Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Aug 25 2007

ADL corrects `genocide’ mistake in letter, Erdoðan says

Saturday , 25 August 2007

The US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed regret over
debates centered on its recent decision to recognize Armenian claims
of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in a letter addressing
PM Recep Tayyip Erdoðan.

Foxman said in his letter that the ADL had huge respect for the
Turkish people and has never desired to put the Turkish people and
their leaders into a difficult situation, expressing deep regret over
what the Turkish people had to go through in the past few days since
it agreed to recognize the alleged genocide, reversing a long-held
policy, the Anatolia news agency said.Foxman also said the ADL would
continue to look for ways to improve relations with Turkey, lamenting
the fact that the latest debates strained ties between Turkey and the
ADL.

"The wrong step that has been taken is corrected," said Erdoðan in
subsequent comments to reporters. "They said they shared our
sensitivity and expressed the mistake they made. … They said they
will continue to give us all the support they have given so far," he
added.

In a statement published on its Internet site on Thursday, the ADL
said it was ready to support reconciliation efforts between Turks and
Armenians after it sent shockwaves through Ankara by recognizing
Armenian allegations of genocide earlier this week.

Reports in the Turkish media said the move followed a telephone
conversation between Erdoðan and Israeli President Shimon Peres on
Thursday. Erdoðan stressed the "futility" of the ADL decision to call
the events genocide in the conversation and Peres responded by saying
that Israel’s well-known position on the issue of genocide claims has
not changed. The Israeli prime minister also said Israel attached
great importance to relations with Turkey and promised to "advocate
Turkey’s position on the issue in the US."

Reports said Peres then called ADL National Director Foxman.

"We must encourage steps to create an atmosphere in which Armenia
will respond favorably to the several recent overtures of Turkey to
convene a joint commission to assist the parties in achieving a
resolution of their profound differences. We believe there are many
renowned historians, human rights activists and distinguished world
leaders who are willing to lend their knowledge, experience and
judgment to this cause. We know that earlier this year, Professor
Elie Wiesel and more than 50 of his fellow Nobel Laureates called for
concrete steps to be taken by Turkey and Armenia to find a way
forward to reach the goal of reconciliation, and that, last week,
Professor Wiesel reaffirmed his support for efforts to create a body
in which both Turkish and Armenian experts can come together to work
cooperatively in re-examining the shared past of both peoples. The
force and passion of the debate today leaves us more convinced than
ever that this issue does not belong in a forum such as the United
States Congress," the ADL’s Thursday statement said, going on to say:
"Although independent scholars may have reached a consensus about the
genocide, in an effort to help accomplish the reconciliation there is
room for further dispassionate scholarly examination of the details
of those dark and terrible days."

"ADL and the American Jewish community should focus their attention
on supporting efforts to urge Turkey and Armenia to make this
happen," the statement added, though it used the g-word, "genocide."

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a
systematic campaign by the Ottoman Turks around the time of World War
I, but Ankara categorically rejects the label, saying that both
Armenians and Turks died in civil strife during World War I when the
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with Russian troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire. According
to the Turkish archive documents more than 520.000 civilian Turkish
and Kurdish people were massacred by the armed Armenian groups
between 1915-1918.

Ahead of Erdoðan’s conversation with Peres, the Turkish Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Levent Bilman said there was no "consensus"
among scientists and historians that the World War I events
constituted genocide, contrary to the ADL’s conviction that there is.
"Moreover, it is Turkey who has asked Armenia to establish a joint
commission and reveal the historical realities. No positive response
has yet been made to this offer," he added. It sparked attention that
the ADL referred to the same proposal in its Thursday statement.

* Envoy to hold more talks in Israel

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Ambassador to Israel Namýk Tan, who this week cut
short his holiday in Turkey to return to Israel, told the Anatolia
news agency yesterday that he would once more voice Turkey’s stance
on the ADL statement during talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert as well as with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, both currently
on vacation.

Ankara believes that as much as Turkey attributes high importance to
its relations with Israel, Israel attributes the same level of
importance to its relations with Turkey, Tan said. "These statements
do not have any legal and historical grounds. They should be
corrected without fail," he added, noting that the statements have
not been compatible with Turkey’s existing strategic relations with
either Israel or the US.

25 August 2007