Turkish Coalition of America Demands Armenian Community To Denounce Death Threats Against Members of Congress

Recent Actions by Armenian Radicals Pose Threat to US National Security

WASHINGTON, DC - Turkish Coalition of America denounced the death threats made by radical Armenian Americans against a member of congress, and their continued campaign of harassment and intimidation of public officials. Yesterday, Armenian American made a death threat to the life of Congressman Cohen (D-TN), which is the most recent in their attempts to intimidate the lawmaker.

"Making a threat against the life of a United States Congressman can be called nothing short of terrorism," said Lincoln McCurdy, President of the Turkish Coalition of America. "The Turkish American community demands that Armenian Americans and every Armenian organization in the nation join with us to denounce the actions of these criminals."

Congressman Steve Cohen, who is a member of the Congressional Turkish Caucus, has been harassed in the months leading up to yesterday's primary. On Wednesday evening, a self-described documentary filmmaker attempted to force his way into the home of the Congressman. Cohen was forced to physically remove the filmmaker from his home. Just today, Congressman Cohen received a death threat from a radical Armenian as a result of his support for US-Turkish relations.

Cohen yesterday won his primary election yesterday by a margin of three to one, against his opponent who attempted to inflame voters by mobilizing anti-Turkish passions. This hate filed rhetoric reached such a fever pitch that even Democratic Presidential nominee Barak Obama commented on the issue: "These incendiary and personal attacks have no place in our politics, and will do nothing to help the good people of Tennessee. Its time to turn the page on a politics driven by negativity and division so that we can come together to lift up our communities and our country," Obama said, according to a release.

For several decades, Armenian terrorist organizations, have committed acts of terrorism against Turkish and other nationals, which have resulted in the murder of a number of civilians, including two Turkish diplomats in Los Angeles and one Turkish American honorary consul general in Boston. Armenian Americans, including the Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, while having been convicted on terrorism charges, have not been denounced by Armenian American organizations. Attacks, threats and intimidation by Armenian American extremists on American scholars, Turkish American organizations and individuals have been a frequent occurrence for many years.

July 2008