SCHMIDT TRIP TO TURKEY IRKS FOE
By Howard Wilkinson, hwilkinson@enquirer.com

Cincinnati.com
http://new s.cincinnati.com/article/20090529/NEWS01/905300326 /Schmidt+trip+to+Turkey+irks+foe
May 29 2009

U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Miami Township, has been in Turkey since
Sunday night, touring the country and participating in a conference
on relations between Turkey and the U.S.

The trip has one of Schmidt’s political opponents – David Krikorian, an
Armenian-American who is running for next year’s Democratic nomination
in the 2nd Congressional District – hopping mad.

"Like most Americans, I spent Memorial Day with my family and friends,"
Krikorian said in a statement released Friday morning. "Jean Schmidt
spent Memorial Day in Turkey on the dime of the Turkish Coalition
of America."

Barry Bennett, Schmidt’s chief of staff, who is also on the trip,
said that the Turkish Coalition of America did pick up the tab – it’s
not clear how much – for Schmidt’s weeklong stay in Turkey. Schmidt
is the only member of Congress on the trip, though other staff members
are also on the trip.

Schmidt’s close ties to the Turkey have been a bone of contention
between her and Krikorian for over a year now. Last year, Krikorian ran
as an independent candidate in the 2nd District and accused Schmidt
of taking $30,000 in "blood money to deny the genocide of Christian
Armenians by Muslim Turks" during World War I.

Schmidt filed an Ohio Elections Commission complaint against Krikorian,
saying he made false statements. The commission agreed earlier this
month to investigate the complaint.

Bennett said Schmidt has been interested in U.S. relations with Turkey
because "we can’t ignore one of the major democracies in this region;
one that is tolerant of people of all religions."

"Krikorian hates Turkey; I understand that, but he needs to get over
it," Bennett said. "If he wants to be a United States congressman,
he is going to have to be a little more open-minded when it comes to
the rest of the world."

Krikorian’s press release Friday blasting Schmidt said that "over
Memorial Day weekend," the congresswoman laid a wreath at the mausoleum
of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turk Republic.

Bennett said the wreath-laying occurred on Wednesday; and pointed
out that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi have done the same thing in recent months.

Schmidt spent Saturday and most of Sunday in her district attending
Memorial Day events before leaving for Turkey Sunday night, Bennett
said. Friday, she was to be the keynote speaker at a conference dinner
in Istanbul, Bennett said. She will return to the U.S. Sunday.

So far, Krikorian, a Madeira resident, is the only candidate who has
announced plans to challenge Schmidt in 2010.

The Turkish Coalition posted a photo and account of Schmidt’s trip
at