Introspections on the Year in the Making
Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan, ATAA President - When I became President of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) almost 1.5 years ago, I pledged to our community that my goal would be to build on the work of my predecessors by expanding the outreach of ATAA to local communities across the nation. I am a believer in long-term goals. Thus, my board and I strived to build foundations for future success while addressing the immediate concerns of a dynamic and growing community.

From its inception in 1979, the Assembly has worked towards the goals of building a stronger and more unified Turkish American community and of maintaining a factual and positive representation of Turkey, its heritage and its people. It goes without saying that this task can only be achieved with the full and focused participation of our community. There is a need for Turkish Americans to get more effectively organized in order to support each other, to promote a better image of Turks and Turkey and to represent the community's interests. The best way to solidify relations between democracies is through increasing people-to-people contacts between Turks and Americans. The Turkish American community is simply numerically too small to reach all segments of the American society. Therefore, there is also an imminent need for non-governmental organizations in Turkey to get more involved in diversifying and further strengthening relations between the United States and Turkey. There are encouraging signs in this respect, but we need many more contacts between universities, think tanks, charitable groups, the media etc. in Turkey and the United States.

Furthermore, the way Turkey conducts its public relations in the United States need an immediate reevaluation. The media and public opinion are powerful elements, even more so in the United States, that shape perceptions and decisions among opinion and policy-makers. At the Assembly, we have been strongly advocating a more strategic oriented and focused public relations campaign on behalf of Turkey. Organizations like the ATAA and the Turkish American community at large should be made part of that campaign. This effort carries as much importance in terms of shaping United States' policy toward Turkey as does direct lobbying with policy makers.

The Turkish American community and its representative organizations play a central role in both areas. A well-organized and motivated Turkish American community is one of the strongest assets in US-Turkish relations. In recognition of this fact, the Assembly has allocated time and resources to educating the Turkish American community. With increasing intensity, ATAA reaches out to the local communities and strives to establish a two-way dialogue. This is the main reason behind one of the leading ATAA activities, the regional conferences and seminars. During my tenure, our Board decided to hold four seminars each year and we already have held seven of them. These events are customized along the needs and expectations of our local communities and organized in cooperation with local ATAA component associations and ATAA regional vice presidents. They aim to provide members of each local community with the information and expertise on how to become more successful advocates for the US-Turkish alliance and for other Turkish causes, as well as provide for a forum to listen to their suggestions and concerns. So far in 2002, we have held meetings in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The fourth Grassroots/Leadership conference of the year, which will precede ATAA's Annual Convention, will be held in Seattle at the end of September.

The other primary mission of ATAA is to play a role in strengthening the bilateral ties between Turkey and the United States and also between the Turkish American community and other countries where the United States and Turkey have common interests. One of the activities that serve this goal is the annual ATAA delegation visit to Turkey and to third countries. This year's ATAA visit will take us again to Ankara and to Bulgaria in June. A delegation of over 30 ATAA officials and members will visit Ankara and a smaller group will continue on a tour of Bulgaria. Past trips have taken ATAA members to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Israel, Greece and on a tour of eastern/southeastern Turkey, which left indelible impressions on its participants. This year we chose Bulgaria, where ethnic Turks make up almost 10% of the population and for the first time are represented in that country's ruling coalition. During the Ankara part of our visit, our main aim once again is to highlight the Turkish American perspective of issues related to US-Turkish relations, our community and how to more effectively promote Turkey abroad.

The foundation in the U.S. Congress of the Caucus on US-Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans, which continues to grow at a steady pace, plays an important role as a forum of debate and understanding about the US-Turkish alliance, one of the oldest and truest alliances of the modern era. As a result of the war on terrorism and Turkey's swift action to support the US-led effort against terrorism, Turkey's profile has increased significantly in the past few months. This is reflected by the numerous resolutions in Congress that commend Turkey's support. The decades-long work of ATAA in the nation's capital and the activism of Turkish Americans around the nation have contributed to this positive trend, but we all must work even harder for Turkey's importance to duly recognized in Congress as well. The Assembly has served as a resource center and information clearinghouse for members of Congress and the Administration for many years and we are proud that ATAA is regarded as a credible resource on both domestic ethnic affairs and foreign policy issues in Turkey's region.

