TURKISH LOBBY FINANCES “MACEDONIAN” FALSE HISTORICAL REVISIONISM

For Immediate Release: September 11, 2008

Contact: Nikolaos Taneris, New York, Tel. 1-917-699-9935

NEW YORK—Today, the Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) was informed of
major Turkish lobby financing of “The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD)” .The UMD
is a newly formed organization in Washington DC, dedicated to advancing false
historical revisionism on Macedonia, in support of the irredentist, fascistic,
and anti-Hellenic Skopje government.

According to a press release issued by the UMD today “The United Macedonian
Diaspora (UMD) and the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) are pleased to
announce a generous challenge-matching grant of $150,000. Over the next three
years, TCA will match every dollar donated to UMD up to a maximum of $50,000 per
year equaling a total fundraising goal of $300,000. This gracious gift will
allow UMD to expand its work dramatically and, for the first time, retain a
full-time Executive Director.” (Full comments can be read below).

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is another recently formed organization
in Washington DC following on the heels of scandals surrounding testimony by FBI
whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, and reports of FBI wiretaps of the Turkish Embassy
and its allies the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) and the
American Turkish Council (ATC). Articles in Vanity Fair and Sunday Times, and in
2007, public advocacy requests for a Congressional hearing on the Sibel Edmonds
case bring up charges of illegal arms deals, illegal drug activities, money
laundering, influence-peddling, and racketeering, obstruction of justice,
bribery, espionage and treason. David Rose, contributing editor to Vanity Fair,
wrote the expose on the FBI wiretaps of the Turkish Embassy and its allies in
relation to the scandal. ((An Inconvenient Patriot by David Rose, Vanity
Fair/September 2005 URL: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9774.htm
)


The president of Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is G .Lincoln McCurdy,
according to the TCA’s website, “McCurdy was the president and chief executive
officer, 1998 - 2004, and executive director, 1989 – 1998, of the
American-Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington... He received ATC’s Distinguished
Career Award in 2005. Before joining ATC, Mr. McCurdy served in the American
Consulate General in Istanbul as the Consul for Commercial Affairs, 1980 –
1984.” This is just one example of many showing the deep state Turkish
government ties between the Turkish government and Turkish groups lobbying in
America, that do not represent any real “Turkish American” constituency. The
chief legal counsel for the TCA is David Saltzman, business partner of the
lawyer for the Turkish Embassy and President-Elect of the Assembly of Turkish
American Associations (ATAA), Gunay Evinch.

The President-Elect of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA),
Gunay Evinch, led Turkish Embassy “so-called” political demonstrators on July
20th, 2008 in Washington DC, some of whom were sighted carrying placards that
read “Greek troops occupy Macedonia” In a recent interview to the Turkish press
last month, he remarked “We have a warm affinity for Macedonia, where now our
distant relatives who still Turkish, live peacefully.” Evinch was a principal
member of the defense team in Crist v. Turkey, 995 F.Supp. 5 (D.D.C. 1998), when
Cypriot American citizen Takey Crist challenged Turkey in a lawsuit for stolen
lands, known as Takey Crist, et al. v. The Republic of Turkey, Civil No.
93-2605 (Judge Royce Lamberth), United States District Court for the District of
Columbia, Memorandum of Opinion, at 3.

Please view our CANA grassroots you tube video of Gunay Evinch, in front of the
Turkish Embassy on July 20th, 2008, singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35YupEDq1Nw


MACEDONIANS AND CYPRIOTS ARE ON THE SAME BOAT.


Macedonia was occupied by the Ottoman Turkish Empire, predecessor to the present
day genocidal Republic of Turkey, for centuries. In the decades following the
successful Hellenic Revolution of 1821, Macedonia was decimated by wholesale
massacres of Hellenes by Ottoman Turkish occupiers and their allies. Moreover,
the movement of Hellenes into Macedonia from the free Hellenic Republic was
officially restricted, leading up to eventual liberation in the Twentieth
century. Despite, the passage of time, and official policies of “Greek-Turkish
friendship” Turkey remains intent on diminishing the Hellenic reality of
Macedonia, and supporting human rights abusing regimes in Skopje, where in
recent weeks Hellenes faced official harassment.
CANA welcomes the cooperation of Macedonian activists in North America, in the
Hellenic Republic and around the world in our struggle for Cyprus. The evidence
today makes clear that our people are joint victims of Turkish aggression and
Turkish false historical revisionism.


In order for our effort to win, we must have the strength to challenge the
failed policies of an establishment that has led our community into a state of
ignorance and dissolution. We have witnessed scores of official “lobbyists” and
diplomats come and go for decades, all with blinders on, all working in silence
in regards to the immense Turkish government campaign targeting Hellenism and
human rights for the Hellenic people. One very strange fact is that the Greek
Embassy in Washington DC boasts of an official visit to Greece by the Assembly
of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) URL:

http://www.greekembassy.org/embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=3&folder=295&article=5469


The complete text of “The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD)” press release is
provided below.

####
-THE PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNITED MADECONIAN DIASPORA (UMD)-

URL: http://umdiaspora.org/content/view/359/1/

UMD and TCA Announce Historic $150,000 Matching Grant Agreement
Thursday, 11 September 2008
For Immediate Release

Contact: (202) 756-2244; info@umdiaspora.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 11, 2008 – The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) and
the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) are pleased to announce a generous
challenge-matching grant of $150,000. Over the next three years, TCA will match
every dollar donated to UMD up to a maximum of $50,000 per year equaling a total
fundraising goal of $300,000. This gracious gift will allow UMD to expand its
work dramatically and, for the first time, retain a full-time Executive
Director.

“This historic agreement is a testament to the growing partnership between
Macedonian- and Turkish-Americans,” stated Metodija A. Koloski, UMD President.
“Both communities are working cooperatively to ensure that their voices are
heard on the world stage on vital matters of mutual interest in Southeast
Europe, including NATO enlargement and the promotion of security, democracy and
human rights in the Balkans ” added Koloski.

Since its independence in 1991, relations between the Republic of FYROM and
Turkey have been excellent. Ankara’s early diplomatic recognition of FYROM,
together with its constitutional name and consistent support for Fyromian
membership in NATO, have further strengthened the historic ties between the two
nations that span more than five centuries. Fyromians are proud that Ataturk
himself, the revolutionary founder of modern Turkey, was educated and raised in
the historic Macedonian city of Bitola.

“The cooperation and cultural ties that link the peoples of Turkey and Macedonia
are reflected in the outstanding relationship that exists between the
Turkish-American and Macedonian-American communities, a relationship that TCA
and UMD are striving to enhance,” said TCA President Lincoln M. McCurdy.

Earlier this year, UMD and TCA joined in awarding scholarships to
Macedonian-American undergraduate students to study abroad for a semester in
Turkey. TCA also has vigorously supported Macedonia’s NATO membership in
Washington and sent letters to President Bush on the eve of the recent NATO
Summit in Bucharest.

UMD urges Fyromians throughout the world to take advantage of this wonderful
grant matching opportunity by donating today.

####
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Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA)
2578 Broadway #132
New York, NY 10025
New York: Tel. 917-699-9935
Email: cana@cyprusactionnetwork.org
www.cyprusactionnetwork.org
========================
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass-roots, not-for-profit
movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the
people of Cyprus.



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