Call Your Congressman
Not to Co-Sponsor and to Vote AGAINST H.Res.
252 |
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
 Dear Members of the ATAA and
Friends of Türkiye:
H.Res. 252, which condemns the Ottoman
Empire, and by implication Turkey and people of
Turkish and Muslim heritage, of the high crime of
genocide, has been scheduled for a vote on March
4, 2010 at the House Foreign Affairs Committee
(HFAC). H.Res. 252's failed predecessor,
H.Res. 106, passed 27-21 with overwhelming support
by committee members from three states,
California, New York and Massachusetts.
Indeed, legislators dependent on Armenian
nationalism for their political survival from
three states, threatened relations with Turkey for
the entire United States. Eventually, the
narrow perspective of the nationalist Armenian
American lobby yielded to the broader vision the
US-Turkish partnership promises.
H.Res 252 is an accusation and adjudication
of a high crime against an entire people in the
legislative branch. Such a resolution is
fundamentally unfair and unjust, and blatantly
racist against people of Turkish and Muslim
heritage.
The discriminatory treatment against people
of Turkish and Muslim heritage is what will cause
long term damage to US - Turkish relations,
particularly at a time when the U.S. is struggling
and in need of Turkey to rehabilitate its
credibility as a country that stands for fairness,
equality and justice for all people.
H.Res 252 will also derail the Turkey -
Armenia protocols through negative
reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is not
dignified, and offends people of Turkish and
Muslim heritage, because one should be forced to
admit to a crime that has not been proven in a
court of law, particularly as a bargain to escape
the persecution and emotional bullying of
continually being accused.
Accordingly, I ask you to be good Americans,
and participate in the ATAA-FTAA-TCA CapWiz campaign against
H.Res.252.
Respectfully yours,
Gunay Evinch
President
Assembly of Turkish American
Associations
(ATAA)
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ATAA,
TAAM Team Up in Minnesota
 On February 4, the Turkish American
Association of Minnesota ( TAAM) hosted ATAA President Gunay
Evinch for a briefing on ATAA's national strategy for
grassroots activism. Over 50 Turkish American
activists from TAAM as well as faith-based and student
organizations weathered the bitter snow to hear Evinch
speak on the ATAA's new Turkish American Board Advocacy
Network (TABAN), Student Outreach, and Census 2010
SayTurk. TAAM, a longtime ATAA component
organization, will be working with ATAA on Census 2010
SayTurk to count an estimated 2000 Turkish Americans in
the Minneapolis-Indianapolis metropolitan area. As
he had done at the Council of Turkish Canadians Youth
Congress in Montreal in January, Evinch also visited
with the local Turkish American community members,
including small businesses and religious leaders. [ read]
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2010
Khojaly Commemoration / Pax Turcica Census
Workshop
 On February 25, 2010, Azerbaijan
Society of America (ASA), Azerbaijani-American Council
(AAC), Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA),
the George Washington University Turkish Student
Association (GWUTSA), the Association of
Turkish-Americans of Washington (ATA-DC) and the
Azerbaijani-American Student Association (AASA)
co-organized a seminar program dedicated to the 18th
anniversary of Khojaly Massacre at George Washington
University in Washington, DC.
ATAA Vice President Tomris Azeri and AAC Executive
Director Javid Huseynov conducted the first panel
session about the Khojaly Massacre. This was
followed by a community seminar presented by ATAA
President Gunay Evinch, who spoke about the upcoming
2010 U.S. Census to raise awareness about the SayTurk
Campaign, which ATAA is leading to count Turks
nationwide in the
US.
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TAFSUS
SAYTURK Seminar on Census 2010
On February 24, 2010, Turkish American Friendship
Society of US (TAFSUS) and Turkish Student
Association of Drexel University (DrexelTSA) organized a seminar on
Census 2010. Shawn P. Brede, a Census Bureau
Partnership Specialist, from Philadelphia Regional
Census Center discussed the importance of census count
in 2010.
The ATAA and US Census Bureau entered a partnership
agreement on September 29, 2009, to count the number of
Turks nationwide in the 2010 Census. Pursuant to the
Partnership Agreement, ATAA spearheaded a national
campaign, entitled "Say Turk" to count people of Turkish
and Turkic heritage throughout America. The first leg of
this campaign is to organize seminars with local Turkish
American leaders.
