DEVELOPING STORY: CONGRESSMAN MCMAHON GENOCIDE DENIER

For Immediate Release: March 15, 2010

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

NEW YORK--The current (March 12-March 19, 2010) weekly edition of The National
Herald TNH has published two articles by young Greek American journalist Eleni
Kostopoulos on Congressman McMahon and genocide denial. One of the articles
appeared in the ‘Community News’ section and is titled (Community dismayed by
narrow genocide vote by Eleni Kostopoulos ,March 12, 2010) , it covers
Congressman McMahon’s morally repugnant support of Turkish interests during the
recent House Foreign Affairs vote on the Armenian genocide, and McMahon’s
disregard for his own Greek American constituency. The other article titled
(Denial is not just a river in Egypt... or in Turkey by Eleni Kostopoulos, March
12, 2010) covers the issue of immorality and genocide denial. In regards to
Congressman McMahon’s NO vote to Armenian Genocide recognition resolution in the
House, Eleni Kostopoulos writes “I was particularly bothered by this narrow
margin victory when I was informed that the congressman who represents my
district (a district comprised of an estimated 20,000 Greek Americans) was one
of those 22 voters against the resolution. Michael McMahon is a congressman I
will not vote for come congressional elections.”

The National Herald TNH is the leading English language national newspaper of
the Greek American Community. In addition, TNH’s website (and its Greek language
version www.ekirikas.com) receives thousands of subscriptions annually from all
around the United States and the world. TNH is considered the most serious and
objective newspaper and website of reference for the Greek Diaspora.

The two National Herald Articles TNH ((Community dismayed by narrow genocide
vote by Eleni Kostopoulos, March 12, 2010) and (Denial is not just a river in
Egypt... or in Turkey by Eleni Kostopoulos, March 12, 2010) are reproduced below
for educational purposes. Directly following the two articles is a recent
editorial by a Turkish lobby media outlet praising Congressman McMahon. The
Turkish lobby editorial praising McMahon is translated by one of our
multi-lingual volunteers.

(THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE REPRODUCED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES)

The National Herald (March 12-March 19, 2010) http://www.thenationalherald.com/

Community Dismayed by Narrow Genocide Vote
Eleni Kostopoulos


Greek American and Armenian members of the District 13 community in New York
City have expressed indignation regarding the vote cast by U.S. Representative
Michael McMahon (D-NY) opposing the Armenian Genocide resolution last week in
the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The House voted narrowly (23-22) on March 4
to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as genocide.

NEW YORK – Greek American and Armenian members of the District 13 community in
New York City have expressed indignation regarding the vote cast by U.S.
Representative Michael McMahon (D-NY) opposing the Armenian Genocide resolution
last week in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The House voted narrowly
(23-22) on March 4 to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 as
genocide, resisting a plea from the Obama administration to forgo a vote that
would likely offend Turkey.

Mr. McMahon, who is also on the sub-committee on Europe of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, could not be reached by The National Herald for comment
before deadline.

Peter Vlitas, executive of the local AHEPA Chapter in Bay Ridge, said the aim of
a meeting the chapter organized last week was to decide on and send a letter to
Mr. McMahon asking him to vote in favor of the recognition of Genocide.

“We want to show that our community is organized, and that we took the
initiative to support the vote to recognize the Genocide against the Armenians”,
Mr. Vlitas said. “Within our AHEPA chapter, there are executives as well as
members of cultural societies. We are organized citizens, voters in the region
that Congressman McMahon represents and we are interested and concerned about
similar issues.”

Mr. McMahon’s potential congressional opponent for the 13th Congressional
District, Michael Allegretti told TNH that he firmly advocated for the passing
of Resolution 252.

“To put it simply, there’s a right side and a wrong side of history and any
public official must stand on the right side of history,” said Mr. Allegretti,
who is a life-long resident of Staten Island, NY. “It’s something that I was
very proud to do for sake of saying what’s right. It’s unconscionable to me that
our current congressman is unable to see that and to speak to the values that
people in our district expect from people who represent them in government.”

Mr. McMahon, who represents Staten Island, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and
Gravesend in Brooklyn, joined the Hellenic Caucus to pledge support for Cyprus
and the Patriarchate. He joined the Turkish Caucus May of last year.

