My response to the Cuban ambassador

In the wake of my previous piece in this column, "Why the Turkish left hates Erdoğan but loves Castro," the Cuban Ambassador to Turkey, Mr. González Casals, wrote an open letter to me and various other journalists.  It was quite critical, I must say, if not even furious. The Turkish press, especially that of the "Turkish left" I had criticized in the column, quoted the letter at large, so the ambassadors' views have become quite public. So I decided to write a response. 

The main accusation in the letter was that I was "disrespectful" to the Cuban people. Mr. Casals wrote:  
"The pain you cause to us with your words becomes double when you publish them at a very difficult time for Cubans. We do not want you to join the feeling of billions of people in the world, because we understand that you are one of those people who enjoy attracting attention by 'playing the different.' What we want is for you to show some respect." 

In fact, I had no intention to disrespect the Cuban people, and I don't think my piece had any such content. The only possible offense I may have caused was in calling the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro a "dictator." But I can name many other countries in the world whose leaders I would call "dictators," from Russia to Egypt. This would not count as "insults" to the good people of those countries. 

After all, "dictator" is a technical term. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as "a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force." As Mr. Casals pointed out, my knowledge about Cuba is indeed limited, but my impression is that the above definition does match with the political career of the late Fidel Castro.

Of course, there are more benign dictators in the world...