HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

Q: How do you expect the issue of “Armenian genocide” to be settled after the decision of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress?

A: It will be the same as last year and the years before – the resolution would “die” in this session of Congress, and “resurface” in the next Congress (next year). This trick, courtesy of the Armenian lobby and its friends at the Armenian Caucus, will keep re-appearing for as long as Turkey plays on defensive, whilst the Armenian lobby feels this is the only subject that can energize and mobilize the Armenian diaspora worldwide.

Q: Considering the fact that the US administration is against the recognition of the “Armenian genocide” by Congress, is it possible to say that this issue will not be put for voting in the House of Representatives?

A: I think it’s virtually impossible for the resolution to be scheduled for a vote on the floor of the Congress. Firstly, because there won’t be enough votes. Secondly, because of the opposition from the Administration, business circles, some historians, the Turkish government as well as the Turkish-American and Azerbaijani-American diasporas. And thirdly, because U.S. Congress has a lot of truly important legislature to take care of – such as jobs bill, climate change bill, financial regulations, etc.

Q: Do you think President Barack Obama will call the 1915 events in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” in his traditional annual speech on April 24?

A: He will not use the English (Latin) word "genocide", but just like last year, would probably use the Armenian term “Metz yeghern” instead.

Q: Which actions do you expect the Armenian Diaspora to take over the date of “genocide” and are Turkish and Azerbaijani diaspora organizations preparing the response actions?

A: While the Armenian diaspora and lobby will be doing the traditional demonstrations, saturation of TV, radio and newspaper coverage, as well as more presentations and speeches at the conferences and seminars, at the same time they are preparing for the big date – year 2015. For that year, they are working on a number of book projects and films, as well as want to open their museum in Washington D.C. Needless to say that the Turkic-Americans are engaged in defending the image, honor and record of Turkey and the Turks, and inform the scholarly as well as wider public about the multitude of facts that are omitted and not mentioned by the Armenian lobby. 

Q: Do you think the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations is possible after the attempts by Armenian lobby to impose the recognition of “genocide” to the United States? If yes, how far can this process go?

A: If such a resolution would ever pass the U.S. Congress, or an American President is ever to classify the events of 1915, which were equally tragic for Turks, Kurds, Azeris, and Armenians, just to name a few, as “genocide”, it would lead to short-term and even medium-term deterioration of relations between U.S. and Turkey, and make any kind of “normalization” between Armenia and Turkey impossible. Mindful of that, the U.S. leadership would not allow such a resolution to pass, or president’s speech to include the word “genocide”.

Meanwhile, I do expect people in both Armenia and Turkey to attempt to improve the relations between these two nations. Of course, Armenia knows what it can do to quickly improve its relations not just with Turkey, but also with Azerbaijan, but for some reason is not taking the right step. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as all rational people in U.S., Europe and elsewhere, should urge Armenia and its people to realize some of the basic facts, ranging from demography to economy and finance to even history, and urge a more rational behavior and response.

Q: How do you assess the unity and organization of the Azerbaijani diaspora in the United States?

A: It has come a long way – compare the achievements of our diaspora from 5, 10, or 20 years ago with what it has now – it’s a huge positive difference. We have become recognized as a factor and actor of international relations and domestic politics. Just 5 years ago this was not so. Today, Azerbaijani-Americans have their candidates running for political office, dozens of articles published in the press each year, active participation at conferences, seminars and forums, some 130,000 letters and faxes sent to member of Congress and other elected officials, over a hundred proclamations, and much more. But of course, there is still a lot to do and learn. It’s not fair to expect a relatively new community of 400,000 Azerbaijani-Americans to come very close in a short time to the level of the 2 million strong Armenian community that has been in U.S. for over a century. At the same time, at least politically, the Azerbaijani-Americans have almost reached the level of the Russian-Americans, and are far more active than the Georgian, Moldovan/Romanian or any other Turkic community save the Turkish-Americans.

Q: Does our diaspora take any steps to attain the full elimination of 907 amendment to the Act on support of freedom adopted by the Congress in 1992?

A: Of course, and not only Section 907 of the 1992 Freedom Support Act, but also the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, the issue of so-called military parity, and the outrageous act of direct aid to the Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

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