The following list presents the vote tally on H. Res. 252: Howard L. Berman
(pro); Gary L. Ackerman (pro); Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (pro); Donald M. Payne
(pro); Brad Sherman (pro); Eliot L. Engel (pro); Bill Delahunt (con); Gregory W.
Meeks (con); Diane E. Watson (pro); Russ Carnahan (con); Albio Sires (pro);
Gerald E. Connolly (con); Michael E. McMahon (con); John S. Tanner (con); Gene
Green (pro); Lynn Woolsey (pro); Sheila Jackson Lee (—); Barbara Lee (pro);
Shelley Berkley (pro); Joseph Crowley (pro); Mike Ross (con); Brad Miller (con);
David Scott (con); Jim Costa (pro); Keith Ellison (pro); Gabrielle Giffords
(pro); Ron Klein (pro); Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (con); Christopher H. Smith (pro);
Dan Burton (con); Elton Gallegly (pro); Dana Rohrabacher (pro); Donald A.
Manzullo (pro); Edward R. Royce (pro); Ron Paul (con); Jeff Flake (con); Mike
Pence (con); Joe Wilson (con); John Boozman (con); J. Gresham Barrett (con);
Connie Mack (con); Jeff Fortenberry (con); Michael T. McCaul (con); Ted Poe
(con); Bob Inglis (con); Gus Bilirakis (pro).

It is estimated that the number of slaughtered Armenians is 1,500,000. The
Armenian Genocide occurred in parallel with genocide against Christian and other
populations of the Ottoman Empire like the Pontian Greeks and the Assyrian
(Nestorian Christians).

Email: EleniK@thenationalherald.com.
--------------------------------------------------

Denial is Not Just a River in Egypt... Or in Turkey
Eleni Kostopoulos

NEW YORK- Denial is most often defined as the disbelief in the existence or
reality of something. Alcoholics usually deny their addictions. Criminals
frequently deny their wrongdoings. Bill Clinton denied any sexual relations. Oh
yes, denial is both convenient and dangerous. But denial is something that has
been gracing the headlines of all our reading material lately. New York Gov.
Paterson denied coercing the victim of alleged assault and Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied Sept. 11 (and the U.S. media chastised both figures
critically).

Another outrageous yet not-surprising headline: Turkey denies the Armenian
genocide - and so do 22 members of a congressional committee - members elected
by me, you and the next person, who collectively lost in their efforts to reject
the declaration deeming the mass murder of more than 1.5 million people a
“genocide” by just ONE vote on March 4. What’s next? Denying the Holocaust?
Maybe if you’re Ahmadinejad.
I was particularly bothered by this narrow margin victory when I was informed
that the congressman who represents my district (a district comprised of an
estimated 20,000 Greek Americans) was one of those 22 voters against the
resolution. Michael McMahon is a congressman I will not vote for come
congressional elections. In a press release defending his stance McMahon said:
“Instead of looking backwards to the turn of the 20th century, we need to look
forward in the 21st century.” If history is bound to repeat itself, Mr. McMahon,
it is crucial to acknowledge it and learn from it, not to deny facts and
figures. Some speculate his position is fueled by Turkish lobby money while
others say it could be the influence of his Turkish foreign affairs Legislative
Assistant Naz Turkoglu, for introducing him to the Turkish American community.
Either way, Mr. McMahon represents a mere 997 Turks in his district and as Greek
Americans who can relate to the atrocities experienced by the Armenian
population, who measure far higher in numbers but who don’t get out there to
vote quite enough, it is our duty to be especially vocal to those who represent
us.

Let’s not deny our own rights as citizens.

Perhaps it can be argued that it is not the place of the U.S. Congress to debate
an issue that occurred 95 years ago when there are more current atrocities in
our world that must be dealt with. Perhaps it is not the place of U.S. Congress
even more so considering our genocidal policy toward Native Americans in the
19th century, among other morally questionable historic strategies. But
re-writing history to avoid offending Turkey or harming U.S.-Turkish relations
is not only ethically unacceptable, it’s the harshest form of denial.

House Resolution 252 did not call for any action to be taken by Turkey - not
even an apology to the families whose ancestors suffered malicious, horrid
deaths. The resolution is more about documenting history accurately - history
that is supported by thousands of documents both here in the United States and
abroad. The U.S.’s position on the matter, however, does not even seem to be
about anything but politics and wallets.

