turkish occupation troops maintain the forced partition of the last divided nation in Europe.

General Evren's deplorable conduct hardly ended in Cyprus. On the morning of September 12, 1980, General Evren led a coup d'etat against the elected civilian government of Suleyman Demirel. On September 20, 1980 General Evren acted to solidify the military's hold on the government by announcing that retired Admiral Bulent Ulusu would serve as interim Prime Minister of Turkey. Purportedly seeking to restore economic stability and end violence across the nation, "President" Evren proceeded to act with impunity as he arrested 32,537 individuals in the first four months after his coup d'etat. These facts are from the Turkish embassy website at www.turkey.org. Indeed many other sources, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, are far less polite in describing General Evren's brutal behavior.

In March 2000, a Turkish prosecutor indicted General Evren for seizing power in the 1980 coup. (Washington Times, March 30, 2000)

In 1984, during General Evren's dictatorial "presidency," the Turkish military launched a full-scale war of terror against its 12 million Kurdish population. Turkish forces killed over 30,000 innocent Kurdish civilians and according to the Turkish Ministry of Justice another 17,500 were killed since 1984 by extra-judicial assassinations. Reports by the State Department, World Policy Institute, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have highlighted Turkey's use of U.S. weapons in terrorizing Kurds. (See also "Turkey's Dream of Democracy" by Eric Rouleau, former French Ambassador to Turkey, in Foreign Affairs, November/December 2000, at 100.)

Based on these uncontested facts, I think you may understand our legitimate concern over state money being used to honor a man whose disdain for democracy was outweighed only by his utter disregard for the human rights and dignity of his own people and the Greek Cypriots. I would assume that you and the people of Florida, if aware of the facts, would strongly oppose your tax dollars being used to fund the Kenan Evren Eminent Scholar Chair in Turkish Studies.

Governor, we urge you to review the facts and reverse the decision to have $400,000 of state funds allocated to the Kenan Evren Eminent Scholar Chair in Turkish Studies at FAU. What would the reaction be if FAU were to announce a Fidel Castro Eminent Scholar Chair in Cuban Studies?

I am also writing to Dr. Anthony James Catanese, President of FAU, and sending him a copy of this letter. If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

[Signed],

Gene Rossides

cc: Dr. Anthony James Catanese