ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF AMERICA
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
Email: [email protected]
Website:
PRESS RELEASE
August 6, 2008
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Email: [email protected]
MEMPHIS NEWSPAPER DESCRIBES STEVEN COHEN SHOVING
ARMENIAN AMERICAN JOURNALIST OUT OF PRESS CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON, DC – The Memphis Commercial Appeal today reported that
Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) – who has been a leading opponent of
U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide – forcibly shoved Peter
Musurlian, an Armenian American video journalist, from a press
conference in his Memphis home, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA). The full story is provided below.
Cohen faces challenger Nikki Tinker in tomorrow’s Democratic Primary.
#####
Cohen asks photographer to leave his home, then pushes him out
By Zack McMillin (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Originally published 01:25 p.m., August 6, 2008
Updated 02:14 p.m., August 6, 2008
Memphis Police were called to the home of Congressman Steve Cohen
today after an an argument between Cohen and a Armenian-American
cameraman in town from California ended with Cohen physically
pushing him out the side door.
Peter Musurlian of Globalist Films in Glendale, Calif., followed a
reporter from The Commercial Appeal into Cohen’s Overton Park home,
where the Congressman had invited local media to respond to a
commercial from Nikki Tinker, his 9th Congressional District
opponent in Thursday’s Democratic Primary, that Cohen called "more
mudslinging."
When members of Cohen’s staff realized who the cameraman was – he
had followed Cohen around on Tuesday night at National Night Out
neighborhood events – they told him he was not invited and asked
him to leave.
Musurlian refused, saying he deserved a place in the open press
conference, and continued arguing before Cohen got off his couch
and angrily told Musurlian to leave, accusing him of trespassing.
Then Cohen said, "You come outside, I’m going to talk to you. I’ll
give you an interview." When Musurlian retreated to the threshold,
Cohen put both hands on his arms, forced him from the house and
shut the door.
Cohen’s staff retrieved a tripod and a bag containing audio
equipment and returned it to Musurlian, who later said an expensive
part had been broken. Musurlian stood across the street from the
house and eventually gave statements to the media and to police.
Cohen also talked to police and said he had no intention of
pressing charges. Musurlian said he intended to press charges
because of the damage to his equipment.
Armenian-Americans from around the country have been enraged at
Cohen for his part in stopping Congress from passing a resolution
last year that would have condemned Turkey for committing genocide
against Armenians when the Ottoman Empire was disintegrating during
and after World War I.
Armenian-Americans have donated between $25,000 and $30,000 to
Tinker’s campaign and are actively working to defeat Cohen.
Cohen has often spoken of his pride in stopping the resolution,
saying that during his Congressional trip to the Middle East that
he specifically asked Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces
in Iraq, about the ramifications of passing a resolution that
Turkey vowed would cause it to cut off all aid to the U.S. effort
in Iraq.
"I’m proud of what I did," Cohen said. "Gen. Petraeus, when I went
to Baghdad, I asked him what his position was on the Armenian
resolution and he said, ‘I am glad you brought that up. That would
be very devastating to our troops.’ The Turks are our friends in
NATO, they allow 8,000 trucks a day through Turkey into Iraq to
serve our troops with supplies and needs. Those trucks could be
stopped and the Turks are very serious about that. They allow us to
use our airbase.
"’He said, ‘That would be really devastating to our mission.’ While
I am against the mission of the Iraq war, I am for protecting our
troops. And to pass that resolution would have been irresponsible
and the Congress saw that. President Carter and President Clinton
both opposed it because they said we shouldn’t be doing that to
upset the Turks.
"Determining what happened in history when it is a foreign nation
and something we had nothing to do with is not the job of the
United States Congress. It’s a job for historians. The bottom line
is at this time in 2007 and 2008 and possibly in 2009 it is the
last thing to throw in the face of one of our few allies in the
Middle East."
Musurlian attempted to give Memphis media a history lesson about
what many historians have declared a genocide but which Turkey
maintains was a much more complicated set of events unleashed by
the world war and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
"This is a particular issue that I know maybe 50 people in Memphis
are interested in but they should be interested in it," Musurlian
said. "It may sound ancient, but it’s not as ancient as slavery."
That seemed to be an allusion to the resolution Cohen did usher
through Congress last week, with the U.S. House of Representatives
for the first time apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and
Jim Crow oppression and degradation.
Cohen had called the press conference to explain his vote in 1997,
while in the State Senate, against a bill called the "Tennessee
Student Religious Liberty Act" that a Tinker ad said shows that
Cohen "is the only Congressman that doesn’t think our kids should
be allowed to pray in schools."
Cohen said today he unequivocally does not oppose prayer in
schools, but that he opposed that bill because it was meaningless
pandering.
"They gave that bill a nice title to make it sound good, but I am
just repulsed by people who will use religion to foster their
political reputations and careers," Cohen said. "I voted it because
it was a) unnecessary, b) trying to use religion on a false manner
deluding the people to make them think they were doing something
when they were not doing anything."
And Cohen sounded a theme heard often over the years in Memphis,
accusing "outsiders" of meddling
"He needs to go back to California, EMILY’s List needs to go back
to Washington and New York, and the people who are doing these ads
from Washington, they need to go home too," Cohen said. "Memphians
will determine this election. And all these outsiders who don’t
know Steve Cohen, they need to get out of here."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
