3284) (TCA) Turkish Coalition of America Calls On House To Reject H.Res.304 “Armenian Genocide Resolution.”

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) expresses its concern about H.Res.304, the so-called “Armenian Genocide Resolution.”

G. Lincoln McCurdy, TCA’s president, issued the following statement:

The Turkish Coalition of America and the entire Turkish American community observe with concern the introduction of yet another Armenian resolution and urge Members of Congress to distance themselves from this resolution. H.Res.304 is based on a selective, one-sided, and religiously bigoted historical narrative that utterly ignores the tragic suffering, death and exile of millions of Ottoman Muslims who are the ancestors of contemporary Turks and Turkish Americans. New scholarship emerges every year, published by leading American historians and experts, which challenges the propagandist narrative that H.Res.304 embodies, and which is being ignored by the authors of this regurgitated resolution . . .

If Members of Congress think they are voting on a non-binding resolution with no effect on U.S. relations with modern-day Turkey today, they should think again. Since 2010, the Armenian American lobby has carried this highly contested historical debate to U.S. courts in the form of class-action lawsuits against banks and insurance companies.  They are now openly seeking reparations from Turkey, including the handover of Incirlik Air Force Base, one of NATO’s primary nodes in the region.

We hope that Members of Congress realize that if they seek to legislate history by convicting a NATO ally — without trial — of the high crime of genocide, they will unleash an avalanche of unintended legal consequences that will hurt U.S. national interests.

Turkey has been a key ally to the U.S. for decades. Today, for example, Turkey is a strong supporter of global efforts to provide an intelligent, stabilizing response to the volatile transitions occurring in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. We trust that Congressional leadership and Members of Congress will reject H.Res.304 and dissuade further action from the resolution's advocates, who continually push for passage in complete denial of the resolution's many factual and moral fallacies and its extremely negative impact on our national interests.

Read here for a summary and a detailed review of gross historical misrepresentations in H.Res.304.

To read analysis and views by respected historians and experts who challenge the one-sided, anti-Turkish narrative on Ottoman-Armenian history represented in H.Res.252, please visit here. Also see the Annotated Map on Forced Migration and Mortality in the Ottoman Empire .