Letter from Turkish Embassy to Senator Bob Dole
of 1
- Extent
- 2 Pages
- File Name
- lead_224_005_006
- Title
- Letter from Turkish Embassy to Senator Bob Dole
- Description
- Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Nuzhet Kandemir writes to Senator Dole, opposing S.J.Res 212 and detailing political implications of the United States recognizing the Armenian Genocide, from the Turkish government's perspective.
- Date
- 1990-01-15
- Congress
- 101st (1989-1991)
- Policy Area
- International Affairs
- Creator
- Kandemir, Nuzhet
- Record Type
- correspondence
- Language
- eng
- Collection Finding Aid
- https://dolearchivecollections.ku.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=26&q=
- Physical Location
- Collection 007, Box 224, Folder 5
- Institution
- Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
- Archival Collection
- Robert J. Dole Republican Leadership Collection, 1985-1996
- Full Text
-
TURKISH EMBASSY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
January 15, 1990
[sticky note on right side, in underlined letters: "Al"]
The Honorable Robert Dole
141 SHOB
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
[handwritten salutation]
Dear Senator,
In my letter of September 29, 1989, I outlined my government's views on S.J. Res 212, and sought to reveal the true nature of the resolution and to explain its implications. As the resolution is still pending, I feel it necessary to draw your attention to a recent development which exemplifies the ramifications of the resolution's passage.
As I have previously pointed out, the Armenian groups behind this resolution have gone on record with statements that they see S.J.Res. 212 as a first step towards realizing their financial and territorial demands from Turkey. On December 9, 1989, the Foreign Minister of the Armenian S.S.R., Mr. Anatoli Mkrtchian, raised the question of Armenian territorial demands and questioned the legality of the present Turkish-Soviet border. I am enclosing copies of the Armenian press articles on Mr. Mkrtchian's statement. This statement, together with the self-avowed territorial demands of mainstream Armenian groups pressing for passage of the resolution, underscores that the resolution is not a mere symbolic gesture. The objective of the resolution is clearly political. The aim is to acquire from the American Congress a moral pretext for territorial demands from a NATO ally of the United States. (Enclosed please also find a statement by the Director of the Armenian Assembly, the major organization lobbying for passage of the resolution, embracing the goals, if not the methods, of the Armenian terrorist groups.)
Armenian extremism is a real problem for my country. In the last decade, Armenian terrorists have claimed scores of innocent lives in 250 separate incidents in over 20 countries. Many victims were Turkish diplomats and their immediate families; however, Armenian terrorist groups have not restricted themselves to Turkish targets. They have also victimized those who have not responded favorably to their claims, such as scholars whose work did not support their allegations. Congressional validation of the terrorists' pretext through passage of S.J.Res. 212 will surely encourage further terrorism. I would also like to draw your attention to the cooperation between Armenian terror groups based in Lebanon and other international terror groups involved in the bombing of the American Embassy and Marine Barracks in Beirut.
The Turkish Government opposes this resolution not only because of its political connotations and inevitable consequences for our bilateral relations, but also because of the historically inaccurate, unfounded genocide charge that forms its core. During the Judiciary
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Committee meeting on S.J.Res. 212, various Armenian allegations were repeated, and it was stated that the archives of the Western countries were full of evidence proving the so-called genocide. The truth is to the contrary.
In fact, immediately after World War I, the British forces occupying Istanbul, the Ottoman capital, arrested and sent to Malta more than 100 leading war-time Ottoman Government officials and intellectuals for the stated purpose of trying them on charges of mistreating their Armenian citizens during the war. The British authorities searched for documentation and evidence to substantiate their charges against the accused. Unable to find anything in their own archives, the British made repeated requests to Washington for any information in U.S. Government files that could be used to support the charges. The American response was that, for each case, no evidence existed in U.S. Government records. In the end, the British released the defendents for lack of evidence to try them.
Within the confines of a letter, it is not possible to go into the historical details of a problem still hotly disputed by scholars. No one denies that a civil war within a global war, intercommunal hostility, famine, disease and brigandage took a heavy toll on all sides. Both Armenians and Turks suffered. However, modern scholarly studies of the events of the World War I era in the eastern Ottoman Empire make one thing very clear. Application of the word "genocide," or any other term implying a deliberate, systematic attempt by the Ottoman Empire to exterminate its Armenian minority, to the events of that period is a gross distortion of fact. But I assure you that the Turkish Government is doing its utmost to facilitate further independent historical research on this matter. As I explained in my last letter, the Turkish Government recently opened the Ottoman archives related to Ottoman Armenians.
I assure you, Senator, that this resolution, which wrongly accuses a nation of the crime of genocide, will not heal old wounds but will rather foster old hatreds and create new problems. Genocide is the most highly charged indictment which can be made against a nation. Its gravity is such that this resolution cannot be considered lightly. Therefore, I appeal to you to act to ensure that history be left to historians and not legislated by political bodies.
I am ready to answer any questions you may have regarding this or any other matter related to Turkey. Please feel free to contact this Embassy for any further information you may need.
Yours Sincerely,
[signature]
Nuzhet Kandemir
Ambassador
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