Why I Became an American
When I first arrived in the United States, I had to adjust to a new language, new norms, and new traditions. But I was perhaps most stunned by a simple comment a teammate made. He criticized President Barack Obama, which I feared could have landed him in prison. He smiled and said: “This isn’t Turkey, brother. You have the freedom to say whatever you want.”
Americans might find the thought absurd, but the threat of prison is all too real for those living under in 2014, after more than a decade as prime minister, at least 12,881 people have been convicted of the crime of insulting the president. have been sent to prison, children, for offenses as trivial as posting something on social media that might hurt the feelings of an emotionally fragile dictator.
