TURKISH JEWS SEND LETTER ON ARMENIAN RESOLUTION

Jewish Telegraphic Agency, NY
April 18 2007

Jewish groups are relaying to the U.S. Congress a letter from the
Turkish Jewish community advocating against a resolution that would
commemorate the Armenian genocide.

The non-binding resolution, which is being pushed by Rep. Adam
Schiff (D-Calif.) — a Jewish congressman with a substantial Armenian
constituency — is encountering fierce Turkish resistance. A delegation
of top Turkish parliamentarians is meeting with top administration
and congressional officials this week to warn that the resolution
would harm Turkish-American relations.

Turkey is America’s closest Muslim ally and maintains close relations
with Israel. Turkey is a harsh critic of Israel’s treatment of the
Palestinians, but bristles when Israeli politicians suggest that the
killing of Armenians in World War I was genocide.

The Turkish delegation also met with U.S. Jewish leaders, as did a
Turkish Jewish delegation last month. Turks want Jewish groups to
advocate against Schiff’s resolution, but only one group, the Jewish
Institute of National Security Affairs, has done so.

Other Jewish groups, mindful of the history of Holocaust revisionism,
do not want to deny Armenians the opportunity to commemorate their
own genocide, which Israeli researchers have said was a precursor to
the Holocaust. So in a compromise, the American Jewish Committee,
Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International will relay
the Turkish Jewish letter to Congress later this week, but will not
necessarily endorse it.

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