2640) Armenian American Verbal Thuggery In Ohio Provokes Criminal Investigation Request

Washington, DC, November 3, 2008 The Turkish American Legal Defense Fund today requested the Attorney General of Ohio, Nancy H. Rogers, to open a criminal investigation under Ohio law into signature Armenian verbal thuggery employed by Armenian American independent candidate David Krikorian against Representative Jean Schmidt. The Congresswoman represents the 2nd district of Ohio, and is running for re-election. The criminal lies under that Krikorian recently splattered against Ms. Schmidt are emblematic of the religiously and ethnically bigoted campaign tactics that Armenian Americans celebrate, directly or indirectly, against congressional candidates who refuse to salute their narrow, close-minded, fanatical anti-Turkish agenda. Ohio’s Revised Code makes criminal intentional falsehoods calculated to impact . . . elections. Other candidates for Congress that have been similarly victimized by Armenian American verbal thuggery in the 2008 election cycle include Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Charles Hahn (Calif.), Robert Wexler (Fla.), and Jill Morgenthaler (Ill.).

Kirkorian’s criminal lies about the Congresswoman and her campaign supporters are posted on the Internet at http://krikorianforcongress.com/genocide.php The Armenian American’s posting in substance falsely accuses Congresswoman Schmidt of bribery and Turkish Americans who have made campaign contributions for her of paying bribes, i.e., that she bargained for campaign contributions from Turkish Americans in exchange for a promise to take official actions in Congress in opposition to perennial "Armenian genocide" resolution in the House of Representatives: “Representative Jean Schmidt has taken $30,000 in blood money to deny the genocide of Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks.”

Contrary to the Krikorian's lies, there was no quid pro quo or any irregularity whatsoever in the campaign contributions for Congresswoman Schmidt. As is customary in political campaigns, contributors make financial contributions to candidates who support the policy positions of which they approve. In fact, Armenian Americans and their political action committees scrupulously confine their contributions to candidates who support or pledge to support “Armenian genocide” resolutions.

Congresswoman Schmidt’s opposition to the Armenian genocide resolution is readily explained by historical facts. Her conclusions accord with renowned Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis of Princeton University, who has been consulted by the White House under President George W. Bush, and others of comparable academic prestige. The Congresswoman, based on her independent research does not believe the tragic events of World War I, in which both Armenians and Turks were killed in harrowing numbers, constituted genocide—an accusation that has never been proven in a court of law. She further maintains that the historical question is not appropriate for Congress to legislate.

The Turkish American Legal Defense Fund has written a letter to Attorney General Rogers urging a criminal investigation and prosecution of David Krikorian under Ohio campaign and false statement laws, Ohio Revised Code, section 3517.02 and section 2921.13(A)(2), respectively. To paraphrase attorney Joseph Welch’s rebuke to Communist witch hunting Senator Joe McCarthy, have Armenian Americans no sense of decency, at long last? Have they left no sense of decency?

TALDF will oppose any assault from any quarter on the right of Turkish Americans to participate fully in the American political process, including voicing their opinions on issues impacting Turkish-American relations or otherwise.

Turkish American Legal Defense Fund - TALDF
1025 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 1000, NW Washington, DC 20036
www.taldf.org