Americans of Turkish heritage are deeply disappointed with President Joe Biden’s characterization of the Events of 1915 as genocide. President Biden’s April 24 statement is misguided because it:
· Discriminates against and prejudices our community, by choosing to side with Armenian Americans, while passively denigrating Turkish Americans with the accusation of genocide and contributing to the enduring turcophobia that targets people of Turkish heritage;
· Denies the tragedy that befell Ottoman Muslims and Jews, during the Armenian insurrections that massacred and displaced over 1 million Ottoman Kurds, Turks, and Jews in eastern Ottoman Anatolia;
· Disrespects the rule of law, including the United Nations Genocide Convention which designates the International Court of Justice as the adjudicator of allegations of genocide; the Separation of Powers which does not authorize the Executive Branch to adjudicate; and last but not least, Due Process — Presumption of Innocence — Benefit of the Doubt — Equal Protection — all rights denied to our community;
· Disregards international legal precedent, including the 1921 Malta Tribunals which acquitted 144 Ottoman officials of war crimes, the United Nations which has thrice declared it does not consider the Armenian case a genocide, and the European Court of Human Rights which held that the Armenian case is an allegation and not a proven genocide.
In times when our nation is deeply divided, polarized with hatred and prejudice, and when hate crimes have become routine, including attacks against people of Turkish and Muslim heritage, we wish President Biden would have taken the lessons of April 24, 1915, to promote unifying reconciliation, rather than divisive accusations. President Biden’s unfortunate statement is more about America than Turkey or the world. President Biden should have addressed our own past injustices in America, before casting the stone at others for events more than 100 years ago, thousands of miles away.
· Ahiskan American Society of Massachusetts
· American Association of Crimean Turks
· American Karachai-Kafkas Benevolent Association
· American Turkish Association of Washington DC (ATADC)
· Amerika Ülkü Ocaklari New York
· Association of Turkish American Industrialists and Business
Owners (MUSIAD USA)
· Azerbaijan Association of New York
· Azerbaijani Community Center of Pennsylvania
· Balkan Turks of America
· Besiktas USA
· Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA)
· Fenerbahce USA
· Galatasaray USA
· Hasene America
· Long Island Turkish House
· New York Turkish American Center
· Samarkandian Forum of Philadelphia
· TURCA Los Angeles
· Turkish Ahsican American Association
· Turkish American Arts Society of America
· Turkish American Ahiska Association (DATUB)
· Turkish American Association of New York
· Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(TACCI)
· Turkish American Giresuns Association
· Turkish American Giresuns Organization of New York
· Turkish American Pharmacists Association
· Turkish American Restaurateurs Association
· Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC)
· Turkish Community Center of Hagerstown, New Jersey
· Turkish Cultural Association of Rhode Island
. Turkish Forum – Dunya Turkleri Birligi (TF-DTK )
· Turkish Hars Union and Community Cultural Alliance
· Turkish Society of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
· US Azeris Network (USAN)
· US Bulgarian Turks Cultural Association and Aid Society
· Western New England Turkish Association
. Southern New England Turkish American Association (SNE-TACA)
· Young MUSIAD USA
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