European Jewish Press, Belgium
Aug 23 2007

Turkey’s Jews disavow US Jewish organization over Armenian genocide
move

EJP Updated: 23/Aug/2007 13:34

A synagogue in Istanbul, a city where around 24,500 Jews live.

ISTANBUL (EJP)—The Jewish Community in Turkey has expressed regret
over the position adopted by a US Jewish group on the issue of the
genocide of Armenians.

In a statement published in the Turkish press, the Jewish community
stressed Thursday that it endorses Turkey’s position that this
question should be debated at academic level with full access to the
archives of all concerned parties, and that parliaments are not the
appropriate platforms for finding the truth about historical events.

Ankara categorically rejects the genocide 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.

The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a major Jewish
organizations in the US, on Tuesday reversed its longtime policy by
calling the killing of Armenians a genocide, days after it fired a
regional director for taking the same position.

ADL’s national director Abraham Foxman said in a statement that the
killings of 1.5 million Armenians by Muslim Turks `were indeed
tantamount to genocide.’

The change in ADL’s position came after weeks of controversy in which
critics questioned whether an organization dedicated to fighting
anti-Semitism in the world and remembering Holocaust victims could
remain credible without acknowledging the Armenian killings as
genocide. Related story
Jewish group chief reverses position, calls Armenian massacre a
genocide

Another major organization, the American Jewish Committee, took a
similar step and the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations reportedly was considering discussing the
matter.

In its statement, Silvio Ovadio, head of the Jewish community in
Turkey, said: `We have difficulty in understanding this immediate
change of view among some Jewish organizations in the US.’

The statement added: `We would like to stress that the news reports
that begin with the term `Jews’ in local websites may mislead the
public, whereas this change in position reflects only the views of
some American Jewish organizations.’

`Our state institutions are well aware of our long time efforts to
defend Turkey’s interests and theses, and our efforts will continue.’

In a letter to Abraham Foxman, a prominent Turkish Jewish
businessman, Jak Kamhi, said: `By accepting this false comparison
between the uniquely indisputable genocide for which the term was
coined — the Holocaust, and the events of 1915, the ADL has
committed an act of the most inexplicable injustice against the
memory of the victims of the Holocaust, as well as against the
sensitivities and pride of the Turkish people, who deserve your
praise for their centuries-long tradition of compassion and their
culture of humanity and cohabitation that remains an example to the
world.’

Around 27,000 Jews live in Turkey, of which 24,500 in Istanbul.

Two separate resolutions are pending in the US Senate and House of
Representatives, urging the administration to recognize the killings
of Armenians as genocide. The Turkish foreign ministry called the ADL
statement"unfortunate"and said Turkey expected the statement would be
"corrected."

Turkey has warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress
would seriously harm relations with Washington and impair cooperation
in Iraq and Afghanistan.

No change in Israel’s stance

The Israeli embassy in Turkey has stressed that there has been `no
change’ in Israel’s official stance on the issue.

`As Jews and as Israelis we are especially sensitive and morally
obligated to remember human tragedies, which include the killings
that took place among the Armenian population during the latter part
of the First World War, in the years 1915-1916, during the last years
of the Ottoman Empire.’

`The State of Israel has never denied these horrible events; on the
contrary, we understand the intensity of the emotion connected with
this matter on both sides, considering the high number of victims and
terrible suffering which the Armenian people endured,’ the embassy
said.

`Yet, notwithstanding this, over the years, the subject, undesirably,
has become a loaded political issue between the Armenians and the
Turks, and each side has been trying to prove the justice of its
claims.’

`The State of Israel, therefore, asks that neither one side nor the
other be taken and that no definitions be made of what happened. We
hope that both sides will enter into an open dialogue which will
enable them to heal the open wounds that have remained for many
decades,’ the statement concluded.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Turkish ambassador is set to
return to Israel earlier from his vacation to express concerns about
the ADL’s position.

Turkish Prime Minister recept Tayyip Erdogan was expected to call his
Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert in the coming days to discuss the
matter.

ope/19427

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress