HAMPARIAN: TURKEY SUCCEEDED IN DICTATING PRECONDITIONS

Yerkir
07.12.2009 13:26

Yerevan (Yerkir) – 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 "Countdown" has generated media coverage in the U.S., Turkey,
and Armenia, and, as participation in the campaign grew with each
passing week, came under increasingly heavy attack from the Turkish
lobby. The United Press International reported, on December 1st, that,
"The Armenian National Committee of America stepped up its lobbying
efforts ahead of the [Erdogan] visit, calling on its supporters to
contact their Washington representatives to encourage Obama to make
true on his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide." The
Turkish Coalition publicly criticized the campaign as a political
"blitzkrieg."

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. Links to a sample phone script and phone number will be
available at