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March 3, 1999

Letters Editor
The Boston Globe
P.O. 2378
Boston, MA 02107-2378

Dear Mr. Greenway:

The editorial "Greece's Contrary Conduct" (Boston Globe of February 26) turns the Addullah Ocalan case on its head. Over the past 15 years the Turkish military has killed over 25,000 Kurds, death squads have assassinated hundreds of Kurdish leaders, scorched earth military tactics have resulted in the destruction of 3,000 villages and have caused the displacement of 3 million Kurds from their homes.

In as far as any outside power can be implicated in this horror story, it is not Greece but, sadly, the U.S. as American arms are the weapons used by Turkey to carry out its attacks on its Kurdish minority and to deny its own citizens, Kurds and non-Kurds alike, the basic standards of justice that we take for granted in this country.

To deflect international opinion from this grisly story, Turkey has resorted to the classic device of totalitarian propagandists by seeking to blame others. You have cooperated in Turkey's game by citing flimsy allegations against Greece emanating from what is almost certainly a torture chamber. This is like citing a "confession" from the Soviet gulag in defense of the communist system.

Greece's commitment to anti-terrorism is not in doubt. What is in doubt is a commitment by the Globe to human rights and decent, civilized treatment for the Kurds.

Incidentally, your editorialists obviously have an historical bent vis-à-vis Greece and Turkey. Something else they could have mentioned is that during the two world wars of this century, Greece fought alongside the U.S. while Turkey was on Germany's side in World War 1 and actively collaborated with the Third Reich, thereby prolonging World War II by several months.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSincerely,

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEugene T. Rossides

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