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- Category: General Announcements
- Published: 28 April 2009
- Written by Administrator
- Hits: 14688
TurkishPAC reservedly welcomes President Obama’s avoidance of the term “genocide” in his statement on the occasion of the Armenian Remembrance Day, but deeply regrets his use of the nearly-as-offensive term "Medz Yeghern” to characterize the historical events. President Obama’s statement portrays a one-sided view of the historical events by grossly exaggerating the number of Armenian casualties while not mentioning Moslem, and even Jewish, sufferings. It is hoped that an impartial international commission of scholars, which we understand is envisioned in the road map prepared by the Armenian and Turkish parties in Switzerland, will pave the way for establishing historical truth related to the tragic events that took place nearly a century ago. Turkey has opened all its historical archives, while the Armenian archives remain mostly closed.
TurkishPAC supports President Obama’s call for a dialogue between Turks and Armenians and normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. It is hoped that this will contribute toward a long-term strategic alliance between Turkey and the United States. As outlined in our April 16 announcement, however, TurkishPAC believes that such normalization should be predicated on Armenia withdrawing from the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabagh and renouncing anti-Turkish reference in its constitution and modifying its stance toward Turkey in general.
TurkishPAC regrets that President Obama, while calling attention to the contributions of Americans of Armenian descent to the American society, has omitted a similar attribution to Turkish Americans, whose contributions have been no less significant.
TurkishPAC Board of Directors
