Turkish-Americans Taking Steps to Build Their Influence in Washington

Turkish-American groups are making a bid to expand their political influence in the United States, expressly aiming to counter the considerable sway of their Armenian American rivals on Capitol Hill.

The coordinated effort includes strengthening Turkish-American grassroots organizations, improving relations with elected officials and the media and legal defense of those who advocate pro-Turkey positions. Representatives of several Turkish groups described the long-term strategy at the American Turkish Council's Conference on U.S. Turkish Relations, at an April 14 session called "Empowering the Turkish-American Community."

The representatives repeatedly stressed their intention to put forth a positive vision of Turkey, rather than in taking adversarial positions. But the effort is geared toward advancing the Turkish interpretation of the 1915 massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which Armenians and most historians call genocide but which Turks call regrettable deaths in a messy war. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"Our cause is not anti-Armenian, or anti-Greek, anti-Bulgarian or anti-Arab. It's to try to create a balance on issues that impact Turkey, Greece, Armenia and other countries in the Caucasus and Middle East," said Lincoln McCurdy, president of the Turkish Coalition of America.

The goal, said Nurten Ural, president of the Assembly of Turkish American Organizations, is to strengthen the Turkish position ahead of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 events.

The issue of the Armenian genocide comes up every year before Congress, as pro-Armenia members of Congress try to pass a resolution officially recognizing the genocide. But while Armenians rely on their large and well-organized diaspora in the United States to advance their agenda, Turks have relied on high-priced lobbyists hired by Ankara, and on the Pentagon, which maintains a longtime military alliance with Turkey.

Turks in America are significantly outnumbered by Armenians: according to Kaya Boztepe, president of the Federation of Turkish American Associations, there are 1.5 million Armenian-Americans and about 450,000 Turkish-Americans. But there are also 450,000 Azerbaijani-Americans and 935,000 Americans of Azeri Iranian descent, along with smaller numbers of related groups like Uzbeks and Tatars, he said.

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