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Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News
An Assessment of the Situation
by Sukru Elekdag - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.mfa.gov.tr
Posted: Thursday, October 26, 2000 09:30 pm CST
Former Ambassador Sukru Elekdag comments on the withdrawal of the the
so-called Armenian Genocide Resolution. A summary of his column is as
follows: "The main reason for the withdrawal of the so-called Armenian
Genocide Resolution in the US House of Representatives is the blowing winds
of war in the Middle East. When the situation did not calm down following
the Summit in Sharm Al Sheikh, and even flared up again, and the Arab World
united in a front against Israel and America. It was evident that if Turkish
public opinion was also lost, the balance in the Middle East would be upset
leading to developments threatening the interests of the US and Israel in a
wider strategic area. This gave President Clinton the reason and opportunity
to write the well-known letter to the Speaker of the US House of
Representatives. In fact, the determination shown by Mr.Clinton stems from
the fact that he is not up for re-election. The Constitution restricts the
presidency to two terms. If Mr. Clinton could run for re-election there
would be a different result. In that case, despite all his good intentions,
we could not have expected Mr. Clinton to fight energetically and sincerely
against the Armenian lobby, in addition to the Greek lobby. We have to
mention that the Armenian, Greek, and Greek-Cypriot lobbies are working
together to tear away Turkey from the US. This time it is no different. In
short, the Resolution's dismissal stems from the potential escalation of a
crisis in the Middle East and that the sitting President cannot run for
re-election. It is a bitter and shocking pill to swallow when realizing that
only by coincidence strategic partnership between Turkey and the US, which
forms an important part of our foreign policy was not broken. In the
meantime, hostile lobbies are issuing signals that they would start to work
on passing this resolution at the first opportunity. Turkey must act with
the awareness of these facts and give importance to the following measures
in order not to fall into these traps: First, Turkey has to initiate a fact
finding project so historical facts can be revealed by the research process.
This will show that Turkey does not fear facing its past. The project to be
undertaken by non-governmental organizations and by researches in the
archives of all concerned states, should be implemented through earnestly.
Then history will not be a burden Turkey and could not be used as a
political weapon against the country. The propaganda campaign is waged by
hostile lobbies throughout the United States and is aimed at the legislative
organs, administrations, institutions of the press, non-governmental
organizations and educational institutions. That resolutions on the
so-called Armenian genocide have passed in legislatures of 24 states, and
inclusion of the subject in school text-books, is an indication campaign's
effectiveness. Therefore, the organization of four Consul Generals in
addition to their Consulate duties, to work effectively against anti-Turkish
activities and form a favourable opinion of Turkey in the world community is
of utmost importance. They should be given the opportunity to make use of
local lobbying firms. Furthermore, new Consul-Generals should be appointed
for this purpose. Today, they are needed in Miami and Boston."
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