Turkey expects ‘rectification’ as ADL insists on ‘genocide’ label

In an apparent show of determination, the leader of the US-based
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has insisted that the organization made
an appropriate decision by revising its policy concerning the killings
of Anatolian Armenians in the early 20th century, vowing that they
will "not hesitate to apply the term genocide in the future."

An article penned by ADL National Director Abraham Foxman — who last
week said the killings of Armenians by Muslim Turks "were indeed
tantamount to genocide" — was published in a Boston newspaper, The
Jewish Advocate, on Monday.

"While we continue to firmly believe that a Congressional resolution
on such matters is a counterproductive diversion and will not foster
reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, we will not hesitate to
apply the term genocide in the future. We believe that we have been
true to who we are in our approach. As long as ADL is an organization
committed first to the safety and security of the Jewish people, we
cannot in good conscience ignore the well-being of 20,000 Jews in
Turkey. We will, however, continue to push the Turkish government in
the right direction. We hope people of goodwill understand our
perspective, but even if they do not, we deeply believe that we are
being true to the core values of our organization which have served
Jews and the broader society so well for many years," said Foxman in
the article.

Following strong reaction from Turkish political leadership against
the ADL’s announcement, Foxman last week sent a letter addressing
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, saying 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. Foxman
then expressed 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 letter was pleasing to us," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Levent
Bilman told Today’s Zaman on Tuesday. "However, the wrong step has not
yet been corrected. We expect the ADL to rectify its statement because
it is obvious that there is no consensus among historians on how to
qualify the 1915 incidents, contrary to what the ADL has claimed,"
Bilman added.

When asked to elaborate on how a "rectification" could be made by the
ADL, Bilman said the right address for consulting such controversial
matters was historians and that the ADL should refer to historians
after making such an assertive allegation and then review its
statement. "The issue is not closed for Ankara until such a review and
rectification is made."

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a
systematic genocide campaign by 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 that were invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

29.08.2007
Ankara Today’s Zaman

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