, Turkey
Feb 14 2009

Turkish organizations in US send letter to Obama over Armenian lobbying

Turkish organizations in US have sent a letter to Obama to express
their concerns over pressure put by Armenians on U.S. administration
to label the incidents of 1915 as the crime of genocide.

Saturday, 14 February 2009 09:35

Turkish organizations in the United States have sent a letter to
U.S. President Barack Obama to express their concerns over pressure
put by Armenians on U.S. administration to label the incidents of 1915
as the crime of genocide.

"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," Turkish Coalition of
America (TCA), a roof of 53 Turkish organizations in the United
States, said in its letter to Obama.

"To accept this one-sided characterization unilaterally by ignoring
independent and impartial assessments by Middle East historians and
scholars would be both grossly unfair and potentially incendiary to
Southeast Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East," it said.

TCA said the Armenian claim of "passive victimhood" stood on such
shaky historical footing, adding that the question of whether to apply
the term genocide or not divided the scholarly community.

"Many reputable scholars, mainly historians of the Ottoman Empire,
World War I and the Middle East have refrained from applying the term
to describe the tragic civilian losses suffered in the early 20th
century in the Ottoman Empire. Their work also diverges from, in many
cases contradicts, the historical narrative from which descends the
charge of genocide," it said.

"To quarrel with a genocide characterization?the crime of crimes,
which requires exacting standards of proof as required by solemn
treaty obligations and constitutional due process?is not to deny
lesser crimes or atrocities. In fact, the Ottoman government itself
prosecuted and convicted nearly 1,400 individuals, executing scores,
including a provincial governor, for crimes committed against
Armenians. On the other hand, the equally well documented massacres
and ethnic cleansing of Ottoman Muslims in Eastern Anatolia committed
directly or assisted by Armenian rebels, which were acknowledged by
independent observers, are routinely ignored or denied today," the
letter said.

Scholars in Ottoman history generally agree that the Armenian deaths
resulted from a multiplicity of causes, the letter said and listed
these causes as inter-communal warfare, the conditions of the forced
relocations, murder, famine, disease, deficient medical care and
austere conditions of life during wartime.

"The fact remains that there is no reliable assessment of the Armenian
death toll or its categorization according to causation," it said.

TCA said scholars in Ottoman history would also generally agree that
there was no record of Ottoman Muslim animosity towards Armenians
based on religion or ethnicity.

"Many Armenians in fact served at the highest echelons of the Ottoman
government and the Ottoman parliament. Few people throughout history,
separated by ethnicity and religion, have shared such peaceful
co-existence and developed such cultural affinity, as Turks and
Armenians have for over 900 years under the Seljuk and Ottoman
administrations. Nothing we argue in this letter should be construed
as an effort to diminish the loss of innocent Armenian lives. We mourn
their losses as ours and hope they, too, will find it in their hearts
to mourn for our ancestors," TCA said.

TCA recalled that Turkey voiced willingness to accept the findings by
an international commission of scholars and experts with access to all
relevant archives, including those of Armenian organizations that
remain closed today.

"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," TCA concluded in its letter.

Anadolu Agency
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress