Turkish organizations in U.S. sound alarm

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish organizations in the U.S. have expressed concerns over Armenian lobbying calls for recognition of the Armenian Genocide in a letter to President Barack Obama, who pledged to recognize the Genocide during his election campaign.



"It's would be stating the obvious to observe that Armenian special interest lobbies are pressuring your Administration and Congress to label the tragic events in the waning hours of the Ottoman Empire during World War I as the crime of genocide," the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) said in the name of 53 Turkish American community organizations in the letter published on the group's website on Friday. 



The letter said it would be unfair to "accept a one-sided characterization of the incidents by ignoring independent and impartial assessments by historian and scholars, reminding casualties suffered by Ottoman Muslims during World War I. The letter reiterated Turkey's willingness to accept the findings by an international commission of scholars and experts with access to all relevant archives."



"Armenia should be urged equally to accept the formation and conclusions of such a commission. We see such an effort as the fairest method for assessing the truth, which will pave the way for reconciliation, in lieu of politically charged legislative or executive decisions by third parties," it said, asking Obama to consider the Turkish Americans "views and concerns" on the issue, Hurriyet daily reports.