WASHINGTON, DC – Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian offered powerful testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, calling for a clear and decisive U.S. response to the May 16th brutal beatings of peaceful American protesters by Turkish President Recep Tayip Erodogan’s bodyguards.
Hamparian, whose live videotape footage from the attack was shown during the hearing, explained “What [Erdogan] ordered on the streets of our capital provides a small insight – a chilling insight – into the types of violence visited every day upon the citizens of Turkey, far from our city, away from our cameras. Those are the facts. That’s where we are.”
Hamparian continued asking, “This hearing, Mr. Chairman, is about foreign policy, to be sure, but – at a more fundamental level – it’s about our shared American commitment to our First Amendment and our freedoms. The question before us is: How will we respond to Ankara exporting its intolerance and violence to our shores, his unapologetic attempts to bully Americans, as he has his own citizens?
How will we answer his arrogance?”
Among the remedies suggested by Hamparian included:
— President Trump should break his silence and condemn this attack on peaceful protesters in our nation’s capital.
— The U.S. government – including our Department of Justice – should fully investigate and criminally prosecute the attackers, demanding that Turkey issue a blanket waiver of diplomatic immunity for all involved in this assault.
— The Administration should, as Senator McCain has recommended, exercise our right to immediately expel Turkey’s Ambassador from the United States – as both an expression of our outrage and a reaffirmation of our American devotion to freedom of expression.
Hamparian welcomed the full Committee’s unanimous adoption of H.Res.354, introduced by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel (D-NY), with the support of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), condemning the attacks and “calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and measures to be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future.”
He also encouraged the adoption of H.Res.220 – a bipartisan measure seeking to apply the lessons of Turkey’s genocide against Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other Christians in order to prevent future atrocities.
Hamparian’s complete written testimony is available below.
Also testifying at the hearing were Ms. Lusik Usoyan, Founder and President of the Ezidi Relief Fund; Mr. Murat Yusa, a local businessman and protest organizer; and Ms. Ruth Wedgwood, Edward B. Burling Professor of International Law and Diplomacy, at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Usoyan and Yusa were victims of the brutal assault on May 16th by President Erdogan’s bodyguards.
“I believe that the individuals like Mr. Erdogan who systematically abuse his authority, by violating human right, pressing press, imprisoning second largest party’s [HDP] co-chairs and its members, committing war crimes, and strongly supporting a terrorist group like ISIS has no space in the White House of the United States of America,” explained Usoyan, who went on to outline the beating she received at the hands of pro-Erdogan henchmen. A Ezidi Kurd who grew up in Armenia, Usoyan cited Erdogan’s collusion with Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev as among reasons for the April, 2016, Azerbaijani attack against Armenia. A tearful Usoyan explained, “In the aftermath of the 4-day attack around 80 Armenian soldiers were killed and one Ezidi origin soldier was beheaded by Azeri solders. That soldier happens to be my cousin.”
Usoyan’s complete written testimony is available here:
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20170525/106048/HHRG-115-FA14-Wstate-UsoyanL-20170525.pdf
“As somebody that takes pride in the fundamental American values, it was hard for me to explain to my children why I was attacked, and why Erdogan’s goons were able to escape the U.S. without any justice,” Murat Musa told Members of Congress in his moving testimony. “To ensure justice is served is not for my benefit. It is for our children and the unpredictable future that lays ahead. To hold the perpetrators accountable for their unjustifiable and brutal attacks is not for my benefit. It is to reflect the values that is engraved in the hearts of all Americans.”
Musa’s complete written testimony is available here:
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20170525/106048/HHRG-115-FA14-Wstate-UsoyanL-20170525.pdf
Ruth Wedgwood called the attacks “a dreadful episode of violence in which protesters assembled at Sheridan Circle, in front of the residence of the Turkish ambassador, were subjected to gratuitous and outrageous beatings by persons who were apparently part of the security detail of President Erdogan. There is no excuse for this.”
Wedgwood, who has survived a terrorist attack in the past, sympathized with the victims of the Erdogan ordered beatings, stated that “to send a message now to Turkey, there needs to be fairly demonstrative, dramatic measures taken.” Describing President Erdogan as a “thug” and a “bully,” Wedgwood explained that “One can surmise that if he bullies individual people, he will bully the region. Would he be a reliable ally? No.”
Wedgwood’s complete written testimony is available here:
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA14/20170525/106048/HHRG-115-FA14-Wstate-WedgwoodR-20170525.pdf
Complete coverage of Congressional reaction during the hearing will follow.