ANCA Launches Online Action Portal – anca.org/hdp – calling on Secretary Kerry Condemn Erdogan’s Crackdown
WASHINGTON—In the wake of the November 3rd Turkish government crackdown on the pro-democracy HDP party, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has registered protests with the U.S. government and launched a nationwide grassroots advocacy campaign calling Secretary of State John Kerry to respond forcefully against Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s attempt to silence the last remaining major pro-democracy voice left in Turkey.
An ANCA action alert – www.anca.org/HDP – provides supporters of a democratic Turkey with the opportunity to ask Secretary Kerry to condemn Ankara’s crackdown and demand the immediate release of imprisoned HDP leaders. The letter reads, in part: “My request is as simple as it is straightforward: The United States must publicly and forcefully protest Turkey’s crackdown and demand the immediate release of all those imprisoned by the Erdogan regime.”
Commenting on the campaign, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian stressed that “We must break with the failed policies of appeasement that have, for far too long, misguided American policy toward Turkey, allowing Turkish leader and their army of lobbyists to compromise both our country’s interests and our nation’s values.”
Earlier on Friday, ANCA leaders and activists joined with Kurdish Americans and other committed to democracy within Turkey in a protest outside the Turkish Embassy. The demonstration was covered by Armenian, Kurdish, and Turkish media.
BREAKING NEWs Terrorist State of #Turkey Arrested & exiled #Kurdish top leadership Selahattin Demirtas to Edirne F-type prison pic.twitter.com/HCPkwYz0p9
— Wally Sarkeesian (@gagrulenet) November 5, 2016