With Israel's foreign policy in the bag, Ankara now seeks to regulate Jewish diasporan organisation's behaviour
Today's Zaman
31.08.2007
Þensoy warns Israel could be hurt by genocide debate
Though the Turkish government is strongly opposed to any congressional
action by the United States, the Turkish Jewish community has nothing
to fear -- but Turkey's relations with Israel and the US would
probably not survive such a resolution unscathed, said Turkish
Ambassador to the US Nabi Þensoy in remarks to the New York-based
Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).
"I cannot really dismiss that if this resolution does pass, there will
be certain impacts on certain relationships. There is no doubt about
it," Þensoy was quoted as saying in an interview with the JTA this
week.
Last week, the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reversed its
long-time policy concerning the killings of Anatolian Armenians in the
early 20th century and said the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
"were indeed tantamount to genocide."
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a
systematic genocide campaign by Ottoman Turks around the time of World
War I, but Ankara categorically rejects the label, saying that both
Armenians and Turks died in civil strife during World War I, when the
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with Russian troops that were invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
Þensoy also voiced uneasiness over certain emphasis by the ADL on
concerns over safety of the Jewish community in Turkey. "I'm very
disturbed to hear this kind of remark coming from anywhere.
They seem to be forgetting the history of Turks and Jews, which
goes back at least 500 years. We've always had the best of relations
between Turks and Jews and the Turkish Jewish community is
part-and-parcel -- and an integral part -- of the Turkish community,"
he said.
Similar remarks reflecting Ankara's uneasiness on the same point were
delivered by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Levent Bilman last week
when he reacted against the ADL statement. "The Jewish community in
our country is a part of our society and there isn't any particularity
that they should fear concerning developments related to the Armenian
allegations," Bilman said.
"We are expecting the American Jewish organizations to be neutral
about this. Although we're aware of the fact that this is a very
sensitive issue for the Israeli people and the Jewish community, what
we have to seek is the truth," Þensoy told JTA.
ADL complains about The Jewish Advocate
An article penned by ADL National Director Abraham Foxman and
published in a Boston newspaper, The Jewish Advocate, on Monday was
widely interpreted in Turkey as an apparent show of determination in
the ADL's stance, vowing that they will "not hesitate to apply the
term genocide in the future." The fact that Foxman's article was
published after he last week sent a letter addressing Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, saying that the ADL has huge respect
for the Turkish people and has never desired to put the Turkish people
and their leaders into a difficult situation, led to that particular
interpretation.
Yet, ADL directors told Turkish officials that the article by Foxman
was actually posted to The Jewish Advocate as of last week, not after
Foxman's letter to Erdoðan, a senior Turkish diplomat, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told Today's Zaman on Thursday. The same
ADL directors expressed uneasiness over the choice of the newspaper to
publish the article as if it were a brand-new article and asked the
newspaper to remove the article from their Web site, the same Turkish
diplomat said.
The diplomat reiterated Ankara's expectation of a "rectification" of
their statement by the ADL. Earlier this week, when asked by Today's
Zaman to elaborate on how a "rectification" could be made by the ADL,
Bilman said the right address for consulting such controversial
matters was historians and that the ADL should refer to historians
after making such an assertive allegation and then review its
statement. "The issue is not closed for Ankara until such a review and
rectification is made. We expect the ADL to rectify its statement
because it is obvious that there is no consensus among historians on
how to qualify the 1915 incidents, contrary to what the ADL has
claimed," he said.
31.08.2007
Þensoy warns Israel could be hurt by genocide debate
Though the Turkish government is strongly opposed to any congressional
action by the United States, the Turkish Jewish community has nothing
to fear -- but Turkey's relations with Israel and the US would
probably not survive such a resolution unscathed, said Turkish
Ambassador to the US Nabi Þensoy in remarks to the New York-based
Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).
"I cannot really dismiss that if this resolution does pass, there will
be certain impacts on certain relationships. There is no doubt about
it," Þensoy was quoted as saying in an interview with the JTA this
week.
