Armenian National Committee of America
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PRESS RELEASE
September 12, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
BRENT SCOWCROFT ATTACKS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION
— American Turkish Council Chairman Sharply
Criticizes “Careless use of Genocide Language”
in H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195
WASHINGTON, DC – Only days before Armenian Genocide legislation is
set to come before a key U.S. House panel, American Turkish Council
(ATC) Chairman Brent Scowcroft has warned Speaker Dennis Hastert
that even the discussion of the Armenian Genocide on the floor of
the U.S. House would be “counter-productive to the interests of the
United States, reported the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA).
In his September 12th letter, Scowcroft, speaking on behalf of the
corporate members of the ATC, accused Congressional supporters of
Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195) of
trying to “pull Turkey away from the West. He stressed that: “The
careless use of genocide language provides and excuse to do so,
delivering a direct blow to American interests in the region.”
“We are outraged that Brent Scowcroft appears to have so
compromised his own integrity in pursuit of personal business
interests that he finds himself enlisted by the Turkish government
in its desperate and patently immoral genocide denial effort,” said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We are particularly
troubled by his baseless comment regarding the ‘careless use of
genocide language’ – a hateful insult to the victims of this crime,
a direct offense to the Congressional authors of this legislation,
and a repudiation of the U.S. archives, the unanimous judgment of
the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and the
overwhelming evidence documenting this crime against humanity.”
The ATC has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as the result of a
10-page story in Vanity Fair detailing FBI whistleblower Sibel
Edmond’s reports that it’s officials were involved in illegal
efforts to defeat Armenian Genocide legislation in the fall of
2000. According to the article by contributing editor David Rose,
Edmonds claimed FBI wiretaps – including those of the Turkish
Embassy and Turkish groups such as the American Turkish Council
(ATC) and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) –
reveal that the Turkish government and its allies boasted of
bribing members of Congress as part of an alleged deal to stop
consideration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
In a related effort, the Assembly of Turkish American Associations
has distributed an action alert against both Armenian Genocide
resolutions – H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195. Among the factually
unfounded and morally bankrupt points raised by the ATAA in the
space of its one-page alert, are the following:
* The ATAA warns its members: “Inaction on the part of the Turkish
American Community will compromise U.S.-Turkish relations,
encourage more acts of harassment, violence and terrorism against
people of Turkish and Turkic descent, and could potentially lead to
territorial and compensations claims against the Republic of
Turkey.”
* The ATAA urges its members to tell members of Congress that
H.Res.316 and H.Con.Res.195 “provide a one-sided, misinformed view
of WWI Ottoman history and would deal a great blow to the Turkish
American community, and furthermore inflict damage upon the
partnership between Turkey and the United States.”
* The ATAA stresses that resolutions such as H.Res.316 and
H.Con.Res.195 “impede dialogue and reconciliation between Armenia
and Turkey, discouraging the Armenian side from engaging in
scholarly examination of these complicated historical events.”
* The ATAA notes that, “As the Armenian American lobby acts up
again, we have only two choices: we can be passive and allow these
allegations to go on, or we can stand up and defend ourselves, our
history, and the future of our children here in the United States.”
* The ATAA stresses that its efforts are not “anti-Armenian,”
explaining that, “Armenians people are held hostage by the agenda
of their country’s ultra-nationalist government and extremists in
the Armenian American, European and Middle Eastern communities.”
The full text of the Scowcroft letter is provided below:
#####
Text of ATC Chairman Brent Scowcroft’s Letter to Speaker Hastert
September 12, 2005
The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert
Speaker of the House of Representatives
The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
As Chairman of the American-Turkish Council, I am gravely concerned
about plans to debate in the House of Representatives H. Con. Res.
195, a resolution “Commemorating the Armenian Genocide” and urging
the Government of Turkey to acknowledge the culpability of Ottoman
Turks for it, and H. Res. 316, a resolution recognizing claims of
“genocide” of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Together with ATC’s
members, I strongly urge opposition to these resolutions and
suggest that floor deliberation of them would be counter-productive
to the interest of the United States.
Whatever people individually decide on the merits of these
resolutions, it is important to note the real world consequences of
their adoption. When the French Senate passed such a resolution,
it cost France over $1 billion in cancelled contracts and lost
business opportunities. Enactment of genocide language would
jeopardize our ability to achieve strategic interest with Turkey
and in the region. Furthermore, it is quite likely that the
business interest of several of our American members would be
jeopardized by passage of such prejudicial legislation.
The American-Turkish Council strongly believes that the events
about which H. Con Res. 195 and H. Res. 316 speak are matters for
historians to decide-not politicians. Unfortunately, these
resolutions express, as matters of law and fact, issues that remain
widely disputed by scholars, historians, and legal experts.
Accordingly, we strongly urge you to review the attached letter
that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan sent Armenian President Robert
Kocharian on April 10, 2005, seeking to normalize bilateral
relations as well as address painful long-standing historical
issues.
Although Armenian President Kocharian rejected his offer, we are
encouraged that Prime Minister Erdogan and his government, by
reaching out to Armenia with an offer for an open dialogue on
difficult issues involving Turks and Armenians, are taking an
historic step. Turkish-Armenian rapprochement is in the best
interests of both nations, and the ATC believes now is the time for
reconciliation. We sincerely hope that President Kocharian and his
government will take the opportunity to reciprocate the olive
branch extended by Prime Minister Erdogan.
Turkey’s strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle
East, the Caucasus, and the Balkans places it at the center of
American’s current and long term strategic interest. As Turkey
stands on the threshold of accession talks with the European Union,
the U.S. should be doing all it can to encourage positive momentum
for Turkey. H. Con. Res. 195, while purporting to support Turkey’s
EU accession talks, and H. Res. 316, do exactly the opposite. The
resolutions encourage those who would pull Turkey away from the
West. The careless use of genocide language provides and excuse to
do so, delivering a direct blow to American interests in the
region.
The ATC believes that legislators should not attempt to resolve
historical issues by resolution. Historical commissions, fairly
staffed, adequately supported, and afforded full access to the
archives, are better suited to attempting the reconciliation that
we all support.
On behalf of the members of the American-Turkish Council, I
strongly urge you to oppose floor deliberation and adoption of any
language that would substitute political pronouncements for
historical analysis of this highly sensitive issue.
Sincerely,
Brent Scowcroft
Chairman of the Board