Our efforts to raise the individual membership of the Assembly are continuing, and we depend on the support of each member of ATAA in this effort. Two new local Turkish American associations have joined ATAA during my term, while three new associations have applied to join ATAA, which will raise the number of ATAA component associations to 58. Despite major financial crisis in Turkey and a slowing economy in the United States, thanks to the efforts of ATAA board members, committed members and the central office staff, our financial situation has not deteriorated.

In fact, dues and donations have continued to be stable and growing. I want to here thank my fellow board members for their strong personal commitment to make ATAA a viable and growing organization. Well-deserved praise is also due to our small but dedicated ATAA central office under our Executive Director, the many ATAA interns and volunteers for making our work possible. They are today and will remain in the future indispensable to our organization's success.

As we look ahead, the marquee event of the Assembly's yearly calendar nears. The annual ATAA Convention will be held on October 31 - November 1 in Washington DC. We are working to make this year's convention bigger and better and look forward to your active participation.

In conclusion, I want to state that our experiences are the fundamentals upon which we will continue to build a strong, grassroots-based organization that is able to pro-actively promote our heritage, values and interests as Turkish Americans. We will work to build bridges with other American ethnic communities, whether they are sympathetic toward Turkey or not, since at ATAA we believe in dialogue, in emphasizing our common values as Americans and in the peaceful and civilized solution of conflicts. Our doors have been open to any group or individual who shares these principles with us and will remain to be so. We also remain committed as ever to support and work with everyone who shares our principles of integrity and service to the Turkish American community, our fatherland, the United States, and our motherland Turkey.

ATAA/TACA Grassroots/Leadership Conference Held in Chicago
WSJ Deputy Editor praises relevance of "Turkish Model"
The Turkish Times - Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) (www.ataa.org) and Turkish American Cultural Alliance (TACA) (www.tacaonline.com) together held another ATAA Grassroots/Leader-ship Conference in Chicago, May 10-11, 2002. Both ATAA President Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan and TACA President Mehmet Celebi said this was one of best attended grassroots seminars in recent memory. The concluding banquet ball on May 11 evening was attended by over 200 guests, including Turkish Ambassador to Washing-ton Dr. Faruk Logoglu and Mrs. Logoglu, and Turkish State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and Mrs. Gurel. Egemen Bagis, President of ATAA's sister-organization Federation of Turkish American Associations (FTAA), has also attended the seminar with an FTAA contingency from New York.

Tim McNulty, the Associate Managing Editor, Foreign News, Chicago Tribune, explained the importance of reader letters and encouraged Turkish-American readers of the Tribune to contribute their opinions.

Brian Perryman, District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Service briefed the seminar participants on the recent changes in U.S. immigration law and regulations.

The Small Business Workshop on Friday afternoon, "How can you start and find private and government funding for your small business?" was led by Harry Lepinske, Director of the International Business Development Program at Purdue University, and John A. Nevell, Regional Manager, International Trade Programs, US Export Assistance Center.

Saturday, May 11 program kicked off with welcoming remarks delivered by TACA President Mehmet Celebi, ATAA President Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan, and Consul General of Turkey Yavuz Aktas.

One of the most interesting presentations of the Grassroots/Leadership seminar was presented by Prof. Kemal Karpat of University of Wisconsin. Prof. Karpat shared the results of his study of about 15,000 Turks living in Long Island, NY. For these low-education high-initiative Turks who own 250 gas service stations in Long Island, religion continues to be a uniting factor, Karpat emphasized. He stressed that these relatively new arrivals, could be an asset for the Turkish-American community by injecting a new energy to public advocacy. Turkish American Cultural Association of Long Island (TACALI) was one of the participants in the Turkish American Day Parade held in Manhattan on May 18th. Karpat's exposition has been covered in great length in Ugur Akinci's Turkish Torque column ("Germanification of Turkish-Americans") in the last issue (May 15-31) of The Turkish Times.

Tunku Varadarajan, the erudite Deputy Editorial Page Editor of the Wall Street Journal, has delivered another stimulating presentation, emphasizing the importance of the "Turkish Model" of secular democracy for the rest of the Islamic world. Varadarajan won many hearts and heartfelt admiration of the Turkish Americans attending the seminar by saying that, if he were to end up alone on an island, he would consider himself lucky if he had a Turk for a companion.