Last week, the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reversed its
long-time policy concerning the killings of Anatolian Armenians in the
early 20th century and said the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
"were indeed tantamount to genocide."
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a
systematic genocide campaign by Ottoman Turks around the time of World
War I, but Ankara categorically rejects the label, saying that both
Armenians and Turks died in civil strife during World War I, when the
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with Russian troops that were invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.
Þensoy also voiced uneasiness over certain emphasis by the ADL on
concerns over safety of the Jewish community in Turkey. "I'm very
disturbed to hear this kind of remark coming from anywhere.
They seem to be forgetting the history of Turks and Jews, which
goes back at least 500 years. We've always had the best of relations
between Turks and Jews and the Turkish Jewish community is
part-and-parcel -- and an integral part -- of the Turkish community,"
he said.
Similar remarks reflecting Ankara's uneasiness on the same point were
delivered by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Levent Bilman last week
when he reacted against the ADL statement. "The Jewish community in
our country is a part of our society and there isn't any particularity
that they should fear concerning developments related to the Armenian
allegations," Bilman said.
"We are expecting the American Jewish organizations to be neutral
about this. Although we're aware of the fact that this is a very
sensitive issue for the Israeli people and the Jewish community, what
we have to seek is the truth," Þensoy told JTA.
ADL complains about The Jewish Advocate
An article penned by ADL National Director Abraham Foxman and
published in a Boston newspaper, The Jewish Advocate, on Monday was
widely interpreted in Turkey as an apparent show of determination in
the ADL's stance, vowing that they will "not hesitate to apply the
term genocide in the future." The fact that Foxman's article was
published after he last week sent a letter addressing Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan, saying that the ADL has huge respect
for the Turkish people and has never desired to put the Turkish people
and their leaders into a difficult situation, led to that particular
interpretation.
Yet, ADL directors told Turkish officials that the article by Foxman
was actually posted to The Jewish Advocate as of last week, not after
Foxman's letter to Erdoðan, a senior Turkish diplomat, speaking on
condition of anonymity, told Today's Zaman on Thursday. The same
ADL directors expressed uneasiness over the choice of the newspaper to
publish the article as if it were a brand-new article and asked the
newspaper to remove the article from their Web site, the same Turkish
diplomat said.
The diplomat reiterated Ankara's expectation of a "rectification" of
their statement by the ADL. Earlier this week, when asked by Today's
Zaman to elaborate on how a "rectification" could be made by the ADL,
Bilman said the right address for consulting such controversial
matters was historians and that the ADL should refer to historians
after making such an assertive allegation and then review its
statement. "The issue is not closed for Ankara until such a review and
rectification is made. We expect the ADL to rectify its statement
because it is obvious that there is no consensus among historians on
how to qualify the 1915 incidents, contrary to what the ADL has
claimed," he said.
TURKEY: ISRAEL COULD SUFFER FROM ARMENIAN DEBATE
By Ben Harris, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A, CA
Aug 30 2007
The Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) reversal last week of its position
on the Armenian genocide has set off a flurry of diplomatic activity
in Turkey and Israel.
Officials in Ankara and Jerusalem, in coordination with American
Jewish leaders, were working this week to contain the fallout from
the ADL's statement, which recognized the World War I massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "tantamount to genocide."
The ADL was forced to reverse its longstanding position - shared
by other major American Jewish organizations - of neutrality on the
genocide question amid growing dissension within its own ranks.
Jewish leaders warned that recognizing the genocide, as Congress is
now considering, could undermine American strategic interests in the
Middle East and Turkey's robust military and economic partnership
with Israel. Also deemed at risk was the security of Turkish Jewry,
which sent a letter earlier this year opposing a congressional
resolution on the matter.
Nabi Sensoy, Turkey's ambassador in Washington, told JTA that his
government was strongly opposed to any congressional action, but that
the Turkish Jewish community had nothing to fear in any case. Sensoy
was less sure that Turkey's relations with Israel and the United
States would survive a resolution unscathed.
