Seeks Clarity on U.S. Policy on Armenian Genocide and Efforts to Secure Turkey’s Return of Stolen Christian Church Properties
WASHINGTON—With the Senate scheduled to resume session on September 8th, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has submitted five pointed questions to U.S. Ambassador to Turkey nominee John Bass in order to bring much-needed clarity to U.S. policy on both the Armenian Genocide and the growing movement to secure Turkey’s return of stolen Christian churches and religious properties, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
The complete text of Senator Kirk’s five questions is provided below.
“We want to thank Senator Kirk for shining much-needed sunlight on Ambassador-designate Bass’s nomination and, more broadly, for requiring that the Administration provide clear responses to simple, straightforward questions about the Armenian Genocide and the return of stolen Christian church properties by Turkey,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “We look forward to sharing the responses to Senator Kirk’s questions as soon as they are made publicly available.”
In July, the ANCA welcomed the U.S. Senate’s decision to recess for August without confirming Ambassador-designate Bass as a meaningful opportunity for both Senators and American civil society to review both his positions as well as the broader issues rapidly reshaping the U.S.-Turkey relationship.
In his formal testimony, Ambassador Designate Bass used inaccurate and offensive euphemisms, such as “shared history,” to avoid properly characterizing the Armenian Genocide, and praised Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan’s cynical repacking of genocide denial in his April 23rd “condolence” open letter to Armenians.
In addition to Senator Kirk, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) had questioned Ambassador Bass on U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, Turkey’s ongoing blockade of Armenia and efforts to secure the return of confiscated Christian holy sites from Turkey.
ANCA coverage of Ambassador-designate Bass’ mixed responses is available here.
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Sen. Mark Kirk: Questions for the Record to
The Honorable John Bass, U.S. Ambassador-Designate to the Republic of Turkey
During your testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 15, 2014, you stated: “The U.S. government acknowledges as historical fact and mourns that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
a) Can you clarify and expand on your statement to clearly indicate the party or parties responsible for perpetrating the murder of 1.5 million Armenians?
b) Would you agree with the European Union and 11 of our NATO allies, all of which have officially designated these atrocities as the Armenian Genocide?
c) As Ambassador, would you support the rights of the heirs of those killed during the Armenian Genocide to seek compensation from the Republic of Turkey?
During your testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 15, 2014, you stated: “If confirmed, I will encourage the Turkish government to follow through on the return of religious minority properties and to take additional steps to promote religious freedom, such as allowing more religious communities to own property, register their places of worship, and train clergy.”
a) Could you expand and clarify on what specific actions you plan to undertake? Will you raise this issue at the highest levels of the Turkish government?
b) Are you satisfied with the actions the State Department and our Embassy in Ankara has taken to date to convince Turkey to restore Christian religious property to its rightful owners?
Guest Contributor
These things have been attempted before unfortunately there is too much at stake in Turkey and once again the unfortunate will happen – “NOTHING”.
You can put questions up and the answers are generally meaningless and nothing comes out of it. Unfortunately Armenians are always taken for a ride. Unless there is genuine concern they should stop this charade. I unfortunately do not trust a single politician when it comes to the Armenian question.
Dwelling on the past will get you nowhere.
You need to work for the future from scratch relatively speaking.
The 100 year meet will come and pass with a few more arguments/protests then usual.
Everyones talking about ISIL these days you’ll be lucky to get yourself heard as most ppl have no idea what you will be talking about as I found out for myself asking my friends. Even my Assyrian friend knows nothing about the topic.
Even Israel won’t accept it they had like 10 meetings now. These guys are the first ones who should be shouting. Irony. They want the pity all to they’re selves or scared of us dunno.
The world has to settle down before they will decide to look into a matter 100 years old.
With plenty of radicals running around these days your chances are slim. Another Gaza event will happen soon. “free free Palestine”…
Ali,
Some Spoon faded Americans don’t have to know the reality of Holocaust, or Genocide, but most educated Americans know the reality of AG or Holocaust.
100 years ago when Turkish CUP leaders acted like today’s ISIL, world’s communication was not fully developed, now that world can hear ISIL trained terrorists in Turkey, remind Armenians and civilize people of the world like yourself to act properly and denounce the terrorism and Genocides altogether! The memory of Armenian Genocide will live within civilized world forever, especially among Armenians. The only way this wound will start for healing, when Turkey officially recognize the Christian Genocide of Turkey!
Turk Ali,
There is no future without the past. It is the past that shapes the present and the future of an individual or a nation. However hard we try, the consequences of an awful crime that was committed against our nation will not fade away, but they can be minimized if we know that the perpetrator has repented. It is so typically Turkish that you chose not to concentrate on your nation’s crime and an apology for it, but prefer, rather, to lecture us on how a victim-nation should feel and how it should build its future. 100 years for the nation that has 4000+ years of proud, civilized history is nothing, even if no apology on the part of the murderer nation will be made. We will never stop. For the memory of millions of our savagely murdered, mutilated, raped, buried and burned alive kinfolk. So, don’t put your hopes on 100 years. The world actually has risen incomparably more aware of the genocide of Armenians and any Assyrian I’ve met hates Turks because, just as Assyrians know what happenned to the Armenians, they experienced the Ottoman Turkish barbarity on their own skin. If you came to this forum in order to try to mindtilt us, it’s a vain attempt…
{“ Dwelling on the past will get you nowhere.”}
(Ali // September 10, 2014 at 6:04 am //)
Sure it will.
Dwelling on the past has given our people the deep anchor that has seen us through a lot of storms, and will do so in the future.
Our magnificent past – before the nightmare appearance of Turkic invadonomads, the ISIL/ISIS/IL of the period (times a hundred) – is our future. I realize it is hard for nomads to understand these things. But if you try, really try, I have no doubt you will begin to see the light before you know it. Try with all your heart: we Armenians are rooting for you, Turkoglu Doctor Ali.
And lots of events were happening every year since 1965, when the AG Recognition efforts kicked into high gear: wars, revolutions, assassinations, civil turmoil, oil shocks,…. you name it.
Made no difference.
Since then, we have gone from no recognition to dozens of countries recognizing the AG.
We have gone from no recognition to countries criminalizing AG denial.
AG Denialists who plied their hate openly before, are ridiculed and scurry back into their cockroach holes whenever the light of truth is shined on them these days.
Yes, 100th anniversary will come and go, like the 98th, 99th, ..101st, 102nd: the Earth will surely continue rotating after April 24, 2015.
And just as surely we will continue chipping away at the rotted foundations of the denialist Neo-Nazi Turkish State.
We will have many victories, we will have some setbacks, and will hit a plateau or two on occasion.
And we will continue our steady, relentless progress.
Nothing you denialist Turks can do about it.
And when the time comes, it will happen.
100 years, 150, 200, 500…means nothing to a people who have a collective genetic memory of approx 5,000 years.
Read about the 500 year delayed retribution exacted by Armenian Prince Zakare Zakaryan: Yes, he avenged something that was done treacherously to his ancestors 500 years prior. And he told those receiving the retribution exactly why they were getting it*.
He remembered. We remember. Our descendants will remember.
Nobody on our side is going to forget our approx 2 million murdered ancestors (1895-1923): unarmed men, women, children.
Not war casualties, not KIA: but defenseless civilians, including children and babies, rounded up and coldly murdered in the most savage ways imaginable and unimaginable.
What ISIL/ISIS/IS psychopath savages recently did to defenseless Yazidi civilians for a brief period was done to Armenian civilians 100-fold over many years.
We will remember, and denialist genocidal Turks will pay: one way or another.
Count on it.
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* in both cases those involved were not civilians.