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REP. SCHIFF PRESSES ERDOGAN, GUL AND OTHER TOP TURKISH OFFICIALS ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, THE BLOCKADE OF ARMENIA, AND THE PLIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF KESSAB AT MEETING IN ANKARA; REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA) NEWS RELEASE
Congressional Documents and Publications
May 13, 2014
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS
Washington, DC -As part of a Congressional Delegation to the Middle
East and Asia focused on terrorism, homeland security and the war in
Syria, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) had separate meetings with
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and
other Turkish high government officials.
In his meeting with the Prime Minister, Schiff challenged the notion
expressed by Erdogan in a recent interview that because there are
Armenian survivors still living in Turkey, there could have been
no genocide. This is the equivalent, Schiff argued, of saying that
because some Jews in Europe escaped death, there was no Holocaust.
Schiff also questioned whether it was possible to have the open
discourse in Turkey about the events of 1915-1923 that Erdogan called
for in his statement of April 23rd, if Turkish professors, historians,
journalists and ordinary citizens still faced demotion, intimidation,
potential prosecution or violence for expressing the conviction that
the Armenian Genocide is a historic fact.
In his meeting with President Gul, Schiff said that he wanted to
speak for the many tens of thousands of his constituents of Armenian
descent who may never get the chance to address the President directly.
"You will not find one of my 80,000 Armenian constituents untouched
by the Genocide," he said. "Each of them has lost a parent or
grandparent, their cousins, brothers or sisters, or their entire
family. Their pain is real, their wounds are open, this is no distant
relic of the past. To say, as you and the Prime Minister have, that
yes, Armenians suffered but so too did Turks during World War I,
is akin to saying that the Germans also suffered during World War
II. It is true that many German civilians died, many noncombatants,
but that does not negate the Holocaust any more than the fact that
many Turks died could negate the Genocide. To propose, as you have,
that a historic commission be established to ascertain the facts of
the Genocide is not unlike suggesting that a commission needs to be
established to determine whether the Holocaust took place."
Schiff also raised the issue of Kessab, and his concern over the
forced evacuation of the historic Armenian community there and the
wellbeing of those residents who are now refugees in Turkey. He also
urged Turkey to decouple the blockade of Armenia from resolution of the
issues concerning Nagorno Karabagh, so that we can bring about an end
to Armenia's economic isolation and a normalization of trade relations.
Read this original document at:
http://schiff.house.gov/press-releases/rep-schiff-presses-erdogan-gul-and-other-top-turkish-officials-on-the-armenian-genocide-the-blockade-of-armenia-and-the-plight-of-the-people-of-kessab-at-meeting-in-ankara/
Congressional Documents and Publications
May 13, 2014
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DOCUMENTS
Washington, DC -As part of a Congressional Delegation to the Middle
East and Asia focused on terrorism, homeland security and the war in
Syria, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) had separate meetings with
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, President Abdullah Gul and
other Turkish high government officials.
In his meeting with the Prime Minister, Schiff challenged the notion
expressed by Erdogan in a recent interview that because there are
Armenian survivors still living in Turkey, there could have been
no genocide. This is the equivalent, Schiff argued, of saying that
because some Jews in Europe escaped death, there was no Holocaust.
Schiff also questioned whether it was possible to have the open
discourse in Turkey about the events of 1915-1923 that Erdogan called
for in his statement of April 23rd, if Turkish professors, historians,
journalists and ordinary citizens still faced demotion, intimidation,
potential prosecution or violence for expressing the conviction that
the Armenian Genocide is a historic fact.
In his meeting with President Gul, Schiff said that he wanted to
speak for the many tens of thousands of his constituents of Armenian
descent who may never get the chance to address the President directly.
"You will not find one of my 80,000 Armenian constituents untouched
by the Genocide," he said. "Each of them has lost a parent or
grandparent, their cousins, brothers or sisters, or their entire
family. Their pain is real, their wounds are open, this is no distant
relic of the past. To say, as you and the Prime Minister have, that
yes, Armenians suffered but so too did Turks during World War I,
is akin to saying that the Germans also suffered during World War
II. It is true that many German civilians died, many noncombatants,
but that does not negate the Holocaust any more than the fact that
many Turks died could negate the Genocide. To propose, as you have,
that a historic commission be established to ascertain the facts of
the Genocide is not unlike suggesting that a commission needs to be
established to determine whether the Holocaust took place."
Schiff also raised the issue of Kessab, and his concern over the
forced evacuation of the historic Armenian community there and the
wellbeing of those residents who are now refugees in Turkey. He also
urged Turkey to decouple the blockade of Armenia from resolution of the
issues concerning Nagorno Karabagh, so that we can bring about an end
to Armenia's economic isolation and a normalization of trade relations.
Read this original document at:
http://schiff.house.gov/press-releases/rep-schiff-presses-erdogan-gul-and-other-top-turkish-officials-on-the-armenian-genocide-the-blockade-of-armenia-and-the-plight-of-the-people-of-kessab-at-meeting-in-ankara/