"I cannot really dismiss that if this resolution does pass that there
will be certain impacts on certain relationships," Sensoy said.
"There is no doubt about it."
Of those raising the specter of reprisals against Turkish Jewry,
Sensoy said, "I'm very disturbed to hear this kind of remark coming
from anywhere. They seem to be forgetting the history of Turks and
Jews, which goes back at least 500 years. We've always had the best
of relations between Turks and Jews, and the Turkish Jewish community
is part and parcel, and an integral part, of the Turkish community."
What began more than a month ago as a small local protest against
an ADL-sponsored program in the Boston suburbs has escalated into
an international crisis with a nation deemed central to American
interests and Israeli security.
Turkey is Israel's closest - and arguably its only - regional ally
and is central to American policy in the Middle East. Mindful of
Turkey's importance, the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations began a series of discussions on the matter last
week. Malcolm Hoenlein, the group's executive vice chairman, told
JTA that the conference had not yet decided how or whether to respond.
"As wiser heads have prevailed, people are looking for us to play a
role in trying to control and calm down the situation so there are
no ramifications and repercussions that have nothing to do with the
substance" of the issue, Hoenlein said.
Though Jewish groups have toed a careful line on the genocide question
for years, the issue exploded last month after the town council
of Watertown, Mass., home to one of the country's largest Armenian
communities, voted to sever ties with an ADL anti-bigotry program in
protest of the organization's refusal to acknowledge the genocide.
After the vote, the ADL's regional director in Boston, Andrew Tarsy,
switched gears and condemned his organization's position. Tarsy was
promptly fired by ADL national director Abraham Foxman.
The Boston ADL leadership rebelled and with pressure mounting, Foxman
reversed himself last week, acknowledging that the "consequences" of
Ottoman massacres of Armenians were "tantamount to genocide." Tarsy
was reinstated Monday as Boston director.
An outraged Turkey communicated its dismay to Israeli and Jewish
leaders, with some Turkish officials suggesting that Israel had to
"deliver" American Jewish groups on this issue.
Namik Tan, Turkey's ambassador, reportedly said that his country
believed its strategic relationship with Israel also involved the
whole Jewish world.
The Turkish people "cannot make that differentiation" between Israel
and American Jewish organizations, Nan told The Jerusalem Post.
"On some issues there is no such thing as 'Israel cannot deliver~B'"
he continued, adding that this was one of those issues.
According to an unofficial translation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
issued a statement saying use of the genocide label is "historically
and legally baseless" and accusing the ADL of trying to "rewrite the
history" of the period.
"We consider the statement of the ADL as an injustice to the unique
character of the Holocaust, as well as to the memories of its victims,"
the statement said. "We expect it to be rectified."
On Sunday, the ADL released a second statement reiterating its support
for a joint Turkish-Armenian commission to investigate the matter
- a move Turkey supports - and its opposition to a resolution in
Congress. Foxman also wrote to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, "to express regret for any pain we have caused to you and
the Turkish people in these past few days."
In Turkey, those steps were seen as backtracking. Erdogan said the
ADL had rectified its "mistake," according to the Turkish Daily News.
Sensoy said he felt the ADL had reversed itself again and that its
current position reflected a more "balanced situation."
"We are expecting the American Jewish organizations to be neutral about
this," Sensoy said. "Although we're aware of the fact that this is a
very sensitive issue for the Israeli people and the Jewish community,
what we have to seek is the truth."
By Ben Harris, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A, CA
Aug 30 2007
The Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) reversal last week of its position
on the Armenian genocide has set off a flurry of diplomatic activity
in Turkey and Israel.
Officials in Ankara and Jerusalem, in coordination with American
Jewish leaders, were working this week to contain the fallout from
the ADL's statement, which recognized the World War I massacres of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "tantamount to genocide."
The ADL was forced to reverse its longstanding position - shared
by other major American Jewish organizations - of neutrality on the
genocide question amid growing dissension within its own ranks.
