NEW YORK - Turkish non-governmental organizations in the US and Canada sent letter to the members of the US Congress against the Armenian claims of genocide on Thursday.
The letter was the common letter prepared by more than 120 NGOs organized under the umbrella of Federation of Turkish-American Associations, Federation of Turkish-Canadian Associations and Turkish Forum. The letter explains the historical realities against the Armenian genocide claims and it has been sent to all members of the US Congress.
Turkish NGOs stressed in the letter that the Armenian genocide claims distorted the history in a cruel way, noting that all parliaments which recognized the so-called genocide based their judgements on the ``Blue Book`` which was based on fabricated documents produced by Wellington House (founded by Britain for propaganda purposes during the First World War.) In the letter, it was stressed that there was no genocide against the Armenians, on the contrary ``517,955 Turks and Muslims were killed by Armenians.``
``We, the Turks are not afraid of facing our history regarding the Armenian genocide claims, but are Armenians ready to face their own history,`` the letter stressed.
All the Ottoman archives were open to everybody, said the letter, noting that there was no intention of committing open or secret massacre or genocide against Armenians during their relocation.
NGOs wrote in the letter that 1397 soldiers and civilians were tried at the military courts for not abiding fully by the orders of the Ottoman government during the Armenian relocation and most of those people were executed.
``A joint commission to be composed of Turkish and Armenian historians should be set up and both sides should declare to researchers that they open their archives without any limitations. If Armenians are sure of their claims then they should not hesitate accepting this proposal,`` it was added.