LOBBY ACCUSES TURKEY OF DIVIDING ARMENIAN DIASPORA
Hurriyet
March 20 2009
Turkey
WASHINGTON – The largest U.S. Armenian group Wednesday has accused
Turkey of seeking to divide Armenia from the Armenian diaspora.
"Turkey’s leverage over America is starting to slip; its ties with
Israel fraying; its threats falling on deaf ears. Desperate, they’re
spreading lies to try to divide the diaspora from Armenia, and stop
the president and Congress from recognizing the genocide this April,"
Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America,
said in a late Wednesday statement for U.S. Armenians.
"We’ve got to strike while the iron is hot," said Hachikian, calling
on U.S. Armenians to grant money to the ANCA to bolster the Armenian
cause.
Ankara is presently working on a measures package to normalize
relations with Yerevan. But Turkey also warns that any formal
U.S. recognition of the World War I-era killings of Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire as genocide would greatly damage recent efforts in
Turkey-Armenia reconciliation.
If normalization measures take effect, including the establishment of
normal diplomatic relations and the opening of the Turkish-Armenian
border, Armenia would greatly benefit, analysts agree.
Meanwhile, the top objective for U.S. Armenians is to win U.S. genocide
recognition.
Hachikian’s remarks came one day after a group of pro-Armenian
lawmakers introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives a resolution
calling for the recognition of Armenian deaths as genocide.
It is not clear when the resolution might enter the House agenda but
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Ankara and Istanbul in
early April to boost ties with Turkey.
Obama is also expected to release a statement on April 24, the day
of commemoration of the Armenian deaths.
Turkey and the Armenians are both waiting to see whether Obama
qualifies the deaths as genocide in that statement.
At a time when Turkey and Armenia are working on the package to
normalize relations, many analysts suggest that Obama is not expected
to qualify the Armenian killings as genocide on April 24.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