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TAAA Celebrates its First
Anniversary
 ATAA's component organization,
Turkish American Association of Alabama (TAAA) celebrated its birthday with
first annual meeting on January 30, 2010. Members of
TAAA and other Turkish Americans and friends of Turkey
came from throughout the state for the
celebration. TAAA's first year successes include
having a booth at the UAB International Student Fair,
having a booth at the Ramsey High School International
Exhibition, sponsoring Turkish Movie Night at UAB,
conducting an advocacy training workshop, hosting a
Ramadan Festival Celebration, providing gifts for
homeless women/children at a local shelter, hosting
Turkish Republic Day Celebration and many more. TAAA is
preparing for "Spotlight on Turkey 2010"event in
conjunction with Birmingham International
Center. |
ATASC/ATAA
Student Outreach Meeting
 On January 30, 2010, American
Turkish Association of Southern California (ATASC) and the Assembly of Turkish
American Associations (ATAA) brought together
students from many Southern California colleges and
universities for a lively exchange of ideas and laid the
foundations of networking in Los Angeles at the
Courtyard Marriott Hotel LAX. During the program,
students were able to discuss issues such as visa and
immigration, job search, career decisions, available
resources in an informal Q&A
setting. The first part of the panel
focused on the legal and administrative issues. Mr. Arif
Çelik, Vice Consul of Turkish Republic in LA and Ms.
Emine Özyurt, Office of the Turkish Educational Attaché,
and Mia F. Renaud and Yasemin Elmas, representatives
from the LA based Marouf Law Group were among the guests
that answered students' questions. Following the
session, previous ATAA President Ms. Nurten Ural and
ATAA President-Elect Mr. Ergun Kırlıkovalı, discussed
political issues and controversies facing Turkish
students. The second part of the panel brought together
a group of successful Turkish American business people
to discuss networking, career and success in the
US. Student outreach panel provided an important
opportunity for the students to familiarize themselves
with ATA-SC and its five
chapters. |
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ATASC-ATAA
Grassroots Advocacy
Seminar
On Jan 31,
2010, American Turkish Association of Southern
California (ATASC) in partnership with Assembly
of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) with the
sponsorship of Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) presented an educational
seminar on grassroots advocacy as part of Turkish
American Broad Advocacy Network (TABAN) - an ATAA
nationwide grassroots education campaign. Keynote
speaker Hon. Congressman McMahon, stressed the
importance of speaking out and getting involved in the
political process. To emphasize the importance of
political involvement, Turkish Coalition of America
(TCA) President Lincoln McCurdy, gave a presentation on
Turkish American issues and Congressional Turkish
Caucus. ATAA Past President Nurten Ural, ATAA
Civic Engagement Director Yenal Küçüker, and local
Grassroots Coordinator Seda Bolulu held an ATAA training
workshop/seminar and introduced TABAN's vision and
mission to activate Turkish-Americans in the grassroots
efforts. Participants received instructional booklets on
advocacy and signed up to join the local grassroots
committee to ensure the continuation of these efforts in
California. Grassroots workshop/seminar also emphasized
the importance of the 2010 Census, on which Americans of
Turkish descent will be able to denote "Turk" as their
demographic for the first time. The presentation was
followed by a Q&A session, where attendees asked
pertinent and engaging
questions.
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ATAA
Receives a Plaquette from Aydın University
 On February 5, 2010, ATAA hosted a
delegation from İstanbul Aydın University (IAU) at the
Türk Evi in Washington DC. ATAA Projects Director Gamze
Ergür held an informative meeting with Mustafa Aydın,
who is the President of IAU's Board of Trustees, and
Muzaffer Baca, who coordinates the University's
projects. After sharing with us IAU's
institutional mission and goals vis-à-vis
Turkish-American relations and possible means to expand
mutual educational exchange programs between the US and
Turkey, Mustafa Aydın presented a plaquette to the
ATAA.
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ATAA IN THE NEWS
- Amerika'da nüfus Sayımı: Türkler de sayılacak
VOANews, February 26, 2010
- Conference on Khojaly Massacre
HistoryofTruth, February 26, 2010
- Washington hosts conference on 18th anniversary of Khojali tragedy
TREND, February 26, 2010
- Genocide resolution would undo Turkish, Armenian accord
The Boston Globe, February 24, 2010
- Khojaly Genocide commemorated at University of California
APA, February 22, 2010
- Khojaly Genocide discussion at Berkeley University, CA
Today, AZ, February 22, 2010
- US Census 2010: A Roundtable Interview
Turkish American Hour, February 22, 2010
- Amerikan Yüksek Mahkemesi'nde terör örgütü PKK davası
HaberTurk, February 22, 2010
- U.S. gets more involved In Armenia, Turkey reconciliation
Eurasia Review, February 21, 2010
- ABD'deki Türkler, Güçlerini Siyasette Kullanacak
Turkish Action Alert, February 9, 2010 | |
