ATAA Chairman: President Bush Should Make A Statement Remembering All Innocent Victims

WASHINGTON - Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) Chairman Vural Cengiz has sent a letter to the U.S. President George Bush who is expected to issue a statement today (Sunday) on the incidents of 1915.
``President George Bush should make a statement remembering all innocent victims of 1915, not just Armenians,`` said Cengiz.
ATAA is an umbrella organization that is comprised of 54 Turkish American Associations.
``Today, we thank Mr. President for his support of Turkish-American ties despite certain groups trying to hurt the long term ties between the two countries,`` said Cengiz. President Bush did not bow to pressures, told Cengiz.
Cengiz made a request to President Bush to remember all innocent victims of the First World War who died due to uprisings, domestic clashes, deportation, famine, poverty and hunger.
``The Armenians began activities as of 1885 to establish an Armenian state. Armenians were the ones who did uprise in an empire in which they were citizens of. If we must remember the victims of the First World War, this remembrance should not only focus on the Armenians, but also the Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Jews,`` expressed Cengiz.
Cengiz indicated that Armenian gangs massacred innocent Ottomans in dozens of towns throughout Anatolia. ``Just in the Van vicinity, over 40,000 Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Jews lost their lives. Armenians living in the eastern portion of the Ottoman Empire collaborated with the Russian and French troops and massacred many innocent Muslims. Only after such acts of Armenians did the Ottoman government decide to deport a certain part of the Armenians to other empire cities in the south. We must note that Armenians living elsewhere in the empire were not affected by deportations,`` commented Cengiz.
Cengiz expressed that over 4 million Ottoman Muslims, 600,000 Ottoman Armenians and 100,000 Ottoman Jews perished during World War I.
``Armenians worldwide disregard the activities of their ancestors and want to make the world believe that a genocide took place. As Turkish Americans, we are extremely bothered by such acts and lies of Armenians. Mr. President, I thank you for your continued trust and confidence in Turkish American ties,`` stated Cengiz.