Poll Says Passage Of Armenian Resolution Will Worsen Turks' Opinion About The U.S.

5/21/2007
Turkish Press

The article below says:"According to the survey, 78 percent of Turks opposed any U.S. Congressional resolution and almost four-fifths of Turkish citizens favored strong action by the Turkish government if a resolution was adopted, including of suspension of diplomatic relations with the U.S. Of the Turks surveyed, 83 percent would oppose Turkey assisting the U.S. in neighboring Iraq should a resolution pass."
...
"After all, if the parliament of Turkey, or for that matter, Russia or France, were to pass a resolution condemning the United States for the genocide of American Indians in the 19th century, would that lead to acceptance and reconciliation in the US, or merely condemnation of the foreign government which judged American history?" Ken Ballen, leader of Terror Free Tomorrow (which conducted nationwide public opinion survey recently )said.

Mr. Ken Ballen is wrong. What Turkey's survey reflects is the lack of education within Turkey of the reality of the Armenian genocide. In contrast to Turkey USA citizens are fully aware of their history therefore any resolution in foreign parliaments will only confirm what they already know. Therefore my question to Mr. Ken Ballen is: Who has commissioned the survey and what political purpose does it serve? Why is he so eager to interpret the survey in a manner to please Turkey?

WASHINGTON - According to a new nationwide public opinion survey recently conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization, the adoption of a resolution on the so-called Armenian genocide allegations by the American congress would worsen Turks' opinion on the United States, hurting U.S. interests, and deal a major blow on efforts towards reaching a compromise between Turkey and Armenia.
"The passage of the resolution would set back cause it purports to achieve and harden the Turkish public view of Armenians," Ken Ballen, leader of Terror Free Tomorrow said in the poll report.

According to the survey, 78 percent of Turks opposed any U.S. Congressional resolution and almost four-fifths of Turkish citizens favored strong action by the Turkish government if a resolution was adopted, including of suspension of diplomatic relations with the U.S.

Of the Turks surveyed, 83 percent would oppose Turkey assisting the U.S. in neighboring Iraq should a resolution pass.

A plurality of Turks indicated that they would boycott American products with 84 percent of those --who now have a very favorable opinion of the United States-- responded that their opinion would deteriorate if the resolution passes.

73 percent of Turks said a resolution would have the opposite effect and actually worsen relations between Turkey and Armenia rather than promoting reconciliation between the two countries.

"The task of the Congress should be to help promote a neutral, independent and credible mechanism. That neutral forum should not only include expert historians, legal scholars and political leaders from both Turkey and Armenia, but similar representatives from other countries, as well," Ballen said.

"After all, if the parliament of Turkey, or for that matter, Russia or France, were to pass a resolution condemning the United States for the genocide of American Indians in the 19th century, would that lead to acceptance and reconciliation in the US, or merely condemnation of the foreign government which judged American history?" he asked.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.