Atatürkists, mullahs, and a strange diplomat

Retired Ambassador Selim Kuneralp, while criticizing the regime in Iran, stated, "I have difficulty understanding the affection that those who claim to be Atatürkists have for the mullahs." The Atatürkists of our country, in turn, have difficulty understanding the dimensions of this terrible ignorance regarding Atatürkism displayed by Kuneralp, a diplomat by heritage.

Why, you ask?

As an Atatürkist, a Kemalist, a Republican, and a member of the National Forces (Kuvayı Milliyeci), let us list the reasons point by point...

First, Selim Kuneralp is a senior diplomat. A career diplomat. He served in the Foreign Ministry for many years. His father, Zeki Kuneralp, was also an important diplomat. He represented Turkey in key capitals and served as an undersecretary at the ministry. Despite the fact that his father, Zeki Kuneralp, was the son of Ali Kemal (also known as Artin Kemal, a member of the Society of the Friends of England)—a journalist and writer known for his opposition to the War of Independence, who showered insults upon the National Forces and served as a minister in the Damat Ferit governments—he was able to begin his diplomatic career by the order of the President of the time, İsmet İnönü. When those who hesitated to hire him to the ministry due to his father—despite him having passed the exam—asked İsmet Pasha about the situation, the Pasha stated that no one could be held responsible for the actions of their father and that the Republic would hold no grudges against anyone, thus ensuring his appointment. Leaving aside other reasons, even for this alone, Selim Kuneralp, who should know and embrace Atatürk and Atatürkism very well, has clearly neither grasped the anti-imperialist character of Atatürkism nor understood Atatürk's principle of "Peace at home, peace in the world," which everyone—but especially Turkish diplomats (note: not diplomats from Turkey, but Turkish diplomats)—must know very well.

Second, crimes, responsibilities, and mistakes are personal and individual. This is not only a fundamental rule of law but also a fundamental moral principle. Therefore, Kuneralp cannot be blamed for his grandfather's treason. He cannot be criticized or judged for it. However, in Selim Kuneralp's diplomatic career, there is a political relationship that requires explanation—one that a Turkish diplomat should never have entered into—with Karen Fogg, the then-Head of the European Commission Delegation in Ankara. In her emails (which have also been published as a book: Doğu Perinçek, *Karen Fogg’un E-postalları*, Kaynak Yayınları, 2002), Fogg gives instructions to many names, including Kuneralp, as well as journalists and academics. Fogg, known for her hostility toward Atatürkists, Republicans, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the founding president of the TRNC and national hero Rauf Denktaş, was engaged in subversion and espionage activities against Turkey. There are people to whom she gave instructions, with whom she messaged in electronic environments, and to whom she paid royalties in exchange for their services. Kuneralp is among the names Fogg contacted, along with figures like Mehmet Altan, Cengiz Çandar, and Şahin Alpay. This list is long. The cadre is interesting. We recognize some of them from the FETÖ terrorist, treasonous, and murderous organization, and others as DEM Party deputies on the US quota.

Third, Selim Kuneralp, who is active on social media, prominent in high society, and a candidate for the audit board on one of the lists competing in the upcoming management elections at the Moda Deniz Club—which was founded in 1935 under the instruction of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk—does not understand that Atatürkists evaluate the regime in Iran and the anti-Atatürk mullahs separately from the imperialist attack on Iran. The rightful, legitimate objections and criticisms of the regime's opponents in Iran are one thing; the attacks of US imperialism and Israeli Zionism on Iran are another. While criticizing the regime in Iran and anti-imperialist Atatürkists, Kuneralp does not say a single word about US-Israeli aggression, barbarism, and banditry.

Fourth, the love and respect that the Pahlavis, father and son, had for Atatürk before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran cannot be a justification for Atatürkists to look with sympathy upon the monarchy, the dynasty, and the US-puppet administration in Iran.

Fifth, the majority of regime opponents in Iran distinguish between the regime and the state, the regime and the homeland, and the regime and the nation; they do not confuse them, and they defend their state, homeland, and nation in the face of imperialist aggression against their country. Clearly, Kuneralp has not understood this.

Sixth, Kuneralp has also not understood that Atatürkists in Turkey distinguish between the character of the regime in Iran, its anti-Atatürk stance, and its hostile attitudes toward Turkey—which have at times gone quite far—and the unjust, unlawful, and imperialist attacks on Iran.

Seventh, if the US and Israel achieve their goals in Iran, this situation will have very negative consequences for Turkey.

Eighth, supporting US-Israeli barbarism in the name of Atatürkism by using the regime in Iran as a pretext; supporting US-Israeli banditry in the name of nationalism by pointing to the Turks in Iran, who number over 30 million according to some sources and over 40 million according to others; or supporting US-Israeli aggression in the name of Sunnism by drawing attention to the fact that Iran is Shia, is to serve imperialism. It is not expected that someone of Kuneralp's caliber would fail to see this. However, as seen in Karen Fogg's messages, Kuneralp has no problem with imperialism. On the contrary, he thinks that democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law will be brought to Turkey and the Turkish Nation by European Union imperialism.

In conclusion, the great misfortune for our country is this: Kuneralp's Westernist, liberal, "fake republican" line is prevalent not only in the Foreign Ministry but also in politics, bureaucracy, academia, media, unions, professional organizations, and the publishing community (for example, İletişim Yayınları). A diplomat of the honorable Republic of Turkey, founded under the leadership of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a result of the victories on the battlefields and the bayonets of the National Forces, cannot be of this line. Instead of being a distinguished member of the Turkish Foreign Service, this line is the line of the late-period Ottoman grand viziers, ministers, and ambassadors who tried to receive praise from Western capitals.