After the lunch, U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-IL) shared his fondness of the Turkish-American alliance and his hopes for the future. Praising the kind of help he had received from ATAA Trustee Dr. Josh Tunca when he was an unknown candidate running for the U.S. House of Representative, Sen. Fitzgerald encouraged all Turkish-Americans to exercise their duties as voters and get more involved in American political process.

Turkish Ambassador to Washington Dr. Faruk Logoglu followed Sen. Fitzgerald by expressing his firm faith both in the growing strength of the Turkish-American grassroots and the future of the multi-dimensional "strategic partnership" that he would like to see expand between Turkey and the United States. Such a platform includes a free-trade agreement between the two NATO allies as well.

In the afternoon session moderated by Prof. Nicholas Lash of Loyola University, Prof. Justin McCarthy of University of Louisville, and Laurel Blair, President and CEO of Blair Worldwide, made captivating presentations on the image of Turks in the United States. Prof. McCarthy, with the aid of striking slides showing grotesque depiction of "Turks" in the turn-of-the-century U.S. publications, making clear the historic baggage from which Turks suffered. Ms. Blair put forward a positive message, emphasizing the long-run benefits of insistent and systematic public relations efforts.

In the last panel of the day moderated by ATAA Executive Director Guler Koknar, Joel Sprayregen, National Vice-Chair, Anti-Defamation League, stressed the importance of public advocacy to correct anti-Turkish biases. Giving examples from the Jewish experience in the United States, Sprayregen made clear that success in public advocacy is a long-term proposition that requires effective team work. Sprayregen is also the Honorary Chair of Chicago Jewish Community Relations Council.

Osman Tat, ATAA Assistant Director for Public Affairs, made one of the most important presentations of the Grassroots/Leadership seminar by introducing the special binders that ATAA office has prepared for the conference participants. The binders included very useful summaries of main issues confronting the Turkish-American community today and suggestions for getting organized at the grassroots level.

Dr. Ugur Akinci of The Turkish Times presented an analytical framework on the nature of public advocacy. He underlined the relative success achieved in bringing the Turkish-American community together as the first prerequisite of effective public advocacy. He stressed that the other two sine-qua-non conditions of successful public advocacy, a public-relevant message and pushing that message to public platforms, were not handled adequately yet.

The Saturday evening banquet was jam-packed by over-200 guests, including Turkish State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and Turkish Ambassador to Washington Dr. Faruk Logoglu.

Osman "Oz" Bengur, the second-generation Turkish banker from Baltimore who is running for the U.S. House seat from the 2nd district also made an appeal for support during the banquet.

ATAA President Dr. Orhan Kaymakcalan and TACA President Mehmet Celebi concluded the night by thanking all the participants who have made the Grassroots seminar such a resounding success. Kaymakcalan invited everyone to visit Turkey this summer to witness the great structural and positive changes taking place, especially in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey.

"Armenia Helps Iran’s WMD Program"
Armenia violates Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000.
Washington names Lizen Company and Armen Sargsian
The Turkish Times - On May 9, 2002, the U.S. State Department announced that the United States is imposing sanctions on Armenia for transfers of equipment and technology, which can be used to produce weapons of mass destruction, to Iran. The sanctions had been decided in accordance with the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. The law bans the sale of chemical and biological weapons components and missiles and missile technology to Iran.

A notice in the Federal Register on Thursday, May 16 did not disclose what had been transferred to Iran. The sanctions will remain for two years and bar U.S. companies or individuals from dealing with the blacklisted entities. However the Register listed the following company and individual from Armenia: Lizen Open Joint Stock Company and businessman Armen Sargsian.

The U.S. officials said Russian companies use companies in Armenia in republics of the former Soviet Union as fronts for the transfer of technology and components to Iran.

Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA) President Tomris Azeri has repeatedly raised her concern in the past with Armenia's close ties with hard-line elements among the Iranian and Russian military establishments. "That's why the May 9 announcement that the United States are imposing sanctions on Armenia for transfers of equipment and technology, which can be used to produce weapons of mass destruction, to Iran came as no surprise to observers of the Caucasus," Ms. Azeri said. "This information has confirmed the long-standing suspicions about Armenia's dangerous games with proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

Lizen Company's Armenia links
An ASA official told Turkish press that "Armenia's illicit transfers to Iran indicate the growing militarization of its regime and the country's full dependence on Russia's military circles. The company, Lizen, involved in the proliferation activities has links to the very top of the Armenian government and has been under control of the former Prime Minister's brother. According to the country's former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian, quoted by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 'There is no way any local company was engaged in dangerous deals with Iran and our authorities were unaware of that.'"

