WASHINGTON, DC –The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has welcomed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s first-ever public assertion that the U.S. government is actively pressing the highest levels of the Turkish government to restore confiscated properties to religious communities.

Secretary Clinton’s acknowledgment of Washington’s pressure on Ankara came in a written response to an August 15, 2011 ANCA letter in which the organization’s national chairman, Ken Hachikian, shared with her the Armenian American community’s objections to U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone’s serious mischaracterization regarding the number of Christian churches that escaped Ottoman and, later, Republican Turkey’s campaigns of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and cultural destruction.

Secretary Clinton, in her response, stated: “We continue to stress the importance we attach to religious freedom in Turkey with Turkish leaders. We also continue to raise our concerns regarding the restoration of previously confiscated properties to religious communities with Turkish authorities at the highest levels. In this regard, we will be following closely the implementation of the Government of Turkey’s August 27 decree to return all confiscated immovable property belonging to 162 officially recognized non-Muslim religious community foundations in Turkey.”

The letter from Secretary Clinton, coming less than two months after the near-unanimous July 20th vote by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee calling on the State Department to pressure Turkey to return stolen Christian churches, reflects the growing momentum of the “return of churches” movement among Armenian Americans, other Christian groups persecuted by Turkey, and, more broadly, by advocates of religious freedom. The controversy over Ambassador Ricciardone’s mistaken response, which was viewed widely as a bid to appease Ankara, delayed his confirmation by the U.S. Senate until October 4th.

In the ANCA’s response to Secretary Clinton’s letter, Hachikian noted that: “We welcome your commitment to the restoration by Turkey of all confiscated religious properties, and look forward to your leadership in producing concrete results in support of our nation’s policy on this matter. Your powerful words – stated in no uncertain terms – provide reassurance that we, as Americans, are on the side of justice on this issue of fundamental fairness and religious freedom.” He added that: “The Armenian American community will stand in solidarity with you – as will all concerned Americans – as you pursue this matter with the Turkish government in the months to come. We respectfully ask you, Madam Secretary, to stay firm in this diplomacy. We ask, as well, that you appropriately dismiss superficial and token acts by the Turkish government, including isolated restorations and conversions of churches into museums, designed to distract attention from the pressing need for Ankara’s acceptance of a comprehensive resolution of the vast theft and destruction of religious properties.”

Hachikian also reviewed for Secretary Clinton the Armenian American community’s profound disappointment over the legacy of U.S. complicity in Turkey’s campaign to block a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide, stating: “Our diplomatic record shows that American leaders have repeatedly caved in to Turkish government pressure, effectively allowing the most extremist and intolerant domestic constituencies within Turkish society to dictate American policy on the Armenian Genocide and other vital issues concerning justice, religious freedom, and human rights. Our ill-advised appeasement of such irrational and hateful views continues to undermine the small, but growing, element of civil society within Turkey that has shown tremendous courage in demanding that their government speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and behave justly with the Armenian people.”

The ANCA concluded its letter with its traditional request that Secretary Clinton hold a meeting with the broad-based collective leadership of the Armenian American community.

For additional information on this subject, visit:

ANCA Policy Brief: Ensuring a Safe and Secure Right of Return for Artsakh’s Armenians

Provided below are the texts of 1) Secretary Clinton’s September 14th letter to the ANCA, and 2) the ANCA’s October 13, 2011 response to Secretary Clinton.

TEXT OF SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON’S LETTER TO THE ANCA

September 14, 2011

Mr. Kenneth Hachikian
Chairman
Armenian National Committee of America
Washington, DC 20036

Dear Mr. Hachikian:

Thank you for your letter outlining concerns about Francis J. Ricciardone, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey.

I have the fullest confidence in Ambassador Ricciardone. His record of service to our country is exceptional, and I believe he is the right choice to continue to lead the U.S. mission in Turkey.

With respect to the particular issues you raised in your letter, I draw your attention to the August 16 clarification provided to Senator Menendez on the question of religious property, which stated: “Most of the Christian churches functioning prior to 1915 are no longer operating as churches. Christian community contacts in Turkey report that a total of 200-250 churches that date to 1915 and before offer Christian worship services at least once a year. Many churches do not offer services every week due to insufficient clergy or local Christian populations. Some churches of significance operate as museums, others have been converted into mosques or put to other uses. Still others have fallen into disrepair or may have been totally destroyed.”

