TURKISH GROUPS RAISE CONCERNS OVER OBAMA’S STANCE ON ARMENIAN CLAIMS
Hurriyet
Feb 13 2009
Turkey
The Turkish organizations in the U.S. have expressed concerns over
Armenian lobbying efforts to have their claims recognized in the
U.S. regarding the 1915 incidents in a letter to President Barack
Obama.
The Armenian lobby organizations have increased theirs efforts to
have recognized their claims regarding the 1915 incidents in the
U.S. Congress. During the election campaign, Obama had pledged to
recognize the Armenian claims.
"It would be stating the obvious to observe that Armenian special
interest lobbies are pressuring your Administration and Congress to
label the tragic events in the waning hours of the Ottoman Empire
during World War I as the crime of genocide," the Turkish Coalition
of America (TCA) said in the name of 53 Turkish American community
organizations in the letter published on the group’s website on Friday.
The letter said it would be unfair to accept a one-sided
characterization of the incidents by ignoring independent and impartial
assessments by historian and scholars, reminding casualties suffered
by Ottoman Muslimsm during World War I.
The issue of 1915 incidents is highly sensitive for Turkey as well as
Armenia. Around 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks, died
in civil strife that emerged when Armenians took up arms, backed by
Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.
However Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5
million of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in
1915. The issue remains unsolved as Armenia drags its feet in accepting
Turkey’s proposal of forming a commission to investigate the claims.
The letter reiterated Turkey’s willingness to accept the findings by
an international commission of scholars and experts with access to
all relevant archives.
"Armenia should be urged equally to accept the formation and
conclusions of such a commission. We see such an effort as the
fairest method for assessing the truth, which will pave the way for
reconciliation, in lieu of politically charged legislative or executive
decisions by third parties," it said, asking Obama to consider the
Turkish Americans "views and concerns" on the issue.
The letter, which also includes historical facts regarding the
issue, referred to the works of many foreign historians, academics
and scholars.