Erdogan looking to lock in Obama-Biden Administration silence on Genocide

armradio.am
05.12.2009 13:19

With the White House meeting between President Obama and Turkey’s
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan just days away, the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) once again voiced its concerns
over the Turkish government’s increasingly energetic efforts to cement
in place the Obama Administration’s refusal to properly recognize the
Armenian Genocide.

"Prime Minister Erdogan – having succeeded in using the
Ankara-inspired Protocols to enlist the cooperation of yet another
U.S. Administration into its campaign to block recognition of the
Armenian Genocide – is now coming to Washington to cement his gains
and further press his advantage," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian.

"High on his agenda, it seems, will be showcasing Turkey’s public
disregard for President Obama’s twin priorities for Armenia-Turkey
normalization, namely that they be established without preconditions
and within a reasonable time-frame. Today, more than seven months
after our President’s speech in Ankara – during which he broke his
pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide – it’s patently clear that
Turkey has in fact imposed preconditions, will not act in a reasonable
time-frame, and, more broadly, views this entire process as simply a
way to extend U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials from one April 24th
to the next," added Hamparian.

Armenian Americans concerned about Erdogan’s agenda have participated
in the ANCA’s "Countdown to Erdogan" campaign – the month-long
grassroots initiative to encourage President Obama to challenge
Turkey’s Prime Minister with the facts of the Armenian Genocide during
their December 7th White House meeting.

The final days of the effort are devoted to calling directly on
President Obama – through phone calls, letters, and social networking
vehicles – to honor his pledge to recognize the Armenian Genocide and
urging him to demonstrate resolve in working to end the ongoing cycle
of genocide and denial. The calls are increasingly important following
a letter issued by President Obama earlier today praising the
Turkey-Armenia protocols, and once again, refraining to properly
characterize that crime against humanity.

On the day of the meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister
Erdogan, the ANCA has organized a final push of phone calls to the
White House