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U.S. Congressmen Condemn Turkey's Threats

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  • U.S. Congressmen Condemn Turkey's Threats

    U.S. CONGRESSMEN CONDEMN TURKEY'S THREATS

    PanARMENIAN.Net -
    April 6, 2010 - 13:03 AMT 08:03 GMT

    Congressmen Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have spoken out
    forcefully against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
    chilling warning - clearly intended to intimidate Armenia by raising
    the specter of 1915 - that Ankara may respond to international
    recognition of the Armenian Genocide by launching a new wave of
    deportations of Armenians living in Turkey, reported the Armenian
    National Committee of America (ANCA).

    "Prime Minister Erdogan's cruel threat to expel Armenians from
    Turkey as punishment for the House Foreign Affairs Committee's recent
    markup of my Armenian Genocide commemoration resolution is the latest
    example of a longstanding policy of using Armenians as 'human shields'
    in Ankara's campaign of genocide denial," said Congressman Schiff,
    the lead author of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. "Ninety-five
    years after Ottoman troops forced marched hundreds of thousands of
    Armenians through the desert and to their deaths, Erdogan's comments
    add a new measure of cruelty towards the survivors and their families."

    "Turkey's threat of deportation against Armenian migrants, whether
    documented or undocumented, is irresponsible, especially considering
    that Armenia-Turkey relations continue to be haunted by the Armenian
    Genocide," said Congressman Costa, a leading member of the House
    Foreign Affairs Committee.

    "Congressman Costa and Schiff's powerful and principled comments
    condemning Prime Minister Erdogan's threats to deport Armenians stand
    in sharp contrast to the State Department's strained and, frankly
    implausible, efforts to somehow dismiss Ankara's chilling warnings as
    a simple immigration issue," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of
    the ANCA. "Erdogan's comments were clear, as was his obvious intention
    to use the specter of 1915 to intimidate the Armenian people."

    Earlier today, noted columnist Christopher Hitchens explained that
    Erdogan's threat was akin to the Turkish leader saying: "If democratic
    assemblies dare to mention the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the
    20th century, I will personally complete that cleansing in the 21st!"

    He was also sharply critical of the U.S. silence in response to this
    ominous warning.

    In recent weeks, the London Times has called Turkey's threats to expel
    Armenians "unconscionable" and "shameful," and The London Daily News
    noted Turkey was "entering the dark ages mode."
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