ADOT is a non-profit organization with a vision to promote the Turkish heritage, history, culture, art, business, job and political alliance and help the Turkish-American community adapt to life in the United States, and to defend the civil rights of Turks against defamation during their life in America.
Bu organizasyon; 25'e yakın Türk akademisyen, mühendis, doktor ve işadamlarının biraraya gelmesiyle kurulmustur. Bu organizasyonun amacı Amerikada yaşayan tüm Türklerin ve Türk dostlarının arasında iletişim ağını kurarak Amerikadaki ve dünyadaki tüm Türk ve Türk dostu dernekler ve organizasyonlar arasında ki dayanışmayı ve işbirliğini sağlamaktır. "Dünya üzerindeki tüm Türkleri Türk düşmanlığına karşı mücadele etmek ve tek bir güç olmak için bu organizasyon çatısı altında toplanmaya veya işbirliğine ve en önemlisi gelecek nesillerimizin güvenliği için göreve cağırıyoruz. Türk düşmanlığıyla mücadele etmek her Türk'ün görevidir"| AMERICAN VIEWS OF TURKS |
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AMERICAN VIEWS OF TURKS Undoubtedly, American views of Turks are significantly effected by the actions of the Armenian-American and Greek-American communities. Not only do they mislead Americans and defame Turks, but actions that affect academia and public education also inhibit Americans from learning both sides of historical controversies. Currently American public schools teach next to nothing about Turks or Turkey aside from the Crusades and mentioning the Ottoman involvement in World War I on the side of the Germans. The movie “Gallipoli” is shown in class to teach about the Battle of Gallipoli, emphasizing that Turks were “the enemy” and never mentioning that in fact it was the Allies who were invaders. Should Armenian efforts to introduce “Armenian Genocide” education be successful, not only will a very one-sided view of history be presented, but Americans will be yet again be sent the message that Turks are wicked and brutal. Even as a middle school student at Clark Middle School, Lexington, Massachusetts from 1987-1990, the author of this article was taunted by other children by being called a “murderer” of “2 million Armenians.” A populace uneducated about Turks and Turkey such as the general American population is also very influenced by the media and the press. News reports from Turkey are almost exclusively about disasters, instability in the government, terrorist bombings, or disparaging reports about the Army’s battle with the PKK that accuse the Turkish Army of slaughtering innocent Kurds. The author has personally met Americans who think that Turkey is a dictatorship, or an Islamic state – they are in shock when told that Turkey is in fact a secular democracy, that Turks do not run around in turbans, that they do not speak Arabic, and that Turkish is written with a Latin script. And films like the “Midnight Express” have tremendously influenced Americans to fear both Turks and Turkey, and has been a major source of prejudice against Turks [30]. To this day, there are still Americans who are afraid to go to Turkey lest they be arrested and go to a Turkish jail. In contrast, Americans who actually visit Turkey or have Turkish friends hold the exact opposite impression, describing Turkey as a wonderful place and Turkish people as very friendly and warm. Unfortunately, Turkish-American efforts to organize against the misinformation of the Armenian- and Greek-American lobbies has proven ineffective. Most individual Turks are more interested with their daily lives and do not want to spend valuable time arguing with “misguided, baseless accusations.” Those few Turks who are politically active in Turkish-American organizations and wish to fight Armenian allegations in Congress and the school board are very small in number when compared to the numbers of Armenians and Greeks. Sometimes, the Turkish-American community itself is divided by Turkish politics. Furthermore, Turkish organizations have much less financial resources than Armenian and Greek organizations, and Turks who do have money often prefer to donate it to cultural causes as opposed to political battles. For example, Turkish engineer and founder of Hittite Microwave, Dr. Yalçin Ayasli, established the Turkish Culture Foundation in January 2000, and in April 2001 donated $350,000 for the Ayasli Fund for Turkish Language Studies at the University of Chicago [31]. The Turkish-American aversion to politics is also evident by the fact that they have virtually no members in government, politics, or journalism. Nevertheless, Turkish-Americans continue to be highly successful in their professional lives, with well known members in fields such as science, engineering, music, and business. Dr. Kenan Sahin founded Kenan Systems, now part of Lucent Technologies. Nesuhi and Ahmet Ertegün became millionaires after founding the Atlantic Recording Corporation in the late 1940s and became high placed executives in Warner Communications. Scores of Turks are well known professors in various areas of science, engineering, and medicine. Even David Chokachi, one of the lead actors in the TV series “Baywatch” is half-Turkish from his father’s side. Thus, the increasing number of 2nd and 3rd generation Turks as well as continued immigration from Turkey will not only make the Turkish community more well established, but will also increase America’s understanding of Turks, and contribute to America’s strength far into the future. |