WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) voiced the Armenian American community’s strong support for a human rights statement, issued on Nov. 5 by a coalition of anti-Darfur Genocide groups, calling upon the Obama-Biden Administration to protest the upcoming state visit to Turkey of Sudan’s president, indicted war-criminal Omar al-Bashir.
The four organizations joining together in making this declaration—the Center for American Progress, Enough!, Save Darfur, and Genocide Intervention Network—referencing al-Bashir’s upcoming visits to Ankara and Cairo, stressed the importance of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton engaging in personal diplomacy at the highest level to ensure that a wanted war criminal does not continue to travel with impunity to the capitals of key U.S. allies. The failure to do so, they noted, would “send a powerful message that the administration isn’t serious about implementing the Sudan strategy it just announced.”
“We want to thank each of these organizations for their work in demanding clear and determined American leadership in ending the Darfur Genocide,” said Aram Hamparian, the executive director of the ANCA. “There is today, sadly, no more striking example of how the brutal cycle of genocide and denial feeds upon itself than the growing diplomatic and military relationship between Turkey and Sudan.”
Al-Bashir is scheduled to visit Turkey next week to attend a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC.) Turkish officials announced yesterday that they would not act on an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued against al-Bashir for war crimes.
The Ankara and Khartoum regimes have grown markedly closer over the past two years, with Turkey continuing to supply lethal weaponry to Sudan and with increased trade between two the countries. To read the three ANCA memos on the Turkey-Sudan relationship, visit the links below.
Why is Turkey Selling Weapons to Sudan?
Feb. 25, 2009
http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/hill_notes/022509.pdf
Commentary on the Turkey-Sudan Axis of Genocide
Feb. 23, 2009
http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/hill_notes/022309.pdf
Turkey and Sudan
Feb. 18, 2009
http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/hill_notes/021809.pdf
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The text of the joint statement is provided below.
Nov. 12, 2009
President Bashir Tests New Obama Policy on Sudan
If President Obama and Secretary Clinton are unwilling to engage in personal diplomacy at the highest level to ensure that a wanted war criminal does not continue to travel with impunity to the capitals of key U.S. allies, it will send a powerful message that the administration isn’t serious about implementing the Sudan strategy it just announced.
John Norris, executive director of the Enough Project, noted: “For Turkey, a member of NATO and an aspiring member of the European Union, to welcome President Bashir is frankly baffling. If Turkey is truly committed to the values that would make membership of the European Union possible, it should quickly make clear that President Bashir is absolutely unwelcome.”
Jerry Fowler, president of the Save Darfur Coalition, added: “President Bashir’s travel is a test of the administration’s resolve on Sudan. If the president and secretary of state let it happen without objection, Khartoum will get the message that the newly stated commitment to multilateral leadership is hollow. And for Turkey, it’s an opportunity to align itself with the E.U., most Latin American countries, and the emerging practice in sub-Saharan Africa: Convey to Bashir that he shouldn’t come unless he wants to risk arrest upon landing.”
Sam Bell, executive director of Genocide Intervention Network, said: “Given the depth and breadth of U.S. engagement with Egypt, it is striking that the situation in Sudan—and Bashir’s status as a war criminal—don’t appear to be part of the recent conversation among senior officials. How can the administration expect to effectively implement its new plan if it doesn’t make Sudan a top priority?”
Contact
Eileen White Read, 202.741.6376
eread@enoughproject.org
Andrea Clarke, 202.460.6756
andrea@savedarfur.org
Mame Annan-Brown, 202.483.2701
annan-brown@genocideintervention.net
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