Accusations against ANCA might be initiated by Turkish lobby

PanARMENIAN.Net - Accusations against the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) are purely political ARF Dashnaktsutyun Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Director said.



"The ANCA is registered as a public non-profit organization. It's not a charity organization, as it is inferred from the of CREW incriminations. ANCA is not registered as a lobbyist organization either in the House of Representatives or Senate," Kiro Manoyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



"These accusations might be initiated by the Turkish lobby. Should there be any financial violations, the American Government would have noticed them," he emphasized.



"The accusations are much too serious. Discredit is thrown upon the voices of 15 senators, 211 congressmen and U.S. President Barack Obama," Manoyan said.



The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington asked Wednesday federal agencies to investigate the Armenian National Committee of America for alleged campaign-finance and lobbying violations.



In a seven-page complaint, the CREW asserts that the Armenian-American group failed to register either as a domestic lobbying group or as a foreign agent despite its political work and its close ties to an Armenian political party.



"We're not saying they should be out of business," said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who's now the head of the private Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "We're saying there are laws and they should be following them."