WEEK THREE OF "COUNTDOWN TO ERDOGAN" TARGETS MEDIA

Asbarez
Nov 24th, 2009

Daily Activism Will Escalate Leading up to December 7th Obama-Erdogan
White House Meeting

WASHINGTON- Midway into the month-long Armenian American grassroots
campaign to encourage President Obama to personally confront Turkey’s
Prime Minister with the facts of the Armenian Genocide during their
December 7th White House meeting, the Armenian National Committee of
America’s (ANCA) "Countdown to Erdogan" has come under heavy fire
from a Turkish lobby that appears increasingly nervous about the
impact that Ankara’s growing rift with Washington will have on U.S.

complicity in its genocide denial campaign.

Turkish Lobby Attacks "Countdown to Erdogan" as a Blitzkreig

In a memo recently circulated to Members of Congress, the Turkish
Coalition of America (TCA) sharply attacked the "Countdown to
Erdogan" campaign, using words such as "blitzkrieg," "radical," and
"hatemongering" to describe the ANCA’s grassroots civic activism. The
TCA, in particular, attacked the ANCA for opposing unfair and dangerous
concessions forced upon Armenia in recently negotiated Turkey-Armenia
Protocols. The TCA supports these Protocols, and claims to stand in
solidarity with "moderate" Armenians who share the Turkish American
community’s support for provisions establishing a "historical"
commission and calling for the mutual recognition of the current
Armenia-Turkey border.

In a note posted on the ANCA Facebook page, ANCA Executive Director
Aram Hamparian provided a translation of key terms in the TCA’s memo,
"for those not well versed in Turkish Lobby Speak":

1) Radical: People who believe the response to genocide should be
truth and justice.

2) Hate-mongering: Refusing to accept lies and genocidal cover-ups.

3) Blitzkreig: A public education campaign informing US leaders about
Turkey’s real record.

4) Intimidation: Giving voice to the civic concerns of the overwhelming
consensus of Armenians.

Read Hamparian’s note and the original Turkish Coalition letter
on Facebook

Media Encouraged to Cover All Facets of Obama-Erdogan Meeting

Starting on Monday, November 23rd, the third week of the "Countdown
to Erdogan" campaign began with a focus on media monitoring, urging
Armenian Americans to scan media outlets in their area and report
factual errors and bias to the ANCA. On Tuesday, activists were
encouraged to reach out to their local newspapers and encourage
them to cover the Obama- Erdogan meeting from a local angle, by
including expressions of Armenian American community concerns. On
Wednesday, attention will be focused on ending the cycle of genocide
by participating in a Save Darfur supported campaign to stop violence
against women. The weekend will focus on writing letters to the
editor and expanding outreach on the Armenian Genocide through blogs,
commenting on news stories and other social networking initiatives.

This Thanksgiving: Watch, Connect, Act

Family gatherings taking place this Thursday, will, in literally
hundreds of thousands of Armenian American homes, represent a vital
bridge and meeting place between those more actively engaged in
Armenian American civic life and those sometimes less aware of these
issues or not as involved in the Armenian Cause. To help leverage
these situations, the ANCA offers the following three suggestions:

1) Watch: Be sure to watch the Armenia Fund Telethon and support its
efforts to strengthen the city of Shushi –

2) Connect: Take a moment to talk to your relatives about the
latest news on Armenian issues and the efforts by Armenian American
organizations to seek truth, justice, strength, and security for the
Armenian nation.

Explore the ANCA website – – for interesting discussion
items.

3) Act: Take a photo of your family holding up a small sign saying:
"President Obama, Recognize the Armenian Genocide," (or the message
of your choice), and email it to anca@anca.org.

About the Countdown to Erdogan Campaign

Countdown to Erdogan is a four-week, grassroots campaign urging
President Obama to speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide when
he meets on December 7th with Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan.

Their White House meeting represents a vital chance for President Obama
– who earlier this year broke his pledge to recognize the Armenian
Genocide – to tell Turkey that America fearlessly and forcefully
condemns all crime against humanity.

On each day remaining until December 7th, the ANCA will organize a
new action – ranging from online advocacy, call-in days, and social
networking to coalition building, community outreach, and fieldwork.

The campaign’s first week addressed the U.S. Senate, the second the
U.S. House, followed by the media during the third week, and then,
in the final seven days, a final push with the White House.

Background on the Protocols

Commenting recently on the ANCA’s Facebook Page, Executive Director
Aram Hamparian explored the motives behind Turkey’s decision to launch
its Protocols initiative:

"Last year, Turkey’s leaders, fearful of the impact of an Obama
victory and keenly aware that their new foreign policy direction –
on Iraq, Iran, Israel and a host of other issues – would seriously
limit their traditional ability to beat U.S. policymakers into line,
shifted gears in their Armenian Genocide denial campaign, moving from
an outdated strategy of outright threats to the creation, instead,
of a pretense of dialogue with Armenia, in the form of the Protocols,
in order to stave off recognition of its genocidal crime by a new
and potentially unpredictable U.S. Administration. Today, the results
are clear: Ankara is using the Protocols "process" to help manage the
tensions caused by its increasing independence from Washington in a way
that both preserves its prerogatives to act against U.S. interests
(on Iran, Israel, etc.) while, at the same time, preventing the
U.S. from recognizing the Armenian Genocide."