GHOSTS OF ARMENIA HAUNT ETHNIC RELATIONSHIP
Ben Harris
Jewish Exponent, PA
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
/
Aug 30 2007
A lesson in politics — and sensitivity — for Jewish groups and the
Jewish state
New York
The Anti-Defamation League’s reversal last week of its position on
the Armenian genocide has set off a flurry of diplomatic activity in
Turkey and Israel.
Officials in Ankara and Jerusalem, in coordination with American
Jewish leaders, were working this week to contain the fallout from
the ADL’s statement, which recognized the World War I massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "tantamount to genocide."
The ADL was forced to reverse its longstanding position — shared
by other major American Jewish organizations — of neutrality on the
genocide question amid growing dissension within its own ranks.
Jewish leaders warned that recognizing the genocide, as Congress is
now considering, could undermine American strategic interests in the
Middle East, and Turkey’s robust military and economic partnership with
Israel. Also deemed at risk was the security of Turkish Jewry, which
sent a letter earlier this year opposing a congressional resolution
on the matter.
Nabi Sensoy, Turkey’s ambassador in Washington, said that his
government was strongly opposed to any congressional action, but that
the Turkish Jewish community had nothing to fear in any case. Sensoy
was less sure that Turkey’s relations with Israel and the United
States would survive a resolution unscathed.
"I cannot really dismiss that if this resolution does pass that there
will be certain impacts on certain relationships," he said. "There
is no doubt about it."
Of those raising the specter of reprisals against Turkish Jewry,
Sensoy said: "I’m very disturbed to hear this kind of remark coming
from anywhere. They seem to be forgetting the history of Turks and
Jews, which goes back at least 500 years. We’ve always had the best
of relations between Turks and Jews, and the Turkish Jewish community
is part and parcel, and an integral part, of the Turkish community."
What began more than a month ago as a small local protest against
an ADL-sponsored program in the Boston suburbs has escalated into
an international crisis with a nation deemed central to American
interests and Israeli security.
Turkey is Israel’s closest — and arguably its only — regional ally,
and is central to U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Mindful of Turkey’s importance, the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations began a series of discussions on
the matter last week. Malcolm Hoenlein, the group’s executive vice
chairman, said that the conference had not yet decided how or whether
to respond.
"As wiser heads have prevailed, people are looking for us to play a
role in trying to control and calm down the situation so there are
no ramifications and repercussions that have nothing to do with the
substance" of the issue, he said.
Back and Forth Though Jewish groups have toed a careful line on the
genocide question for years, the issue exploded last month after the
town council of Watertown, Mass. — home to one of the country’s
largest Armenian communities — voted to sever ties with an ADL
anti-bigotry program in protest of the organization’s refusal to
acknowledge the genocide.
After the vote, the ADL’s regional director in Boston, Andrew Tarsy,
switched gears and condemned his organization’s position. Tarsy was
promptly fired by Foxman.
The Boston ADL leadership rebelled, and with pressure mounting, Foxman
reversed himself last week, acknowledging that the "consequences" of
Ottoman massacres of Armenians were "tantamount to genocide." Tarsy
was reinstated Monday as Boston director.
An outraged Turkey communicated its dismay to Israeli and Jewish
leaders, with some Turkish officials going as far as suggesting that
Israel had to "deliver" American Jewish groups on this issue.
Namik Tan, Turkey’s ambassador, reportedly said that his country
believed its strategic relationship with Israel also involved the
whole Jewish world.
The Turkish people "cannot make that differentiation" between Israel
and American Jewish organizations, Nan told The Jerusalem Post.
"On some issues, there is no such thing as ‘Israel cannot deliver,’
" he continued, adding that this was one of those issues.
According to an unofficial translation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
issued a statement saying use of the genocide label is "historically
and legally baseless," and accusing the ADL of trying to "rewrite
the history" of the period.
"We consider the statement of the ADL as an injustice to the unique
character of the Holocaust, as well as to the memories of its victims,"
said the statement. "We expect it to be rectified."
On Sunday, the ADL released a second statement reiterating its support
for a joint Turkish-Armenian commission to investigate the matter
— a move Turkey supports — and its opposition to a resolution in
Congress. Foxman also wrote to Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, "to express regret for any pain we have caused to you and
the Turkish people in these past few days."
In Turkey, those steps were seen as backtracking.
Erdogan said that the ADL had rectified its "mistake," according
to the Turkish Daily News. Sensoy said that he felt the ADL had
reversed itself again, and that its current position reflected a more
"balanced situation."
"We are expecting the American Jewish organizations to be neutral about
this," said Sensoy. "Although we’re aware of the fact that this is a
very sensitive issue for the Israeli people and the Jewish community,
what we have to seek is the truth."