Tag: Turkic

  • Long Lost Relatives Meet Again

    Long Lost Relatives Meet Again

    It is a widely held opinion by anthropologists, archeologists, sociologists, historians, and other scholars and intellectuals that the natives of all Americas (South, Central, and North) had probably come by a land bridge over the Bering Straits many thousands of years ago when sea around series of island had frozen—numbers range from 7,000 to 70,000 years ago depending on who is interpreting the research findings and data. (It must also be noted that some scholars caution not to leave the sea route out, pointing to the natives of Australia and many South Pacific islands, but same scholars are quick to add that sea route could not have been a major contributor to populating of the Americas.)

    Thus, it is safe to assume that most natives of Americas had come from Siberia and Central Asia, areas where hunting and gathering may be challenging at best, if not also scarce to support large populations. Those areas are home to many groups of Turkic nations, tribes, and groups, including but not limited to Kirghiz, Uzbek, Turkmen, Kazakh, Uyghur, Tuva, Hakas, Altay, and Yakut–all of whom also represent the source of Turkish identity in Anatolia today. This connection may help explain many similarities between the Turkics of Asia and Europe on one hand and the natives of Americas on the other: genetically (birth mark that appears at the end of the spine at birth and disappears after a short while that is known among the natives of Arizona natives and Kazakhs of Asia;) linguistically (many common words in Turkic and Native languages like odam=adam=man, ikki=iki=two, etc. 😉 culturally (profound respect to elders, tepee=yurt;) and other aspects.

    While we will let the scholars do the research and interpretation on this matter, let us turn our attention to re-discovery of long lost relationships. Here is a press release by the Turkish Coalition of America which may shed some more light on this topic. To learn more about TCA’s work with native Americans including the Hopi Tribe, and other communities, please visit www.tc-america.org.

    TCA Promotes Trade Relationship Between Turkey and Hopi Tribe

    July 24, 2010 – Los Angeles, CA – On Tuesday, July 20th the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) facilitated a meeting between the visiting Turkish Trade Minister, Zafer Caglayan, and representatives of the Hopi Tribe, including Ali Cayir, the first Hopi Tribe Representative to Turkey.

    During the meeting, Cayir described the benefits of working with the tribes in the United States, which operate as sovereign nations with their own governments that can deal on an equal footing with Turkey in negotiating trade and investment relationships. The Hopi Tribe, whose reservation is in Arizona, hopes to promote increased solar power projects, continued coal extraction, and the development of a major consumer center for the reservation’s residents.

    “When TCA began connecting the Hopi and Turkish peoples, we were working to develop completely new relationships. The meeting between the Hopi Tribe and Minister Caglayan represents a giant step forward in tying together the native peoples of the U.S. and Turkey through trade and investment. This is an unprecedented development. TCA is proud to have helped launch this extraordinary relationship,” said TCA President G. Lincoln McCurdy.

    Minister Caglayan, meeting with the Tribe for the first time, spoke of the affinity and possible kinship of the Turkish and Native American peoples, based on ancestral migration thousands of years ago, and expressed interest in visiting the Hopi reservation upon his return to the United States in October 2010.

    Also in attendance were several commercial representatives of Turkish business interests, who engaged in a discussion of investment and construction opportunities on the reservation. The parties walked away with a plan for the Hopi Tribe to conduct initial feasibility studies and cost-benefit analyses that would justify potential Turkish involvement on the reservation.

    Samuel Shingoitewa, Jr., advisor to the Tribe’s chairman, closed the meeting by reiterating the Tribe’s desire to work with Turkey, and expressed his desire for the Hopi Tribe to aggressively expand its relationships with other nations over the next four years.

