Turkish Jews send letter on Armenian resolution

By · April 17, 2007

Jewish groups are relaying to the U.S. Congress a letter from the Turkish Jewish community advocating against a resolution that would commemorate the Armenian genocide. The non-binding resolution, which is being pushed by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) – a Jewish congressman with a substantial Armenian constituency – is encountering fierce Turkish resistance. A delegation of top Turkish parliamentarians is meeting with top administration and congressional officials this week to warn that the resolution would harm Turkish-American relations.Turkey is America’s closest Muslim ally and maintains close relations with Israel. Turkey is a harsh critic of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but bristles when Israeli politicians suggest that the killing of Armenians in World War I was genocide.The Turkish delegation also met with U.S. Jewish leaders, as did a Turkish Jewish delegation last month. Turks want Jewish groups to advocate against Schiff’s resolution, but only one group, the Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs, has done so. Other Jewish groups, mindful of the history of Holocaust revisionism, do not want to deny Armenians the opportunity to commemorate their own genocide, which Israeli researchers have said was a precursor to the Holocaust. So in a compromise, the American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith International will relay the Turkish Jewish letter to Congress later this week, but will not necessarily endorse it.