Letters on Turkey’s purge, a great nation, police support
Turkey’s president leading a purge
If you’ve been listening to the news from Turkey, you know that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is asking the United States to deport Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is a sickly older man who is a brilliant scholar and a Martin Luther King Jr. type of visionary who is inviting the world’s religions to come together and lead us toward peace through dialogue and friendship, charity and caring. I nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.
What is happening in Turkey is that a rogue dictator is shutting down dissent and making a scapegoat of people who criticize him. Gulen is a man with a message the world needs in this era of radical extremists and too many fanatics with access to dirty bombs and military weapons and sleeper cells that feed their paranoia. Please do not extradite him, President Obama.
Look at the thousands of judges and teachers Erdogan has arrested and imprisoned. It is astounding and very frightening. Turkey has been on a road toward democracy. Those who advocate dialogue, charity and education are not the problem in this world but are all of our hope.
Gretchen Eick, Wichita
America still great
As an American citizen, and at the ripe old age of 81, I find it hard to believe that one candidate can say he will make America richer, safer and greater. How can he promise these things when 90 percent of the American people are smarter than he is?
We must all stand tall and never believe in the promise of a great wall. We must not be divided, as we are still a great nation, and a great American family.
Rose Organ, Wichita
Grateful to police
When Operation Save America asked its supporters to come to Wichita, telling them “Let’s finish this,” Trust Women Foundation and Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center prepared for the worst and hoped for the best.
So did the Wichita Police Department, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the many other law enforcement agencies that worked together to ensure a peaceful week of protests.
Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay showed inspiring leadership and vision every step of the way, and I am grateful for his attention to everyone’s safety.
I would like to thank every law enforcement officer who helped protect our patients, our staff, our neighborhood and our community. We appreciated the proactive approach the Police Department and other agencies took in the months before the so-called Summer of Justice, which concluded without incident July 23. The professionalism shown to everyone at Trust Women and South Wind was impressive.
Julie A. Burkhart, Wichita
CEO, Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center
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This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on Turkey’s purge, a great nation, police support."