Diaspora

Diaspora

Head of Azerbaijan Council of America: Turkish communities in America should support Douglas Franz to prevent Armenian pressure

10 May 2007 11:54 (UTC +04:00)

It is the result of the policy of hating Turks pursued for about a century. The claim of genocide has been formed in Armenian psychology and the Armenians themselves believe it. Armenians become aggressive when somebody doubts it,â€ Javid Huseynov chief of Azerbaijan Council of America in California told the APA US bureau. He said that Turkish communities in the US have to support Douglas Franz in order to prevent Armenian pressure.
â€œDouglas Franz does not believe Armenian lies and considers that hatred is unacceptable in the US society. If Armenians manage to silence Douglas Franz other journalists can avoid protecting rights if Turkey and Turkish people,â€ he said.
â€œArmenian students attacked on a Turkish student studying in California University on the eve of the anniversary of alleged Armenian genocide in Aril last year. Concert of Azerbaijani mughams was held at the universityâ€™s Los Angeles department, Armenian students came to the concert and chanted slogans on genocide protesting against Turkey. These acts are meaningless, but they show that Armenian students are under the influence of hateful propaganda. Of course, as Azerbaijani and Turkish communities we have to inform the American society of this danger. I think that if Azerbaijani and Turkish societies in California unite and express united position, Armenian community will have to accept realities. It should be noted that Armenian community in California is strong not because there are many Armenians there but because Azerbaijani and Turkish communities are weak,â€ he said.
Javid Huseynov said that the people of California do not have negative attitude towards Azerbaijanis and Turks.
â€œArmeniansâ€™ image in this state is not so high in order to form negative opinion about against Azerbaijan and Turkey. America is a classical democratic system and every taxpayer has equal rights notwithstanding his ethnicity. A lot of Azerbaijanis and Turks are living in the areas where Armenians settled in Los-Angels, and most of them do not know the congressman of their area. In this case, Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora organizations living in California should aim to ensure the active participation of community members in the social and political life of the country,â€ he said.
Javid Huseynov stressed that nearly one million Armenians are living in California.
â€œThey have influence in the domestic policy of the state. But no one of them concerned themselves with the active community issues. Only 100-200 Armenians take active part in the organizing works, others participate in this system in organized form. I mean to say no matter the number of the Armenian community, their activity is systematic. Ideological factor is important here. The main factor that unites every Armenian living in America is Armenian Church. Nearly 350,000 Turks are living in America, most of them have settled in California. Besides it, nearly one million Iranians, mainly Azerbaijanis are living in Los-Angels. But there is lack of strong ideology that can unite these three groups â€“ Anatolian Turks, Azerbaijanis and Iranian Azerbaijanis. Even there is separation between nationalists and believers among Turks which weakens the community,â€ he said.
Huseynov stated the only rich culture can unite these three communities.
â€œOur culture and common history are the main factors. It is natural that Azerbaijani and Turkish communities have settled in California after Armenians, therefore, the system of establishing community is not perfect in our compatriots. We should work in this direction and use the methods of Armenian, Jewish, Greek, and Spanish communities,â€ he said. /APA/