TURKISH JEWS LOBBY AGAINST ARMENIAN RESOLUTION
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
March 13 2007
A delegation of Turkish Jews lobbied against a resolution under
consideration in the U.S. Congress that would recognize the 1915
massacres of Armenians as genocide. The three-person delegation,
headed by Silvyo Ovadya, the president of the Turkish Jewish community,
attended this week’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy
conference and met with Jewish leaders as well as members of Congress.
Turkish diplomats have been unsuccessful in mustering broad community
support against the non-binding resolution proposed by Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-Calif.), who is Jewish and has a large Armenian constituency. A
number of Holocaust scholars have labeled the massacres, carried out
by Ottoman-era Turks, as a genocide and have called it a precursor
to the Holocaust. Ovadya said such considerations were best left to
historians, but claimed that politically the resolution would harm
relations between the United States and its closest Muslim ally.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
