Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

ANCA Action Alert: Protest Arrest of Assyrian Priest for Recognizing Genocide
by Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
Posted: Friday, December 08, 2000 10:02 am CST

• Father Yusuf Akbulut Charged with Treason for Recognizing 1915 Genocide of Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks

Father Yusuf Akbulut, an Assyrian priest, has been arrested by the Turkish government for recognizing Turkey's Genocide against Christian Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks in an interview with a Turkish newspaper about the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the U.S. Congress.

Father Yusuf has been charged with treason and will be tried on December 21st. If convicted, he may face the death penalty.

Apparently emboldened by its success in imposing an Armenian Genocide "gag rule" on the White House and Congress, the Turkish government now believes that it can silence those within its borders who speak about the systematic destruction of Ottoman Turkey's Christian population without any meaningful response from the U.S. Government.

Contact the State Department's human rights division.

Mail: The Hon. Harold Hongju Koh

        Assistant Secretary of State for
             Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
        U.S. Department of State
        2201 C Street, NW
        Washington, D.C. 20520

Tel: (202) 647-2126

Fax: (202) 647-5283

Email: donnaifill@hotmail.com

(Asst. Secretary Koh's executive assistant)

(Send a note to anca@anca.org to tell us what actions you took)

Phone Script for Assistant Secretary Office - (202) 647-2126

(The phone will be answered by a receptionist. Ask to speak to a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary. If a senior advisor is not available to speak with you, ask to leave a message on their voice mail.)

Hello.

I am calling to ask the State Department to publicly protest the Turkish government's intimidation and arrest of Father Yusuf Akbulut.

He is an Assyrian priest whose only crime was to speak openly about the systematic massacre of over one million and a half Christian Assyrians, Armenians, and Greeks during the years of the first World War.

Please look into this matter personally and publicly protest any violations of human rights, directly with the Turkish government and in your annual human rights and religious freedom reports.

Thank you.

The Honorable Harold Hongju Koh
Assistant Secretary of State for

Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Assistant Secretary Koh:

I am writing to ask the State Department to publicly protest the Turkish government's intimidation and arrest of Father Yusuf Akbulut.

As you know, Father Akbulut is an Assyrian priest whose only crime was to speak openly about the systematic massacre of over a million and a half Christian Assyrians, Armenians, and Greeks during the years of the first World War. His arrest is a flagrant violation of fundamental human rights and an affront to all those who perished in this first Genocide of the 20th Century.

The Mission Statement of your Bureau's Office of Human Rights cites the promotion of human rights as a "central goal of U.S. foreign policy," and states that, as a nation, we seek to "hold governments accountable to their obligations under universal human rights norms," as well as to "promote greater respect for human rights... freedom of expression... and the protection of minorities." Very significantly, this document highlights the role of the United States in seeking to "change cultures of impunity."

There can be no more obvious example of a "culture of impunity" than the Government of Turkey, which has consistently and openly engaged in widespread torture and other human rights violations, and currently imprisons more journalists than any nation in the world. All without any meaningful response from the United States.

The United States, the leading force in the international community for freedom and human rights, rather than confronting this conduct in a substantial manner, has chosen instead to turn a blind eye, effectively emboldening its government to continue on its present course.

The most recent example of this cycle of impunity was Turkey's success in imposing an Armenian Genocide "gag rule" on the White House and Congress. The lesson that Turkey has apparently drawn from this disgraceful episode is that it can now se pressure, blackmail, and threats to silence those within its borders who speak about the systematic destruction of its Christian population without any meaningful response from the U.S. Government.

Help break this cycle of impunity by 1) immediately investigating Father Yusuf Akbulut's arrest; 2) publicly protesting any violations of human rights, and; 3) prominently addressing this matter in the annual "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," and the "International Religious Freedom Report."

Thank you for your attention to my concerns.

For more information visit:
https://www.aina.org
https://www.aanf.org

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