Campaign to Feature 28 days of Armenian Genocide Affirmation Activities Leading up to December 7th White House Visit by Turkey’s Prime Minister
WASHINGTON–The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Monday unveiled “Countdown to Erdogan” – a month-long campaign of grassroots activism aimed at encouraging the U.S. Congress, the media, and – ultimately – the White House to put America on the right side of the Armenian Genocide.
Starting on Monday, November 9th, the ANCA website www.anca.org/countdown will launch a new action item every day, ranging from on-line activism and call-in days to social networking, coalition-building, community outreach, and hands-on activities – all aimed at educating and inspiring President Obama, on December 7th, to tell Prime Minister Erdogan, to his face, that American stands for a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide. Each week will also include at least one action item geared to end the ongoing genocide in Darfur, as part of the ANCA’s broader commitment to fostering U.S leadership in ending the cycle of genocide.
The first week of the campaign will address the U.S. Senate, the second the U.S. House, followed by the media on the third week, and then a final push in the final seven days directly to the White House. President Obama is set to meet with President Erdogan on December 7th. On the first day of the campaign, November 9th, activists are urged to send a free ANCA WebFax to their Senators and encourage them to cosponsor the Armenian Genocide Resolution, H.Res.316, spearheaded by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and John Ensign (R-NV). A special Call-in Day for Senators is set for Thursday, November 12th.
“As we all know far too well, when President Obama met this April in Ankara with Prime Minister Erdogan, he got it wrong, breaking his clearly and repeatedly stated promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, in a letter to campaign participants. “Even worse, in the weeks that followed, he compounded his broken pledge by joining with Turkey in pressuring Armenia, a landlocked and blockaded country, into accepting a historical “commission” that calls into question this very crime against humanity. This time, on American soil, President Obama has a chance to make it right – to honor his pledge and be, as he stated during the campaign, the President the American people deserve.”
The “Countdown to Erdogan” campaign launch coincides with recent statements by Prime Minister Erdogan denying both the Armenian and Darfur genocides. In recent remarks, he asserted that “It’s not possible for a Muslim to commit genocide.” His statements came in response to international pressure on Turkey to arrest Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir during a scheduled visit, later postponed, to Ankara. “We are comfortable [with the visit of al-Bashir],” explained Erdogan.
President Obama, I supported you with great enthusiasm but now I really am dissapointed. Please make it right.
President Obama, I didn’t believe you from day one. You lied, backstabbed and befriended the foreign enemy.
I knew you would gladly lie for political expediency and you did. You’re out of line and you know it, now implement change or be the consequence of change.
Obama shmobama. He showed his real collor.
Yes i voted for him believing in the change he promissed but he wont see it next time .
He is nothing but an average lying polatition whoe will say anything to be ellected.
we wont fall for it next time , unless he makes it wright.
Mr President proove me wrong.
Taraf writer threatened over adaptation of Atatürk address
Taraf daily’s columnist Sevan Nişanyan, who wrote a humanistic adaptation of Atatürk’s “Address to Turkish Youth,” a patriotic speech calling on young people to protect their country at all costs, published e-mails received from irate nationalists and filled with threats and vulgar language in his column yesterday.
In his adaptation, Nişanyan replaced the first sentence of the address, “Your first duty is to preserve and to defend Turkish Independence and the Turkish Republic forever,” with “Your first duty is to be a human being.” The sentences: “This is the very foundation of your existence and your future. This foundation is your most precious treasure. In the future, too, there may be malevolent people at home and abroad, who will wish to deprive you of this treasure” in the original were changed to: “The very foundation of being human is love toward other human beings. All through your life, you shall consider it a duty for yourself to teach beauty, reason and justice to people. If you have knowledge, you will share it without expecting anything in return.” The rest of Nişanyan’s adaptation was a treatise on the equality of all human beings.
However, the backlash from some among the Turkish youth was spine-chilling. “We will make you write the correct version of the ‘Address to Youth’ with your own blood. … I’ll kill you like that Hrant Dink dog,” said one of the messages, most of whose text was not suitable for replication here.
Another one said: “I have been praying for years to be able to kill one of your kind when I’m on my army duty. I would do this in cold blood and killing your ilk would not hurt my conscience at all but would give me honor. … You should know that we are waiting for the tiniest spark.” Another message was the sender’s own adaptation, “Turkish Youth! Your primary duty is to adopt as a principle to wipe from the earth for the sake of Turkishness and humanity the Armenians and Kurds, that champion enmity against Turks and which are the most debased nations on earth.”
Yet another version started: “Oh You! The despicable creature who thinks himself a man because you know how to write. You and your ilk will see the power of the Turkish Nation very soon. Armenians and others, those who continue their corrupted intrigues to separate the country despite all the tolerance we have shown will pay the price they deserve to pay in the near future. Now is your day to speak, but don’t you worry; that will change in a year or two. The day we’ll settle accounts with you is near! We’ll see if you can show the same courage then!! Find a hole to hide in, you separatist PKK-supporting traitors.”
“Yours is a cowardly nation. You can write all you want about Atatürk; you’ll never have the strength to destroy his republic. But you and your owners who hold your leash should remember that the thing that can cross your immunity and protection is a 9mm bullet.” Other messages accused him of being a lapdog of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.