Armenia is second highest per capita recipient of U.S. aid
"Participation of Armenia in violation of international rules on non-proliferation is the direct result of the dangerous climate of impunity and increasing radicalism in the Armenian society. While having occupied and ethnically cleansed 20% of neighboring Azerbaijan, serving as Russia's only willing military outpost in the region and Iran's 'strategic friend' Armenia has, at the same time, been ranked as second per capita recipient of aid from the United States. If anything, Armenia's military ties with Iran represent a logical continuation of its strongly anti-western policies and chronic disrespect for international law."

"Azerbaijan Society of America calls upon the United States Government to act in order to stop Armenia's illegal occupation of neighboring Azerbaijan, its involvement in illicit deals with Russia's military and the Iranian regime, its policies of ethnic aggression and condoning of terrorism. Armenia's irresponsible policies threaten not only the entire Caucasus region and itself, but also directly contradict America's national interests," the official of the Azerbaijan Society of America concluded.

EU-member Greece Indifferent to PKK/KADEK Activity
PKK is on EU list of terrorist organizations
Turkish News - May 16, 2002 - A PKK booth set up in Athens, complete with photos of Abdullah Öcalan and efforts to raise money, went unchallenged by police.

The Terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is apparently still able to operate freely in European Union member Greece and raise money there despite being added to the EU's list of terrorist organization.

Report said yesterday that 50 members of the PKK had set up a protest stand in Athens last week under the group's new name. The Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), in order to condemn the inclusion of the PKK on the EU's terrorist group blacklist. PKK members that gathered at Athens' Klaftmanos Square on last Thursday, May 9 set up a tent and stand. They were reported to have placed PKK symbols and photos of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.

When the Greek police made no attempt to ask or force the group to leave,the group started to sell their publications and set up a campaign to collect financial contributions for the PKK/ KADEK.

The group also distributed leaflets condemning the inclusion of the PKK into the EU's list of terrorist organizations.

The leaflet threatened EU countries for including the PKK on the list and announced that KADEK was the continuation of the PKK and would be staging a series of protests throughout Europe.

PKK in Greek-Cyprus
Meanwhile two Greek newspapers, Filefheros and Haravgi published pictures of over 200 PKK/KADEK members protesting outside the EU office in Greek Cyprus. The accompanying articles also quoted Greek Cypriot government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou as saying that Greek Cyprus stood in unison with the EU and thus considered the PKK to be a terrorist organization.

An article in Athens daily Rizospastis quoted a Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that Greece was ready to extradite PKK members back to

Turkey at some stage. The article also stated that Greece was trying put behind it the embarrassing episode of trying to aid Öcalan to evade Turkish authorities, especially following the international community's recognition of the PKK as a terrorist organization. The spokesman also said that Greece would stay true to the international and bilateral security treaties to which it is signatory.

In the document titled "A Common Policy in the Fight Against Terrorism," which was recently accepted by the EU member states, there are clauses laying out that actions by states giving any sort of aid to terrorist

organizations will be considered a crime. The document also commits states to hinder the activities of all terrorist organizations that base themselves in the EU. The signatories to the document also agreed to work together to destroy terrorist groups and networks.

American Jews Boycott Washington Post & New York Times
Nathan Guttman, Ha'aretz Newspaper, Israel, May 26, 2002, WASHINGTON - Jewish communities in cities across the U.S. have organized boycotts of almost all of the country's leading newspapers. A month-long boycott against The New York Times sponsored by groups of New York City Jews should end soon; The Washington Post could face a similar protest next month; The Los Angeles Times has had subscriptions suspended by more than 1,000 readers; and the Chicago Tribune has struggled with a wave of canceled subscriptions and protest letters.

A series of local initiatives undertaken by Jewish communities across America led to these boycott efforts. Mainstream American Jewish organizations have not officially endorsed the boycotts; and yet the protesters feel as though the boycotts have gotten a message across, and yielded results.

