WASHINGTON, DC – In the interest of preventing further regional unrest – and mindful of Turkey’s violent legacy in the Middle East – the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) this week expressed the Armenian American community’s opposition to the prospect of Turkish armed forces being deployed between Lebanon and Israel as part of a future peacekeeping operation.
In an August 9th letter to President George W. Bush, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian called upon the Administration to oppose any proposal to include Turkish troops in such a deployment, noting that, “Turkey’s presence on Lebanese soil will only make the current situation even worse.” He added that, “as Armenian Americans – the sons and daughters of a people who endured genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government – we are especially mindful of raising the legacy of Turkey’s brutal Ottoman rule over the Middle East and unnecessarily introducing a nation with history of destabilizing behavior into an already complex and highly sensitive region.”
Stressing that, “Turkey’s record of persecution and genocide has left deep scars in the collective memory of the Lebanese people,” Hachikian explained that, “it would be immensely insensitive on the part of the United States to promote Turkish participation in an international peacekeeping force that will need every ounce of credibility and goodwill that it can muster in order to succeed in such a highly delicate and challenging mission.”
The opposition of the Greek American community on this matter was communicated to the President last week in a letter from the American Hellenic Institute.
The complete text of the ANCA’s letter to President Bush is provided below.
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August 9, 2006
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to share with you the Armenian American community’s opposition to any deployment by Turkey of its armed forces to serve as part of peacekeeping force between Lebanon and Israel. We learned of this possibility from news reports of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent discussions in the region.
The presence of Turkish troops would undermine United States’ interests in a lasting and durable peace. As Armenian Americans – the sons and daughters of a people who endured genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government – we are especially mindful of raising the legacy of Turkey’s brutal Ottoman rule over the Middle East and unnecessarily introducing a nation with history of destabilizing behavior into an already complex and highly sensitive region.
Turkey’s record of persecution and genocide has left deep scars in the collective memory of the Lebanese people. The famous Martyrs’ Monument in Central Beirut is a vivid reminder of the record of mass brutality that Turkey has left behind in this tortured land. It would be immensely insensitive on the part of the United States to promote Turkish participation in an international peacekeeping force that will need every ounce of credibility and goodwill that it can muster in order to succeed in such a highly delicate and challenging mission. Turkey’s presence on Lebanese soil will only make the current situation even worse.
As Armenian Americans, we are, as you know, profoundly troubled that, more than eight decades after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey continues to deny this atrocity. The Turkish government has compounded their ongoing attempts to escape responsibility for this crime, effectively seeking to complete the evil campaign launched in 1915, by, even today, blockading and seeking to isolate Armenia. In addition, Turkey maintains its military occupation of Cyprus, more than thirty years after its illegal 1974 invasion. Within its own borders, Turkey is regularly cited as among the worst abusers of human rights. In only the past few days, the Turkish military has, against the advice of U.S. officials, threatened to launch cross border attacks into Iraq, a move that has the potential of severely destabilizing U.S.-led coalition efforts to bring peace to this troubled nation.
As you know, Turkey has, in recent years, proven itself an unreliable U.S. ally on a number of occasions. First and foremost among these was its refusal, in March of 2003, to allow Coalition forces to open a northern front in the Iraq War. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has said that the strength of the current Iraqi insurgency is due, in large part, to Turkey’s rejection of our request for cooperation in this crucial aspect of the war.
Mr. President, we respectfully call upon you to consider our reservations, and those already expressed to you by our friends in the Greek American community, on this matter of profound importance to our nation’s interests in the Middle East.
Sincerely yours,
[signed]
Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman
