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ACTIVISTS PROTEST PLANNED WILSON CENTER AWARD TO TURKISH FM
Emil Sanamyan
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2010-0 5-20-activists-protest-planned-wilson-center-award -to-turkish-fm
Thursday May 20, 2010
Washington - Plans by a Washington think tank to award Turkey's foreign
minister have generated protests by Armenian American activists.
According to Turkish media reports, Woodrow Wilson Center for
International Scholars, a congressionally-funded institution, selected
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as a recipient of its public service
award to be presented in Turkey on June 17.
Massachusetts activist David Boyajian initiated the campaign publishing
a commentary about Wilson Center's plans on May 8. Boyajian has
since been joined by others writing letters of protest to the center
and Congress.
Protest letters have noted President Wilson's leadership in American
efforts to condemn the Armenian Genocide and assist its victims.
Activists have argued that an award to a senior official in the
government that continues to deny the Genocide contradict President
Wilson's legacy and also views of Congress, which funds the Wilson
Center.
On May 19, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued an
action alert urging Armenian American and other anti-genocide activists
to ask members of Congress to look into the Center's decision.
"This award dishonors President Wilson's vision of justice for the
Armenian nation," the ANCA-prepared letter argued.
"Mr. Davutoglu represents a government that, in its aggressive denial
of the Armenian Genocide and ongoing obstruction of justice for the
Armenian nation, makes a mockery of the Wilson Center and its founding
commitment to fostering scholarship commemorating 'the ideals and
concerns of Woodrow Wilson.'"
Wilson Center's outgoing president is Lee Hamilton, a former chair
and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had a
mixed record on recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
In Congress until 1999 Rep. Hamilton (D-Ind.) repeatedly issued
statements in support of and occasionally co-sponsored recognition
legislation. But in his statements for the record he curiously avoided
using the term genocide and consistently likened circumstances of
Armenian deaths to a "civil war."
Emil Sanamyan
http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2010-0 5-20-activists-protest-planned-wilson-center-award -to-turkish-fm
Thursday May 20, 2010
Washington - Plans by a Washington think tank to award Turkey's foreign
minister have generated protests by Armenian American activists.
According to Turkish media reports, Woodrow Wilson Center for
International Scholars, a congressionally-funded institution, selected
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as a recipient of its public service
award to be presented in Turkey on June 17.
Massachusetts activist David Boyajian initiated the campaign publishing
a commentary about Wilson Center's plans on May 8. Boyajian has
since been joined by others writing letters of protest to the center
and Congress.
Protest letters have noted President Wilson's leadership in American
efforts to condemn the Armenian Genocide and assist its victims.
Activists have argued that an award to a senior official in the
government that continues to deny the Genocide contradict President
Wilson's legacy and also views of Congress, which funds the Wilson
Center.
On May 19, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued an
action alert urging Armenian American and other anti-genocide activists
to ask members of Congress to look into the Center's decision.
"This award dishonors President Wilson's vision of justice for the
Armenian nation," the ANCA-prepared letter argued.
"Mr. Davutoglu represents a government that, in its aggressive denial
of the Armenian Genocide and ongoing obstruction of justice for the
Armenian nation, makes a mockery of the Wilson Center and its founding
commitment to fostering scholarship commemorating 'the ideals and
concerns of Woodrow Wilson.'"
Wilson Center's outgoing president is Lee Hamilton, a former chair
and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had a
mixed record on recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
In Congress until 1999 Rep. Hamilton (D-Ind.) repeatedly issued
statements in support of and occasionally co-sponsored recognition
legislation. But in his statements for the record he curiously avoided
using the term genocide and consistently likened circumstances of
Armenian deaths to a "civil war."