Launches Online Action Portal—anca.org/hdp—Calling on Secretary Kerry to Condemn Erdogan’s Crackdown
WASHINGTON—In the wake of the Nov. 3 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.
ANCA leads community effort calling on U.S. to forcefully condemn the Turkish Government’s latest crackdown on the HDP party.
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.”
Image from the Washington DC protest against the Erdogan government crackdown on the HDP (top) and the related ‘counter-protest’ (bottom)
On Nov. 4, 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.
Source: Armenian Weekly
Link: ANCA Calls for Forceful U.S. Response to Turkey’s HDP Arrests