    For years, TCA has promoted the development of relationships between the Turkish peoples and the many ethnic and cultural groups in the United States, including a program to provide scholarships for Native American, African American, Hispanic American and Armenian American students for study abroad in Turkey or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

  • JOINT LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

    JOINT LETTER TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

    President Barack Obama
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
    Washington, D.C., 205000

    August 4, 2009

    Dear President Obama,

    Last year’s war between Georgia and Russia punctuated the continued threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus arising from unresolved territorial conflicts that have spanned more than two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union. Recently, several Iranian officials openly threatened Azerbaijan for hosting Israeli President Shimon Peres in Baku. Similarly, four UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Armenian forces withdraw and cease the occupation of Azerbaijani lands since 1993 have achieved little for the displaced one million refugees and IDPs. All of this adds to the urgency of reaching a sustainable peace based on the fundamentals of international law and human rights, or, as you have stated earlier, “a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.”

    With stronger support from the United States and increasing involvement of the Russian Federation, the peace process has produced some momentum at the latest meetings of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. U.S. Mediator Matt Bryza emphasized the productive position and leadership demonstrated by Azerbaijan during the negotiations, particularly Azerbaijan’s many concessions to Armenia and the Armenian people despite Armenia’s aggression in and military occupation of western Azerbaijan. A peaceful settlement, which involves respect for territorial integrity of the states in the region, repatriation of the displaced communities, opening of all borders and communications, security guarantees for both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities in occupied regions of Azerbaijan, and withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijan, and nothing less, is necessary to achieve a lasting and durable settlement.

    The South Caucasus, a strategic global juncture, holds great promise for regional and global peace and prosperity. Yet the region’s potential has been disrupted and disable by two decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia’s own development has been paralyzed as a result of its self-imposed isolation from major regional projects. More than one million Armenians have left Armenia due to poor government, poor economics, and poor services. While the Azerbaijani residents of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and other Armenian-occupied regions of Azerbaijan have suffered ethnic cleansing, displacement, and destruction of personal and cultural property, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh continue to live in economic and political uncertainty. Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan has been costly in many ways.

    A lasting and durable peace settlement would bring about a major positive change to the South Caucasus. The Azerbaijani-Georgian partnership has already shown what can be reached when the parties work towards regional cooperation. Should the Armenian leadership demonstrate productive pragmatism, it can help integrate the nation with the economic and democratic future of the region securing a peace and prosperity for its people. Such a future would include open communications and borders, including the Turkish-Armenian border, which was closed in response to Armenia’s invasion and occupation of the Azerbaijani region of Kelbajar, outside of NK region, in 1993. A lasting and durable peace would advance U.S. interests as it provides for lasting stability in a strategically important region where the United States requires solid friends. Significantly, as the value of the Caspian hydrocarbon resources increase for Europe’s energy security and the South Caucasus transport corridor serves as the key conduit for access to Afghanistan, a lasting and durable peace in this region becomes an even higher priority. In addition, helping Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a settlement would demonstrate the new Administration’s commitment to the new foreign policy of global engagement and provide a positive tangible result for U.S.-Russian cooperation.

    Therefore, on behalf of the Azerbaijani-American and Turkish-American communities, we support and encourage your Good Office to intensify U.S. efforts towards reaching a just peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on United Nations Security Council resolutions and the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, and to seize this historic opportunity. While we recognize the significant pressures that bear from special interests opposed to peace for a variety of reasons, including nationalist and religious ones, who have previously succeeded to undermine peace efforts, we hope that America’s vision for the South Caucasus is informed by its national interests and its relationship with strategic partners in the region. Thank you.

    Sincerely,

    U.S. Azeris Network (USAN)
    Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA)
    Azerbaijani-American Council (AAC)
    Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA)
    U.S.-Azerbaijan Council (USAC)
    U.S. Turkic Network (USTN)
    Cultural Center of Caucasus Jews (CCCJ)
    Azerbaijan Turkey America Foundation (ATAF)
    Houston Baku Sister City Association (HBSCA)

    Cc: The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Vice-President of the United States of America
    The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary of State

    www.USAzeris.org
    www.FTAA.org
    www.Azeris.org
    www.ATAA.org
    www.USTurkic.org
    www.HoustonBaku.com
    www.ATAF-Foundation.org