Our nation’s longtime denial of the Armenian genocide has encouraged Turkey's
false notion of mass killings and should serve as an eye-opener to the
wide-spread and well-funded propaganda that threatens us all here and now, and
tomorrow. This issue is about humanity and the acknowledgement of truth - a
truth that should have been recognized a long time ago and possibly could have
changed the course of history and aspects of the Holocaust that followed.

As for a potential reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia that now remains
“jeopardized” due to the passing of the resolution, we need to really question
whether such a settlement was possible to begin with, or will be any time soon.
If Turkey was serious about taking gradual steps toward improving
Turkish-Armenian relations, acknowledging wrongdoing in the face of overwhelming
factual evidence would be a much more effective means of progress.

The idea that negative aspects of history are best forgotten in the interest of
politics is deplorable. As both survivors and relatives of victims of the first
ethnic cleansing of the 20th century would probably agree, after 95 long years,
it’s time for this denial to end.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE FOLLOWING EDITORIAL APPEARED IN TURKISH IN THE TURKISH LOBBY MEDIA OUTLET
TURKISHNY.com, THE TRANSLATION TO ENGLISH IS BY ANONYMOUS MULTI-LINGUAL
VOLUNTEERS

To see the original Turkish article praising Congressman McMahon, visit this
link:
http://www.turkishny.com/headline-news/2-headline-news/25096-yunanllar-michael-mcmahondan-rahatsz

An Ugly Attack towards the Representative by the Greeks
Monday, 01 March 2010 09:14

It was reported that the representative Michael McMahon from New York 13, who
enjoyed the applause and the support of the Turkish-American community shortly
after Robert Wexler – who stood against the so-called Armenian genocide and won
the heart of the Turkish-American community - was currently under the pressure
of the Armenian and Greek groups.

In his article, Alex Aliferis of America’s Southern Cyprus Action Network
establishment stated that there are 20 thousand Greek-Americans in the
jurisdiction of the representative McMahon who is known by the nickname “Rising
Star” by the Turkish-American community, and called the on Greek-American
community to protest him.

Aliferis, who said that McMahon by not recognizing the Armenian Genocide sides
with the Turks and backs Azerbaijan in the Karabagh conflict, also said that the
Greek-American community cannot trust this man, who is also expected to deny the
so-called Greek and Syrian genocides of Asia Minor.

House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee member McMahon promised
that he would not be casting a “yes” vote to the H.Res.252 which recognizes the
so –called Armenian Genocide. The author states that despite the Turkish threats
to occupy Iraq, the Armenian resolution barely passed the Foreign Relations
Committee and recommends the Greek-American community not to trust McMahon.

The author while targeting the representative because of his fair attitude
towards Turkey, who participated in the events along with the Turkish-American
community, where he emphasized the importance of the Turkish-Greek friendship,
states that McMahon may be scared and, as a result, may cast a “Yes” vote if the
thousands of Greek-Americans in all the 50 states of America acted together.

The author encourages the Greek-American community to call McMahon at
202-225-3371 at his Washington office, and states that it is essential to put
pressure on the representative to cast a “Yes” at the March 4 vote.

The Turkish-American community defends/protects Michael McMahon

The Assistant Director of ATAA Ali Cinar while stating that Michael McMahon is a
very valuable friend of Turks and works for the world peace, he also reminds
that McMahon, at his reception last month, expressed that Turks and Greeks live
together and gave the “I want to create stronger bridges between peoples”
message. Cinar said that the Greeks’ frustration is a trump for Armenians and
added that everybody including our Turkish citizens should defend and support
McMahon in his district.

In addition, TADF Assistant Director Can Kaplan expressed their deep
appreciation for McMahon who was present in the Foreign Relations Committee and
lobbied really hard so his fellow members would cast a “No” vote, and added that
the Greek pressure will be fruitless. Kaplan also expressed that they worked
together with McMahon on many occasions, and said “Our goal is to support and
defend all the representatives who support our people and the Turkish-American
relations.”

Cınar and Kaplan asked the Turkish-American people to make telephone calls to
McMahon’s Washington offices to say “thank you” or deliver their thanks in
person at the district offices in order to show their support for Michael
McMahon in the strongest possible terms.
Washington DC Office : (202) 225-3371 Staten Island : (718) 351-1062 Brooklyn :
(718) 630-5277

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