October 8 , 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
 Nurten Ural, President ATAA or
Allison Block, Advocacy Director
Tel: 202.483.9090
E-mail: assembly@ataa.org                   

Turkish Americans Act on H.Res.106

Washington, DC/ October 11, 2007 - Numerous volunteers from the Assembly of Turkish American Association (ATAA) gathered more than four and half hours prior to the start of yesterday’s hearing of the Foreign Affairs committee on H.Res.106 (Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide) on Capitol Hill in order to ensure that the Turkish American presence was evident in the hearing room. Due to their early arrival, scores of Turkish Americans were able to enter the hearing room, constituting a majority of the attendees.

The hearing, which lasted from approximately 4 hours, interrupted by a one hour recess for an unrelated floor vote, was an uninterrupted series of testimony by at least 35 of the 50 members of the Foreign Relations Committee, including those speaking against the resolution: Turkish Caucus co-chair Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), and House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO). The vote was called by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D-CA) with a final tally of 27 for the resolution and 21 against.

Though the outcome is not exactly how ATAA and the Turkish American community would have liked, it is a definite improvement over the last time a similar resolution was brought up for debate in the Foreign Affairs Committee in 2006, passing with a vote of 40-7. Still, the Turkish and Turkish American community reiterate the far-reaching and negative impact such legislation has on Turkey-US relations as well as US interests.

“The close vote of 27-21 underscores the lack of fairness and injustice when a legislature sits in the seat of fact-finder and judge, and how this will adversely affect Turkish-American relations and US National Security,” said Gunay Evinch, ATAA President-Elect.

Following the hearing, members of ATAA, the Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA) and members of the media gathered at the Turk Evi (ATAA Headquarters) to analyze the results, to discuss strategy for subsequent action on the matter, and review the many ways that the Turkish American community has and can cooperate on such a matter.

“As we have seen, cooperation and communication within the Turkish American community has had an enormous impact on the outcome of the vote,” stated Nurten Ural, ATAA President, adding that the population of Armenian Americans far outnumbers Turkish Americans in the United States. “Yet this also demonstrates that when we work together strategically, and with a unified voice, we can accomplish many things—which is what we plan to do with even greater pursuit from here on out.”

As part of ATAA’s 3-year strategic plan, the organization has been working in close cooperation with its component association members, individual members and other Turkish and Turkish American organizations to give the community a skill set to more effectively reach out to elected leaders, the media and other key audiences.

For more information on ATAA, please visit www.ataa.org