Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 28 2007

Foxman: US Congress can’t debate `genocide’

The leader of a major US Jewish group that last month endorsed
Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the late Otto-man Empire
said on Wednesday that the US Cong-ress was not the right venue to
discuss the issue.

"I believe this issue should not be debated at the US Congress or the
French National Assembly," Abraham Foxman, chairman of the
Anti-Defamation League (ADL), told reporters after a meeting with
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan in New York. He also said he
hoped Armenians would somehow respond to calls from Turkey to set up
a joint commission of academics to investigate what happened in the
past.
The ADL last month reversed its long-held policy and decided to call
events of the World War I era genocide, although it still says two
resolutions pending in the US Congress endorsing the genocide claims
would not help resolution of the disputes between the Turks and
Armenians. The policy shift angered Turkey, which categorically
rejects the genocide charges. Turkish authorities also appealed to
Israel and warned that passage of the resolutions in the US Congress,
which now seems even more probable because of the change of stance on
the part of the ADL, would harm not only Turkish-US but also
Turkish-Israeli ties.

Foxman said disputes between Turks and Armenians can best be settled
between the two countries, not via resolutions passed in parliaments.
"US congressmen are not historians. Therefore, they cannot judge what
happened in history," he said. Commenting on his meeting with
Erdoðan, he said it was very useful and asserted that "friendships
are not ruined because of words."

Erdoðan said at the meeting that the Armenian genocide allegations
had no basis and that they were not supported by any scientific or
historical document, according to a statement released by the Prime
Ministry after the meeting. "The prime minister said Turkey expected
the Jewish community in the US to continue their support, as it has
done to date," the statement said.

The meeting was attended by representatives from some 20 US Jewish
groups, including the Conference of Presidents, the Appeal of
Conscience Foundation, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), the ADL, the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish
Congress, Bnai Brith International and the UJA Federation.

28.09.2007

SEZAÝ KALAYCI NEW YORK