Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Columnist Says Turkey Wrong To Thank Jewish Lobby by Voting for Israel at UN
by Sedat Sertoglu: "Behind the Scenes" - Istanbul Sabah (Ankara edition) - 23 October, 2000
Posted: Friday, November 03, 2000 01:00 am CST

[FBIS Translated Text] What happened? How did it happen? Why did Clinton send a letter at the very last minute to the Chairman of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert? Who was the mastermind behind this plan?

Let us go back a bit. Let us open up our files and share with you what we have found out.

We are back in Washington and we are having intensive talks with the Jewish lobby groups. AIPAC, Jinsa, Bnai Brith, and ADI. AJC are a little distant. They ask us what is going on. The message we try to give them is: "The acceptance of the resolution will have a strongly negative effect on Turkish-American strategic relations, but also on Turkish-Israeli strategic relations."

The Jewish lobby in Turkey had been flooding the House of Representatives and the US administration with messages asking for the resolution to be halted. The Muslim, Jewish, and Armenian citizens of Turkey were doing all they could along with all of the State's official bodies. Our Ambassador in Washington, working with his shamefully tiny nine-person team, was making a superhuman effort. Turkish associations in this country, for instance the ATAA and others, were very active. The US administration did what it could, albeit a little late in the day...

As for the situation in Washington. The Jewish lobby threw all its weight into the job just before the weekend... And very openly at that. The chairman of AIPEC met with Hastert and "Explained all the concerns in plain English" and put pressure on Hastert. Then he said, "By playing this game, you may well gain a few more Armenian votes, but have you stopped to consider how many Jewish votes you will lose by this?"

Alarm bells started sounding in Hastert's head. But the aim still had not been achieved.

News that Hastert had tried to find a way out of this situation were heard at this time. He had made a promise to the Armenians. He had to get out of this tight spot he was in without harming himself. Finally, he said, "If President Clinton sends me a letter informing me of the situation, I will not go ahead with this vote..."

That the Chairman of the House of Representatives was looking for an escape option was finally clear for all to see. Another Jew had come down from Chicago and put the squeeze on Hastert because they had financed the Republicans to the tune of $10 million or more.

So who stepped in so that this message would reach Clinton and Hastert would be given his final warning? Who was this person?

While all this was happening and everyone was waiting with baited breath, Clinton was in Egypt and very busy. He was trying to prevent a possible war in the Middle East.

Time was fast running out. It was just at this time that the telephone of a certain individual in Israel rang. The caller was a Jewish Turk calling from Istanbul. He explained in very clear terms to the Israeli on the other end of the phone exactly what the situation was and what the consequences were likely to be. He said it was imperative that he intervene. The esteemed Israeli on the other end of the telephone, on hearing this, said, "I put a great deal of effort into bringing about peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Do not worry, I will do everything I can to prevent my work going down the drain..."

The person speaking was Shimon Peres. He immediately made a plan and intervened.

The situation was relayed to President Clinton. Clinton wrote a letter to Hastert that Wednesday and sent it to him. In the meantime, Hastert was informed of the viewpoints of Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shelton and of Secretaries of State and Defense Albright and Cohen.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives abandoned putting the resolution to the vote. According to the plan, he was saving his hide. He would now be able to tell the Armenians, "I did the best I could. I got it past the commissions. I got it put on the agenda. But in the end, President Clinton's letter said this was as far as it goes. There was nothing I could do in the face of this letter." The nonsense carried out to win a seat in California had been brought to an end...

A tale of real lobbying for you [to digest]. Was it a victory? We think not. The real business is only just beginning...

Last-minute news: Despite the incredible support given to Turkey by Israel over the Armenian resolution, it was a mistake for Turkey to vote for Israel at the United Nations. We could have at least abstained or not taken part in the vote...

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