The most conspicuous measure was The New York Times boycott, spearheaded by New York City Orthodox activists Haskell Lookstein and Ali Scharf. The pair of rabbis decided to take action against what they consider The New York Times' anti-Israel bias. "The goal is for them to end this balance between the murderers and the murdered - for instance, when a young woman blew up a bomb in a supermarket [in Jerusalem's Kiryat Yovel neightborhood - N.G.], and killed a young Jewish woman, they wrote one article about the two young ladies. That's atrocious," claims Rabbi Lookstein, who heads Manhattan's Kehilath Jeshurun.

But what really precipitated the protest against The New York Times was its coverage of an Israel solidarity rally staged in the city. The newspaper's editors chose pictures that showed a Palestinian counter-demonstration, which involved just a few hundred protesters; the Jewish rally, in which thousands took part, could be seen only in the background in the photo layout.

Although the editors acknowledged in print the next day that they had erred in the choice of a picture, the boycott was already in the works. Its organizers estimate that between 5,000 and 10,000 readers answered their call, and canceled subscriptions to the paper for a month. "I don't want to destroy The New York Times; instead, I want them to understand the way we feel," Rabbi Lookstein says.

New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis confirms that the paper received a number of complaints from readers, but confirms that its policy is to maintain balance. "Our task is to cover all the sides, without partisanship or emotional involvement," Mathis said. The newspaper is not ignoring the Jewish protest; in fact, it invited the boycott organizers for a meeting with its editors, in which the various complaints were aired. The boycotters claim that results of their protest can already be felt; as evidence, they note that three photographs, including one on the front page, showed the last terror strike at Rishon Letzion.

The Washington Post is also under fire. A group of Jewish readers is using the Internet to organize a temporary boycott, starting June. "The newspaper surveys positively the terrorists' positions, and uses misleading headlines to slant the coverage and distort objective facts," the boycotters' site declares. The site provides a number of examples of what its organizers regard as anti-Israeli bias.

In addition to subscription cancellations, protest actions include flooding newsapers with phone calls and letters to protest coverage against Israel. Demonstrations have even been staged in front of newspaper offices. The Chicago Tribune has experienced various forms of protest since the start of the intifada. Among other things, readers have complained that the paper refrains from using the word "terrorist" to describe armed Palestinians.

"We are very careful about the use of the word `terrorist,' and apply it only to those who carry out acts of terror," says Timothy J. McNulty, associate managing director for foreign affairs at the Chicago Tribune. This explanation does not satisfy all of the newspaper's readers. Twice, groups of Jewish readers have demonstrated in front of the newspaper's offices in Chicago. "I think that our coverage is balanced and fair," says McNulty. "From the standpoint of those who complain, the goal of pressure exerted against the newspaper isn't to cause us to be balanced, but rather to make us pro-Israel," says McNulty.

Jews who remonstrate against American newspaper coverage of the Middle East are not only unhappy about what they regard as unwarranted "balance" between the two sides in the dispute. They charge that the media adopts Palestinian claims without verifying facts, and also that newspapers do not apply the same standards in coverage of Palestinians and Israelis. They also object to fragmentary coverage of terror strikes against Israelis, and about the newspapers' greater willingness to run human interest stories about Palestinian, as opposed to Israeli, suffering.

The common denominator in these boycott efforts is their independent, spontaneous character. They are run virtually in defiance of the established organizations which represent Jewish communities. While the organizations are reluctant to endorse formal sanctions such as boycotts, members of the communities are willing to do so independently, using synagogues, newspapers advertisements, and e-mail connections. Information compiled by Camera regarding media bias against Israel supplies these local efforts with ammunition for protest actions against the newspapers.

Israeli officials refrain from endorsing these boycott campaigns. A diplomat in the Israel Embassy in Washington said that Israel often has criticism about media coverage, but does not encourage boycott campaigns.

Radio also draws fire
Accompanying complaints about bias in the print media, protests have been made against National Public Radio. Jewish groups in the U.S. argue that NPR's coverage of Middle East events is blatantly pro-Palestinian; the Camera organization has even demanded that NPR's foreign affairs editor be dismissed because of his anti-Israel bias.

As a public radio station, NPR depends upon government funds and listener donations. There have been reports about decreased donations for NPR in various areas since these protest actions were started. Some believe that several long-standing Jewish NPR donors have withheld money of late.