DEMOCRATS MUST STAND UP AGAINST GENOCIDE
by Roknich
Bay Area Indymedia, CA
55379.php
Oct 23 2007
Even as the US joins hands with Turkey in continuing projects of
oppression, the Democratic majority in congress has backed down their
stand on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide Earlier today,
I faxed a letter to Rep. John Murtha encouraging him to reconsider
his stance on the Armenian Genocide. Shortly after Speaker Pelosi
decided to bring this long-delayed resolution to the house floor,
Murtha publicly sounded off about the poor timing of the resolution. It
seems that murtha and others retreated as soon as they were accused
by the administration of "sabotaging our efforts in Iraq" – and that
we need Turkey as an ally.
Turkey continues to oppress the Armenian minority that continues
to live within their borders: as recently as January 2007, Hrant
Dink an Armenian journalist was assasinated with full complicity
of the Turkish police after years of official harrassment, which
far exceded the bounds of human decency. the details of his
life-long persecution are documented in detail in wikipedia at:
I will include a few excerpts of his story at this end of this post.
Here is the letter I sent to John Murtha, whose career has skyrocketed
thanks to the support of our current speaker. In exchanged for
her support, he has returned his cowardice, on an issue of pivotal
importance, because the genocide continues to expand, with the full
support of US taxpayers.
Dear Mr. Murtha, 23 nations have already approved resolutions that
condemn the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Turks, and there
should be nothing exceptional or dramatic about the US signing on to
what is a perfectly normal and rational expression of human concern.
The Turks have expressed a desire on many occasions to "wipe out
the Kurds completely" and recently have been held in check only by
a promise of the spoils a war waged against the Iraqi people at the
expense of the US taxpayer.
If passage of a resolution condemning genocide would indeed alienate an
essential ally, and undermine our efforts in Iraq, perhaps we should
reconsider exactly what those efforts are, and own up to our acts of
genocide in Iraq that have driven 8 Million Iraqis out of their own
country, and destabilized the entire region.
Thank you so much Mr. Murtha for representing the conscience of the
American people.
David Roknich,
DOGSPOT and here are a few quotes from wikpedia, as promised above:
As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos ,
Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey. Dink
was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation
and human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of
both Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, and of the Armenian
diaspora’s campaign for its international recognition. Dink was
prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness, while receiving
numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists.
Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogun
Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. While Samast has since
been taken into custody, pictures of the alleged assassin flanked by
smiling Turkish police and gendarmerie, posing with the killer in
front of the Turkish flag, have since surfaced. The photos created
a scandal in Turkey, prompting a spate of investigations and the
removal from office of those involved.
Numerous links and references are included in the original article.