Karma strikes Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Oz has always been a man of many homes (ten to be exact) and many faces, both Turkish and American. Today, he dismisses concerns about his dual citizenship as unfair and an accident of birth. This just reflects his arrogance as he assumes his audience is no smarter than the average Imam Hatip graduate or consumer of the snake oil products he long sought to sell.
After all, he voluntarily returned to Turkey for military service in order to maintain his Turkish citizenship, and then voted in Turkish elections. While the majority of Turkish Americans fall on the more secular side of Turkey’s political spectrum, Oz embraced the Cuneyt Zapsu approach: He either did not recognize how intolerant, Islamist, and corrupt Recep Tayyip Erdogan or, more likely, just wanted his share of the spoils.
Karma does not like such cynicism, and karma is about to strike Oz hard. While Oz may run in my birth state of Pennsylvania, his residence of choice is New Jersey. Indeed, he voted in New Jersey until last year.
The United States maintains not only a volunteer army, but also a robust National Guard program. There is a domestic component to this program, and an international one. Every state’s National Guard unit partners with at least one country. Now that the United States has lifted its military embargo of Cyprus, the U.S. National Guard can drill with the Cypriot National Guard. The Pentagon has assigned Oz’s lifelong home state of New Jersey to be partner to Cyprus.
Now Oz may say he is Pennsylvanian, but that is like saying northern Cyprus is part of Turkey. Such confusion over states, borders, and geography seem a uniquely Turkish disease.
Perhaps, after Oz loses and he returns to his home state, he can focus his medical inquiry into why so many Turkish nationalists get so confused by maps. And, perhaps, as a patriotic American albeit one who voluntarily rallies for a foreign dictator, he can cheer on his New Jersey friends and neighbors as they work to strengthen Cyprus’ defense against all international aggressors.
Michael Rubin is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a proud native of Pennsylvania.