Jewish leaders warned that recognizing the genocide, as Congress is
now considering, could undermine American strategic interests in the
Middle East and Turkey's robust military and economic partnership
with Israel. Also deemed at risk was the security of Turkish Jewry,
which sent a letter earlier this year opposing a congressional
resolution on the matter.
Nabi Sensoy, Turkey's ambassador in Washington, told JTA that his
government was strongly opposed to any congressional action, but that
the Turkish Jewish community had nothing to fear in any case. Sensoy
was less sure that Turkey's relations with Israel and the United
States would survive a resolution unscathed.
"I cannot really dismiss that if this resolution does pass that there
will be certain impacts on certain relationships," Sensoy said.
"There is no doubt about it."
Of those raising the specter of reprisals against Turkish Jewry,
Sensoy said, "I'm very disturbed to hear this kind of remark coming
from anywhere. They seem to be forgetting the history of Turks and
Jews, which goes back at least 500 years. We've always had the best
of relations between Turks and Jews, and the Turkish Jewish community
is part and parcel, and an integral part, of the Turkish community."
What began more than a month ago as a small local protest against
an ADL-sponsored program in the Boston suburbs has escalated into
an international crisis with a nation deemed central to American
interests and Israeli security.
Turkey is Israel's closest - and arguably its only - regional ally
and is central to American policy in the Middle East. Mindful of
Turkey's importance, the Conference of Presidents of Major American
Jewish Organizations began a series of discussions on the matter last
week. Malcolm Hoenlein, the group's executive vice chairman, told
JTA that the conference had not yet decided how or whether to respond.
"As wiser heads have prevailed, people are looking for us to play a
role in trying to control and calm down the situation so there are
no ramifications and repercussions that have nothing to do with the
substance" of the issue, Hoenlein said.
Though Jewish groups have toed a careful line on the genocide question
for years, the issue exploded last month after the town council
of Watertown, Mass., home to one of the country's largest Armenian
communities, voted to sever ties with an ADL anti-bigotry program in
protest of the organization's refusal to acknowledge the genocide.
After the vote, the ADL's regional director in Boston, Andrew Tarsy,
switched gears and condemned his organization's position. Tarsy was
promptly fired by ADL national director Abraham Foxman.
The Boston ADL leadership rebelled and with pressure mounting, Foxman
reversed himself last week, acknowledging that the "consequences" of
Ottoman massacres of Armenians were "tantamount to genocide." Tarsy
was reinstated Monday as Boston director.
An outraged Turkey communicated its dismay to Israeli and Jewish
leaders, with some Turkish officials suggesting that Israel had to
"deliver" American Jewish groups on this issue.
Namik Tan, Turkey's ambassador, reportedly said that his country
believed its strategic relationship with Israel also involved the
whole Jewish world.
The Turkish people "cannot make that differentiation" between Israel
and American Jewish organizations, Nan told The Jerusalem Post.
"On some issues there is no such thing as 'Israel cannot deliver~B'"
he continued, adding that this was one of those issues.
According to an unofficial translation, the Turkish Foreign Ministry
issued a statement saying use of the genocide label is "historically
and legally baseless" and accusing the ADL of trying to "rewrite the
history" of the period.
"We consider the statement of the ADL as an injustice to the unique
character of the Holocaust, as well as to the memories of its victims,"
the statement said. "We expect it to be rectified."
On Sunday, the ADL released a second statement reiterating its support
for a joint Turkish-Armenian commission to investigate the matter
- a move Turkey supports - and its opposition to a resolution in
Congress. Foxman also wrote to Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, "to express regret for any pain we have caused to you and
the Turkish people in these past few days."
In Turkey, those steps were seen as backtracking. Erdogan said the
ADL had rectified its "mistake," according to the Turkish Daily News.
Sensoy said he felt the ADL had reversed itself again and that its
current position reflected a more "balanced situation."
"We are expecting the American Jewish organizations to be neutral about
this," Sensoy said. "Although we're aware of the fact that this is a
very sensitive issue for the Israeli people and the Jewish community,
what we have to seek is the truth."
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