TURKS PROTEST PLANNS FOR LAS VEGAS ARMENIAN ‘GENOCIDE’ MONUMENT
The New Anatolian
Oct 18 2006
Turkish associations in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday protested
the mayor’s allocation of land for the construction of a monument
commemorating victims of the Armenian "genocide."
The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), an organization
that coordinates Turkish associations in Las Vegas, sent a letter
of protest to Mayor Oscar Goodman, in which they stated that such a
monument would distort historical truths and could only be described
as a "lynching" monument.
ATAA head Vural Cengiz asserted that there is no evidence proving
that Turks committed genocide against the Armenians. He urged Goodman
to withdraw his approval, saying, "Please change your mind about the
construction of a monument that is a realization of a bad proposal
making reference to a fake genocide."
Las Vegas is a U.S. city with an influential Armenian lobby.
Cengiz also sent another letter of protest to French Ambassador to
Washington Jean-David Levitte, criticizing the French Parliament’s
passage of a bill aimed at criminalizing the questioning of the
Armenian genocide claims.