ATAA COMMENDS SIGNING OF
TURKISH - ARMENIAN PROTOCOLS,
PROVIDES RESERVATIONS ON RATIFICATION:
PRESIDENT GUNAY EVINCH COMMENTS
ON BEHALF OF ATAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

On August 31, 2009, the Republics of Turkey and Armenia announced the Normalization Process, comprising two protocols and a timetable. The Normalization Process includes Switzerland as a mediator. The Parties agreed that their Foreign Ministers would sign the Protocols within six weeks of the August 31 announcement.

On October 10, 2009, the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Armenia signed the Protocols. Now, the Turkish and Armenian Parliaments are expected to debate and vote on whether to ratify these international agreements.

The ATAA is cognizant that, as with all agreements to resolve sensitive matters, the Turkish - Armenian Normalization Protocols are based on the concept of "constructive ambiguity", where parties can interpret the words of the agreement in their best interests and act upon such interpretations within the spirit of the agreement. We have observed that a substantial portion of the Armenian American community has chosen passionately to interpret the Normalization Protocols as favoring Turkey.*

On September 29, 2009, ATAA sent each member of the United States Congress a letter and issued a Grassroots Information Service in support of the Swiss-brokered Normalization Process. We are cognizant of the legitimate concerns of our strong and united community regarding the manner in which the Protocols may be interpreted and subsequently implemented.

Accordingly, we respectfully report as follows:

1. Territorial Integrity: Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of Protocol 1 confirm the territorial integrity of and current borders between Turkey and Armenia, while Clauses 3 and 4 confirm respect for foreign sovereignty in general.

For Turkish Americans these clauses are important because the Armenian Constitution and ultra right Armenian politics wrongly claim territory within the Turkish Republic, and Armenian forces wrongfully occupy western Azerbaijan.

2. Use of Force Prohibited: Clauses 3 and 4 of Protocol 1 confirms commitment to the principle of foreign sovereignty and prohibition against the use of force.

For Turkish Americans these clauses are important because Armenia must end its occupation of western Azerbaijan and persons must be held accountable for massacres of thousands of Azeri villagers and the expulsion of over one million Azeris from their homes. Furthermore, these refugees must be safely returned to their homes in western Azerbaijan and provided protection.

3. Condemnation of Terrorism and Extremism: Clause 8 of Protocol 1 condemns terrorism and pledges cooperation between Armenia and Turkey to combat such violence.

For Turkish Americans this clause is important because Armenian terrorism and hate crimes (1974-present) by the ultra nationalist Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) and the Marxist-Leninist Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) has killed and injured Americans and caused millions of dollars of property damage on American soil. Furthermore, the criminal conviction of Mourad Topalian, former Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which the FBI connected to at least four acts of Armenian terrorism within the United States, raises concerns regarding the broader and possibly dormant network of violence targeting Americans of Turkish heritage and non-Turks.

4. Historical Commission: Operational Clauses 2 and 3 of Protocol 2 require the establishment of a subcommission to conduct an impartial, scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations.

Only through such an examination, conducted in good faith, will the focus of reconciliation be returned to the two states and removed from politically motivated Congressional Resolutions, such as H. Res. 252. It would also, we expect, render useless laws that require teaching only the Armenian viewpoint on history, such as the law being challenged in Griswold v. Massachusetts, a Federal case in which ATAA is a party.

5. Opening Borders: Operational Clause 1 ("1. Agree") of Protocol 2 states that Armenia and Turkey will open their common borders within two months after ratification of the Protocols.

The Turkish American community believes that this clause is regulated by Clause 1 of Protocol 2 which is subject to Clause 7 of Protocol 1, which requires that throughout the implementation of the Protocols, Armenia "refrain from pursing any policy incompatible with the spirit of good neighborly relations" with Turkey. For Turkish Americans, this means Armenia's compliance with all elements of the Protocols, particularly Items 1-4 above, with special emphasis on the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan, accountability of persons who committed human rights violations against Azeris in western Azerbaijan, and the safe return of all Azeri refugees to their homes in western Azerbaijan.

The ATAA is committed to Normalization in accordance with the Protocols as construed herein, and expresses its most sincere hopes for the future of Turkish - Armenian relations.

Sincerely,

Gunay Evinch
President
Assembly of Turkish American Associations

* Over the past two weeks, over ten thousand Armenian Americans have protested in Los Angeles and New York City against the Republic of Armenia and Switzerland in opposition to the Normalization Process. Ultra nationalist Armenian American groups who sponsored these protests, also sent harsh communications to the White House and Members of Congress urging opposition to Normalization. Moderate Armenian Americans asked ATAA to join in counter-protests, and the ATAA politely declined to intervene in the internal affairs of the Armenian American community.

Furthermore, through the summer of 2009, Turkish American efforts helped bring much needed balance to official treatment of the two communities. In the California legislature, Turkish Americans helped educate legislators on issues of concern and were, we believe, instrumental in defeating A.B. 961 that attempted to penalize companies that did business in the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, the Armenian American lobby received conclusive verdicts in lawsuits in California and Ohio. In the California Movsessian case, the U.S. Court of Appeals declared that a California law permitting Armenians to sue insurance companies on claims of genocide unconstitutionally interfered with U.S. foreign policy to support the Normalization Process and not to characterize the events of 1915 as genocide. Most recently, in the matter of Schmidt v. Krikorian, the Ohio Elections Commission gave no weight to conspiracy theories that Turkey and Turkish American organizations, such as ATAA, violate elections and lobbying laws and found in favor of U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt. All the while, Congressional interest in H.Res. 252 ("Armenian Genocide Resolution") has dwindled, while membership in the Congressional Turkish Caucus has reached 99 as of the date of this statement.