We continue to stress the importance we attach to religious freedom in Turkey with Turkish leaders. We also continue to raise our concerns regarding the restoration of previously confiscated properties to religious communities with Turkish authorities at the highest levels. In this regard, we will be following closely the implementation of the Government of Turkey’s August 27 decree to return all confiscated immovable property belonging to 162 officially recognized non-Muslim religious community foundations in Turkey.

I take your concerns seriously, and I know from my own discussions with Ambassador Ricciardone that he does as well.

Sincerely yours,

[signed]
Hillary Rodham Clinton

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TEXT OF ANCA’S RESPONSE TO SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON

October 13, 2011

Dear Secretary Clinton:

I am writing to thank you for your letter of September 14, 2011 reiterating the State Department’s support for religious freedom in Turkey and the restoration, by the Turkish government, of confiscated religious properties to their rightful owners.

As you know, the issue of stolen religious properties belonging to the Armenians and other Christian communities in the territory of present-day Turkey has a long, tragic, and still unresolved history. The systematic theft and destruction of thousands of holy sites, as well as of a vast number of community and privately held properties, dates back to the earliest stages of the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of its Christian communities, and, sadly, extends, through to the present-day, in the form of the Republic of Turkey’s ongoing efforts to erase the legacy of the vast Christian heritage in these biblical lands. Extensive documentation about the identity, location, history and present state of these properties exists in church, academic, and government archives around the world.

We are gratified that this fundamental issue of religious freedom and fairness is currently on the Congressional agenda. The House Foreign Affairs Committee, on July 20, 2011, voted 43 to 1 to adopt an amendment encouraging you, as Secretary of State, to impress upon the Government of Turkey that it must return stolen Christian churches and all religious properties to their rightful owners. The return of these sacred sites and properties to their rightful Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Pontian, and Syriac church and lay owners is, by any moral or legal standard, long overdue. In the case of Armenian religious properties, rightful return will, of course, involve the legal restoration of thousands of properties to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, the Holy See of Cilicia, the Armenian Catholic Church, the Armenian Evangelical Church, and the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Constantinople.

We welcome your commitment to the restoration by Turkey of all confiscated religious properties, and look forward to your leadership in producing concrete results in support of our nation’s policy on this matter. Your powerful words – stated in no uncertain terms – provide reassurance that we, as Americans, are on the side of justice on this issue of fundamental fairness and religious freedom.

The Armenian American community will stand in solidarity with you – as will all concerned Americans – as you pursue this matter with the Turkish government in the months to come. We respectfully ask you, Madam Secretary, to stay firm in this diplomacy. We ask, as well, that you appropriately dismiss superficial and token acts by the Turkish government, including isolated restorations and conversions of churches into museums, designed to distract attention from the pressing need for Ankara’s acceptance of a comprehensive resolution of the vast theft and destruction of religious properties.

Our diplomatic record shows that American leaders have repeatedly caved in to Turkish government pressure, effectively allowing the most extremist and intolerant domestic constituencies within Turkish society to dictate American policy on the Armenian Genocide and other vital issues concerning justice, religious freedom, and human rights. Our ill-advised appeasement of such irrational and hateful views continues to undermine the small, but growing, element of civil society within Turkey that has shown tremendous courage in demanding that their government speak truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and behave justly with the Armenian people.

Your support for Turkey’s restoration of confiscated religious properties, taken to its logical fruition, would help bring about a new era of American-Turkish relations – based on the principles of fairness, tolerance, and mutual respect – while also, facilitating meaningful progress toward a truthful, just, and comprehensive resolution of the Armenian Genocide.

We would be pleased to work closely with you and your State Department team as the future steps in this effort are planned and implemented. As always, we look forward to meeting with you and your colleagues, as part of a broad-based consultation with Armenian American community leaders, to share our views on the specifics of this issue, and also to bring our considerable expertise to the compilation of a comprehensive database of religious properties.

Sincerely,

[signed]
Kenneth V. Hachikian
Chairman