PanARMENIAN.Net
If Turkey wants to move closer to West it should practice
self-reflection on its own history
14.02.2009 12:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) sharply criticized
Turkey’s hypocrisy in leveling human rights charges against Israel
even as it continues to deny the Armenian Genocide and strengthen its
ties to the genocidal Sudanese regime, Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) Communications Director Elizabeth S. Chouldjian told
PanARMENIAN.Net.
In a speech on the House floor, the Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman,
called the attention of his colleagues to increasingly strident
Turkish attacks on Israel, including menacing, even threatening,
remarks by Prime Minister Erdogan, as well as a recent Washington Post
report that a Turkey-based non-governmental organization has initiated
a probe to investigate if war crimes and genocide were committed by
Israel during the recent Gaza Conflict.
Commenting on these developments, he noted that, "For a nation that
for 94 years has practiced wide-spread genocide denial of the killing
of one and half million Armenians, hypocrisy runs deep today in
Ankara."
The New Jersey legislator stressed that, "the Turkish people need to
step back and question their skewed understanding of genocide. Look in
the mirror, look at your own history, come to terms with the fact that
1.5 million Armenians died and when contemporary genocides, like
Darfur, take place it must be denounced."
"If Turkey wants to move closer to the West it should practice some
self-reflection on its own history regarding the Armenian Genocide and
help to end the Genocide in Darfur."
He added that Turkey, rather than denouncing the Darfur Genocide, has
actually strengthened its ties to Khartoum: "Last year, Turkish
President Abdullah Gul warmly welcomed Sudanese President Omar
al-Bashir to Ankara. Yet, Al-Bashir continues to preside over a
genocidal regime responsible for the deaths of 300,000 Sudanese people
in the Darfur region of the country."