Dear President Donald Trump,  Senators, Congress Representatives, Governor of New Jersey

Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Washington D.C. on May 15-16, 2017 where he met with you in the White House. Later that day Mr. Erdogan also visited the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C. and during this visit dozens of Kurdish protesters demonstrated against Erdogan’s continual brutal crackdown on the over 20 million Kurds who reside within Turkey.

 As a result, an organization that calls itself the Turkish American Security Foundation has started a campaign requesting the deportation of a Kurdish woman and student named Ceren Borazan. Ceren is currently living in New Jersey and was among the dozens of protesters who were brutally assaulted by Turkish Presidential security at the peaceful demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C. during the visit of the Mr. Erdogan. In fact, she still suffers injuries from their brutal attack to this day.

 Sir, esteemed Madams and Gentlemen; peaceful demonstrations are a fundamental right of all citizens in the U.S. and according to the American Civil Liberties Union, democratic rights to conduct a peaceful protest is “critical to a functioning democracy and at the core of the First Amendment.”

However, what the Turkish President’s guards did in D.C. was a terrorist act in itself, conducted on a foreign soil. The Turkish state has consistently used the pre-text of “terrorism” against any individual, Kurd, or human rights activist standing up against their tyranny. Thankfully the U.S. public and the Government have now seen in Washington D.C. who the real terrorists are.

 Ceren Borazan is not a U.S. citizen; she is holding a student visa. However, Turkish groups are now attacking her right of free speech based on her social media accounts, claiming that she is a terrorist because she has spoken out for Kurdish human rights and dignity within Turkey. Thus, it is our hope that U.S. Government officials will take the necessary steps to protect her safety, and for the prosecution of those Turkish security thugs who attacked peaceful few demonstrators like Ceren, in order to keep everyone in America safe.

Sincerely,

Canadian Friends  of Kurdistan on behalf of concerned humanity