Dr. Oz Pulls out the Race Card as Critics Highlight His Continuous Allegiance to Turkey
If we only listened to Dr Mehmet Oz, we might believe he's being called a radical Islamic terrorist or Turkish double agent. But if we look at the facts, his connections to Turkey are very concerning.
If you ever want to sniff out a Democrat in Republican clothing, give them an opportunity to play the race card. No matter how hard a leftist tries to play conservative, they can never resist a chance to be the victim in a race-based exchange. It's a compulsion, and Dr. Mehmet Oz took the bait.
Ever since his history with his beloved Turkey started getting questioned a few months ago, supporters of Oprah's doctor have claimed that he's a proud American, first and foremost. But as more details emerge, we're learning that his allegiance to the United States may be superficial with his true heart of hearts stuck in Turkey.
To combat this, Dr. Oz went after critics by calling them bigoted. According to Washington Examiner:
Oz’s opponents have gone after him on a host of issues, with his rivals in recent weeks recently taking aim at his Turkish dual citizenship. But he dismissed the criticisms as a “bigoted” attempt to distract from more substantive policy issues, adding that it isn’t a problem that voters have brought up to him.
“It's the classic kind of a bigoted attack that just is, I think, it's a bomb thrown out there to distract people from what the candidate is really trying to say,” he said.
Dr. Oz claims that he only maintains dual citizenship to help his mother with Alzheimer's. But there have been far more engagements with Turkish businesses and the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that have patriots concerned. If it were just his dual citizenship, that likely wouldn't be a major issue. But he has put more effort into being active in Turkish politics and advancing Turkey's agenda than he has with the United States. Also, wouldn't it behoove both him and his mother to bring her to the United States for better treatment?
A well-sourced article by AND Magazine is definitely worth the read. According to the article:
Oz’s parents were from Turkey. They did not immigrate to the United States. They came here for a period of time while Oz’s father worked as a physician at hospitals in the United States. Oz was born during this time and acquired American citizenship as a result. His parents subsequently returned to Turkey.
Oz retains his Turkish citizenship to this day. While he never felt compelled to serve in the United States military Oz did make a point of serving his mandatory time as a Turkish citizen in the Turkish Army. He did so to ensure that he retained his Turkish citizenship and fulfilled his obligations to that nation.
In 2018 records indicate that Oz did not bother to vote in the primary election in New Jersey where he was living. During the same time period, though, Oz arranged to go into the Turkish consulate in 2018 to cast his vote in the ongoing Turkish election.
Oz’s ties to Turkey are not just technical. He has deep political and economic ties as well. He has met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who since his election has displayed strong authoritarian tendencies and steered the nation in an overtly Islamic direction. Oz has also met with a number of other leaders of Erdogan’s political party as well. These include the Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül, who stood arm-in-arm with the TV doctor during a 2019 parade in Brooklyn, New York. Less than a year earlier Gül had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for leading "an entity that has engaged in … serious human rights abuses," including the unjust detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson.
Oz has a personal stake in Turkish state-business interests. In 2011 he was elected to the High Advisory Council of the World Turkish Business Council (DTİK), the international business-lobbying arm of Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board. In 2019 Oz spoke at a DTIK conference in New York City. The co-host of this event was Gunav Evinch. Evinch is a foreign agent of the Turkish government who collects information on Turkish political opponents of Turkish President Erdogan inside the United States. Evinch also represented Erdogan’s bodyguards when they were criminally charged for attacking anti-Erdogan protesters in Washington, D.C.
Since at least 2017, the celebrity surgeon has served as a spokesman for Turkish airlines a state-owned enterprise. Many of the key figures in the airline are close political allies of Erdogan and his oppressive regime.
Oz has strong connections to the Turkish American National Steering Committee and the Diyanet Center of America. Both of these organizations are extensions of the Turkish state and push President Erdogan’s agenda inside the United States. The Diyanet Center is a massive Islamic religious center near Washington, D.C. It pushes pro-Erdogan propaganda, and its sermons are reportedly approved by and in some cases prepared by the Turkish government. The mosque Oz attends in New Jersey is subordinate to this center and is controlled by the Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
It all seems very damning and the kind of baggage that will follow him through the general election if he's nominated. Democrats have always been better at highlighting the negatives of their Republican opponents than GOP primary competitors have been. They will do a much better job of casting doubt on Dr. Oz's true allegiance. If he wins the primary, his entire history as a supporter and sycophant of a very anti-American regime will be broadcast to the people of Pennsylvania daily.
One of the reasons Republicans haven't attacked Dr. Oz on this issue nearly as much as they should have is fear over being called what Dr. Oz is currently calling them. The "bigot" label is arguably the worst thing in the minds of many Republican candidates. It's an irrational fear, but one that has proven to be hard to overcome. Ask Steve King.
Democrats do not have to worry about such things because corporate media would never call a Democrat a bigot.
The AND Magazine article continues by demonstrating they are not making a bigoted attack against Dr. Oz:
Let’s be clear. There is no subtext here. The fact that Oz is Muslim and his parents are from Turkey is not intended to suggest that he is a jihadist or Islamic extremist. Such accusations would be absurd.
What the facts outlined above, do show clearly, though, is that Oz is a man who appears to think of the United States more as a place to make cash than his country. His singular focus seems to be on discharging his responsibilities to Turkey and maintaining his connections to an authoritarian regime whose foreign policy is increasingly at odds with that of the United States. For a man who aspires to hold a seat in the world’s most powerful deliberative body, the U.S. Senate, this is more than a little disturbing.
Read the whole piece. It's enlightening.
There was a time not too long ago when being an American patriot was a primary attribute for a Republican candidate. Dr. Oz is smashing that notion, falling off the GOP patriotism wagon and dragging an awful lot of his Republican supporters with him.
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Another good reason to detest Oz and hope he never gets elected. The more we learn, the more reasons to realize Oz is not a good choice. Reminds me of Talib and Omar, radical members in the House who shouldn’t even be able to run much less win election.
How many duel (or more0 citizens of the US have been voted into the US Senate?