The Politics of the Poppy

ON JULY 1, 1974, the Turkish government announced that the cultivation of the poppy, forbidden since June 1971, was to resume. This measure had the support of all Turkish political parties and certainly of the POPPY farmers whose traditional mode of earning a living had been disrupted by the ban. It was, in effect, a national mandate.

In America, the response was predictably negative. Politicians had a field day. Editorials called for economic sanctions against Turkey. Columnists like Jack Anderson pontificated solemnly. Others like the superdove of Vietnam, Pete Hamill, called for bombing of the poppy fields.

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Nickolas Lupinin

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ON JULY 1, 1974, the Turkish government announced that the cultivation of the poppy, forbidden since June 1971, was to resume. This measure had the support of all Turkish political parties and certainly of the POPPY farmers whose traditional mode of earning a living had been disrupted by the ban. It was, in effect, a national mandate.

In America, the response was predictably negative. Politicians had a field day. Editorials called for economic sanctions against Turkey. Columnists like Jack Anderson pontificated solemnly. Others like the superdove of Vietnam, Pete Hamill, called for bombing of the poppy fields.