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WASHINGTON–Armenian Americans made the final
push in their month-long Countdown to Erdogan with a White House
call-in day urging President Barack Obama to honor his campaign
pledge by telling visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan
that the U.S. condemns the Armenian Genocide, reported the
Armenian National Committee of America, (ANCA).
“In April, President Obama missed an
opportunity to reclaim the moral high ground on ending the cycle
of genocide,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“Today, in his meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan, we urge
President Obama to ‘get it right’ – by recognizing the Armenian
Genocide and urging Turkey’s leadership to do the same.”
The ANCA Executive Director had expressed
concerns about Prime Minister Erdogan’s efforts to use the
meeting with Obama to continue U.S. complicity in Armenian
Genocide denial:
“Prime Minister Erdogan – having succeeded in
using the Ankara-inspired Protocols to enlist the cooperation of
yet another U.S. Administration into its campaign to block
recognition of the Armenian Genocide – is now coming to
Washington to cement his gains and further press his advantage,”
said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
“High on his agenda, it seems, will be
showcasing Turkey’s public disregard for President Obama’s twin
priorities for Armenia-Turkey normalization, namely that they be
established without preconditions and within a reasonable
time-frame. Today, more than seven months after our President’s
speech in Ankara – during which he broke his pledge to recognize
the Armenian Genocide – it’s patently clear that Turkey has in
fact imposed preconditions, will not act in a reasonable
time-frame, and, more broadly, views this entire process as
simply a way to extend U.S. complicity in Turkey’s denials from
one April 24th to the next,” added Hamparian.
Countdown to Erdogan Campaign
Channels Armenian American Concerns to White House, Congress,
and Media
Armenian Americans concerned about the
Obama-Erdogan agenda have participated in the ANCA’s “Countdown
to Erdogan” campaign – the month-long grassroots initiative to
encourage President Obama to challenge Turkey’s Prime Minister
with the facts of the Armenian Genocide during their December
7th White House meeting.
The “Countdown” has generated media coverage
in the U.S., Turkey, and Armenia, and, as participation in the
campaign grew with each passing week, it came under increasingly
heavy attack from the Turkish lobby. The United Press
International reported, on December 1st, that, “The Armenian
National Committee of America stepped up its lobbying efforts
ahead of the [Erdogan] visit, calling on its supporters to
contact their Washington representatives to encourage Obama to
make true on his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian
genocide.” The Turkish Coalition publicly criticized the
campaign as a political “blitzkrieg.”
The final days of the effort are devoted to
calling directly on President Obama – through phone calls,
letters, and social networking vehicles – to honor his pledge to
recognize the Armenian Genocide and urging him to demonstrate
resolve in working to end the ongoing cycle of genocide and
denial. The calls are increasingly important following a letter
issued by President Obama last week praising the Turkey-Armenia
protocols, and once again, refraining to properly characterize
that crime against humanity.
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