US Turkic Network issued a letter regarding H.Res. 306, which accuses Turkey of destroying its Christian heritage. The letter, is as follows;
Dear USTN members and friends,
Tomorrow is the voting on HR 306 - please urgently send your letters, just like you did months ago when USTN started this joint campaign with other Turkish organizations. You have the action letter below. Also, we strongly urge you to call your members of Congress early in the morning tomorrow - USTN makes it very easy for you, just follow this link, it provides the phone number of your congressman and a phone script of what to say. Also, it allows you to send us your comments about the conversation you had. Thank you.
USTN Action Letter
http://ADVOCACY.usazeris.org/link/target/azeri/B65yyt7i.aspx
The House Resolution HR 306, sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman and Edward Royce, and due for vote tomorrow, falsely accuses Turkey of destruction of Christian heritage of ancient and modern Turkey as a form of genocide against Christians.
Turkish policy is to prevent or redress any violation of religious rights by accepting the absolute jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. Turkish policy is also to rehabilitate and place into public service as many religious sites as is feasible.
In a country that offers more than 10,000 years of human history and even greater numbers of sacred sites, the task of restoring, protecting, and placing into public service this rich cultural heritage is expensive, time-consuming, and delicate work, and rarely assisted by others. Turkey has taken the following actions:
• In 2005, Turkey and the Landmarks Foundation restored the Akhtamar Church in Van; five years later, the Armenian church commenced services.
• Turkey and the Landmarks Foundation is restoring the Balyan Church in Istanbul.
• Turkey independently is restoring the Holy Savior Cathedral in Ani.
• In 2010, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul commenced services in the Sumela Monastery in Trabzon, and thousands of worshippers attended.
People of Turkish heritage have a tradition of protecting and accepting refugees of religious persecution, including the Armenians during Byzantine times, Jews during the European Inquisitions, Jews during the Holocaust, Bulgarian Turks in the 1980s, Bosnians in the 1990s and Syrians in 2011.
Today, the Jewish population of Turkey is the second largest in the former Ottoman lands, Israel having the highest. There are 19 synagogues in Istanbul alone.
The frequency, gross inaccuracies, and derogatory tone of the HR 306 reflect an anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim prejudice and create a dangerous atmosphere of hatred directed at Americans of Turkish heritage. It is no coincidence that both co-authors of this flawed resolution hail from California, home to the 500,000 Armenian lobby. These resolutions deny people of Turkish and Muslim heritage fairness and justice, because they place the House, a politically motivated body, in the seat of an arbiter of ethnic disputes. Furthermore, these resolutions harm U.S. interests in an increasingly complex region by harming U.S.-Turkish relations.
I joint the U.S. Turkic Network (USTN) in asking you to provide no quarter to these misleading resolutions, to ethnic feuds on Capitol Hill, and to bigotry and hatred cloaked as human-rights resolutions.
USTN supporter
Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://ADVOCACY.usazeris.org/link/target/azeri/B65yyt7i.aspx
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