Turkey Under Media Scrutiny For ATTACKS ON U.S. GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

[Hovik]

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.anca.org

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2005
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

TURKEY UNDER MEDIA SCRUTINY FOR
ATTACKS ON U.S. GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

-- Major Story in Vanity Fair, Report by
Public Citizen Allege Unethical Conduct
by the Turkish Government and its Allies

WASHINGTON, DC - A major news magazine and a leading citizens'
group this week focused public attention on the unethical conduct of
powerful opponents of legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Vanity Fair, in its September issue, published a 10-page story on
FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, who was fired after "she accused a
colleague of covering up illicit activity involving Turkish nationals."
According to the article by contributing editor David Rose, Edmonds
claims FBI wiretaps reveal that the Turkish government and its
allies boasted of bribing - with as much as $500,000 - the Speaker
of the House of Representatives as part of an alleged deal to stop
consideration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

The article cites accounts by Edmonds regarding FBI wiretaps of
the Turkish Embassy and Turkish groups such as the American Turkish
Council (ATC) and the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA),
including, "repeated references to Hastert's flip-flop in the fall of
2000, over an issue which remains of intense concern to the Turkish
government, the continuing campaign to have Congress designate the
killings of Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 a genocide."

Rose is careful to point out that "there is no evidence that any
payment was ever made to Hastert or his campaign." According to
the article, "Hastert's spokesman says the Congressman withdrew the
genocide resolution only because of the approach from [President]
Clinton, 'and to insinuate anything else just doesn't make any sense.'
He adds that Hastert has no affiliation with the ATC or other groups
reportedly mentioned in the wiretaps.'" The full article can be read
in the September issue of Vanity Fair.

In a separate development, CongressWatch, an arm of Public Citizen,
recently released a 49-page report raising ethical concerns about
lobbying by former Members of Congress. The report includes a 12-
page case study of the Livingston Group's lobbying efforts for the
Turkish Government. The report details the efforts by Livingston
Group founder, former House Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston,
to secure a "$1 billion supplemental appropriation for Turkey. . .
despite that country's refusal to allow U.S. troops to use its
soil as a staging area for the Iraq invasion. He also helped kill
an amendment that would have formally recognized the Armenian
Genocide that occurred between 1915 and 1923. Turkey has always
opposed this recognition." The Livingston Group has received over $9
million in payments from Turkey. To read the entire report, visit:

http://www.lobbyinginfo.org/documents/RevolveDoor.pdf

"These behind-the-scenes accounts reveal a pattern of patently
unethical and possibly even illegal conduct by the Turkish government
and its allies in their efforts to oppose the Armenian Genocide
Resolution," said Aram Hamparian. "Facing growing bipartisan
Congressional support for this legislation, these interests are
resorting to increasingly desperate means to avoid the international
isolation that Turkey will face following U.S. recognition of the
Armenian Genocide."

In the months leading up the publication of these documents, the ANCA
provided both Vanity Fair and Public Citizen with background materials,
interviews, and first-hand accounts regarding Congressional efforts
to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

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Vanity Fair: Turks Boasted of Payments to Hastert

Vanity Fair: Turks Boasted of Payments to Hastert
19 Corporate Crime Reporter 32(1), August 3, 2005

Corporate Crime Reporter, D.C.
Aug 3 2005

Turkish officials boasted of giving "tens of thousands of dollars in
surreptious payments" to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois)
in exchange for political favors.

That allegation is contained a profile of Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) whistleblower Sibel Edmonds in the current issue
of Vanity Fair magazine.

The article, "An Inconvenient Patriot," by British writer David Rose,
reports that Edmonds was asked to listen to wiretaps as part of what
appeared to be an FBI public corruption probe into bribes paid to
members of Congress - both Democrat and Republican.

Rose, citing "some of the wiretaps," reports that "the FBI's targets
had arranged for tens of thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert's
campaign funds in small checks."

The article notes that under Federal Election Commission rules,
"donations of less than $200 are not required to be itemized in
public filings."

The article reports that Edmonds has given confidential testimony
on several occasions - to congressional staffers, to the Inspector
General, and to staff from the 9/11 commission.

"Edmonds reportedly added that the recordings also contained
repeated references to Hastert's flip-flop, in the fall of 2000" to
"the continuing campaign to have Congress designate the killings of
Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 as genocide."

According to the Vanity Fair article, the resolution never went
anywhere until August 2000 when Hastert announced he was supporting
it - in an effort to win over his district's large Armenian community.

According to the article, the resolution passed the House International
Relations Committee by a large majority "thanks to Hastert."

"Then, on October 19, minutes before the full House vote, Hastert
withdrew it," the article reports.

Hastert said at the time that he withdrew it because of a letter he
received from President Bill Clinton that the bill would harm U.S.
interests.

And while the Vanity Fair article reports that "there is no evidence
that any payment was ever made to Hastert or to his campaigns,"
it also reports that "a senior official at the Turkish Consulate is
said to have claimed in one recording that the price for Hastert to
withdraw the resolution would have been at least $500,000."

The article reports that Edmonds testified that she heard about the
payments when listening to "Turkish wiretap targets."

In one wiretapped conversation, a Turkish official spoke to a State
Department staffer.

"They agreed that the State Department staffer would send a
representative at an appointed time to the American-Turkish Council
office, at 1111 14th Street, N.W. where he would be given $7,000 in
cash," the article reports.

Another call Edmonds heard allegedly discussed a payment to a
Pentagon official "who seemed to be involved in weapons-procurement
negotiations," according to the article.

Hastert's spokesman could not be reached for comment.

But he told Vanity Fair that Hastert is "unaware of Turkish interests
making donations" and his staff has "not seen any pattern of donors
with foreign names."

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/hastert080305.htm