Letters: Turkey risks its democracy
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Re “Turkish police launch assault on protesters,” June 16
It really is amazing that there are so many interpretations of “democracy” worldwide.
On one side we have Turkey, often called a model of democracy in the Muslim world, shooting water cannons and tear gas at people merely for calling for the resignation of their prime minister. On the other side we have Edward Snowden, who has very likely endangered America’s national security, and the president himself calls the debate over electronic surveillance that Snowden caused “healthy for our democracy.”
Yes, the hoarding of data by the National Security Agency is abhorrent, but the oppression going on in Turkey actually threatens democracy.
Therefore, maybe instead of acting as if freedom were free, we should look at the Turks and realize that even in a democratic country, active struggle is sometimes a responsibility of a people who desire their rights.
Tristan Navarro
Whittier
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