Lobby accuses Turkey of dividing Armenian diaspora
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Ümit Enginsoy
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 20, 2009 00:00
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.
"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.