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ATAA's Successes in American
Congress
Dear ATAA Members,
Just about two months ago, when I visited Republican
Congressman Paul Gillmor of Ohio when he agreed to join
the Turkey Caucus, we were overjoyed. As ATAA, we had
done something for the long term and extremely
beneficial to our homeland Turkey. This US congressman
had become the 56th member of the Turkish Caucus!
The Turkish Caucus is most important, because it is
single-handedly the most exciting accomplishment of
Turks in the US and Turkey. The Turkish Caucus is also
important, because if strong enough, it will not allow
an Armenian Genocide Resolution to pass, it will vote in
the US Congress for Turkey to finally gain the Most
Favorite Trade Nation Status, it will not allow the
quotas to be placed on Turkish goods sold in the US, and
it will not allow the congress to stall the delivery of
helicopters to Turkey that Turkey has paid for, etc.
While thankful for the good fortune of adding a new
congressman to the Turkish Caucus in May, since then I
kept wondering if we could repeat this success, and as
ATAA, an NGO who survives on its own, doing all these
works with volunteers such as myself and the ATAA boards
could perform an encore. Because, this was rather the
monumental kind of a job on which other professionals
were working.
Recently, I mentioned to you that as ATAA we were back
at work after our delegation visit to Turkey, and that
we were going back to diligent work at the US Congress.
This week, two months after my visit with Congressman
Gillmor, when I left the Rayburn Office Building at the
US Congress, I felt even more exuberant than before. Not
only had I met with a most sincere American Congressman
who received me well and was so hospitable and receptive
to me and the Turks, but also formed a bond with him
strong enough to persuade him to join the Turkish
Caucus. Mr. Ben Chandler of Kentucky said yes to
becoming the 59th member of the Turkish Caucus!
And just yesterday, we received the news of one more
congressman joining in and bringing up the total number
of the Turkish Caucus to 60! This all goes to show: If
others can do it, so can the Turks, and so can ATAA!
We only hope that as our members -with whose hard-earned
money ATAA survives- you are proud of us and will
increase your financial and moral support of ATAA so
that we can not only continue this effort but also
continue our other proactive works such as bringing into
Washington D.C. Turkish-American youth for internship
programs at the US Congress, Turkish-American voter
registration drive during this year's presidential
elections, student scholarships, and many other ATAA
programs.
We have said the following repeatedly in the past: if as
Turkish-Americans we will get anywhere advocating the
Turkish issues in this country, it must be with a
proactive and not a reactionary attitude. ATAA is doing
its very best to carry out that mission. Yes, writing
letters to the anti-Turkish propaganda champions and
anti-Turkish news disseminators in the media is
wonderful, but by itself, this type of a reactive effort
has proven itself NOT to get the job done. Many years of
our existence in the US has proven that fact to us
repeatedly. Simply by writing protest letters, we have
changed the minds of not a single person or a single
entity who declared the Turks to be the bad guys. The
list is so long, I don't know where to begin. The New
York Times, The National Geographic, etc, etc.
What will get this job done is that we all will have to
get involved, and get involved in smart methods of
fighting the anti-Turkish lobbies in this country.
Please participate in your Turkish-American community
endeavors, or if you don't quite have the time to do so
on your own, PLEASE support and allow YOUR ATAA to do it
for you.
ATAA is here for you and is defending our good name.
Sincerely,
Ercument Kilic
President, ATAA |
