U.S. CONGRESSMEN CONDEMN TURKEY’S THREATS

PanARMENIAN.Net –
April 6, 2010 – 13:03 AMT 08:03 GMT

Congressmen Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have spoken out
forcefully against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
chilling warning – clearly intended to intimidate Armenia by raising
the specter of 1915 – that Ankara may respond to international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by launching a new wave of
deportations of Armenians living in Turkey, reported the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Prime Minister Erdogan’s cruel threat to expel Armenians from
Turkey as punishment for the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s recent
markup of my Armenian Genocide commemoration resolution is the latest
example of a longstanding policy of using Armenians as ‘human shields’
in Ankara’s campaign of genocide denial," said Congressman Schiff,
the lead author of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. "Ninety-five
years after Ottoman troops forced marched hundreds of thousands of
Armenians through the desert and to their deaths, Erdogan’s comments
add a new measure of cruelty towards the survivors and their families."

"Turkey’s threat of deportation against Armenian migrants, whether
documented or undocumented, is irresponsible, especially considering
that Armenia-Turkey relations continue to be haunted by the Armenian
Genocide," said Congressman Costa, a leading member of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Congressman Costa and Schiff’s powerful and principled comments
condemning Prime Minister Erdogan’s threats to deport Armenians stand
in sharp contrast to the State Department’s strained and, frankly
implausible, efforts to somehow dismiss Ankara’s chilling warnings as
a simple immigration issue," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of
the ANCA. "Erdogan’s comments were clear, as was his obvious intention
to use the specter of 1915 to intimidate the Armenian people."

Earlier today, noted columnist Christopher Hitchens explained that
Erdogan’s threat was akin to the Turkish leader saying: "If democratic
assemblies dare to mention the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the
20th century, I will personally complete that cleansing in the 21st!"

He was also sharply critical of the U.S. silence in response to this
ominous warning.

In recent weeks, the London Times has called Turkey’s threats to expel
Armenians "unconscionable" and "shameful," and The London Daily News
noted Turkey was "entering the dark ages mode."