Reilly rips foes tie to Armenia genocide denials

[Gavur]

http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=135873

By Kevin Rothstein
Thursday, April 20, 2006 - Updated: 12:26 AM EST


While gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick stood by his association with a D.C. lobbyist working to squash the legitimacy of the Armenian genocide, opponent Tom Reilly said he wouldn’t want anything to do with a person like that.

“Anyone who would try and undermine the history and the truth of what happened to the Armenian population, I certainly would be disappointed in that. I certainly would not want to have anything to do with that,” Reilly said.



The Herald reported yesterday that a Deval Patrick fund-raiser in Washington D.C. was co-hosted by Bernie Robinson, a consultant to the Livingston Group, a high-powered lobbying firm that has taken millions from the Turkish government to fight Congress from recognizing that the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915 was genocide.

Reilly, whose office is defending the state’s refusal to include the point of view of those who deny there was an Armenian genocide in the statewide Department of Education history curriculum, said Patrick will “have to make his own decisions as to who he associates with and the people that raise money for him.”

Reilly spoke minutes after all three Democratic candidates for governor appeared at a joint press conference designed to be a show of party unity. Patrick ducked out of the conference as soon as it was over.

“It is unfortunate that one of our opponents is trying to make a political issue out of the tragedy,” said Libby DeVecchi a spokeswoman for Patrick.

Patrick believes in the Armenian genocide, but downplayed the fund-raiser’s ties to the Livingston Group. Robinson has not worked for the Turkish government and is not even employed by the Livingston Group, a Patrick spokeswoman said.

The Livingston Group’s Web site lists Robinson as a consultant who is part of “The Livingston Group Team..”

[Joseph]

http://news.bostonherald.com/localPo...ticleid=135873
By Kevin Rothstein
Thursday, April 20, 2006 - Updated: 12:26 AM EST


While gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick stood by his association with a D.C. lobbyist working to squash the legitimacy of the Armenian genocide, opponent Tom Reilly said he wouldn’t want anything to do with a person like that.

“Anyone who would try and undermine the history and the truth of what happened to the Armenian population, I certainly would be disappointed in that. I certainly would not want to have anything to do with that,” Reilly said.



The Herald reported yesterday that a Deval Patrick fund-raiser in Washington D.C. was co-hosted by Bernie Robinson, a consultant to the Livingston Group, a high-powered lobbying firm that has taken millions from the Turkish government to fight Congress from recognizing that the slaughter of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians beginning in 1915 was genocide.

Reilly, whose office is defending the state’s refusal to include the point of view of those who deny there was an Armenian genocide in the statewide Department of Education history curriculum, said Patrick will “have to make his own decisions as to who he associates with and the people that raise money for him.”

Reilly spoke minutes after all three Democratic candidates for governor appeared at a joint press conference designed to be a show of party unity. Patrick ducked out of the conference as soon as it was over.

“It is unfortunate that one of our opponents is trying to make a political issue out of the tragedy,” said Libby DeVecchi a spokeswoman for Patrick.

Patrick believes in the Armenian genocide, but downplayed the fund-raiser’s ties to the Livingston Group. Robinson has not worked for the Turkish government and is not even employed by the Livingston Group, a Patrick spokeswoman said.

The Livingston Group’s Web site lists Robinson as a consultant who is part of “The Livingston Group Team..”

Livingston is the big winner in all of this. He's made millions for the Turkish government but been largely ineffective. The best lobbyist for the Turkish gov't is in fact the US State Department and they lobby for free.