MOST PRE-1915 CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN TURKEY ARE

RICCIARDONE CLAIMS MOST PRE-1915 CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN TURKEY ARE STILL OPERATING

 Ambassadorial Nominee's False Statement Comes in Response to Written Question from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey

WASHINGTON, DC - Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, President Obama's

"recess" appointee to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, in a

written response to questions submitted to him by Senator Robert

Menendez (R-NJ), made the patently incorrect claim that "most of

the Christian churches functioning [on the territory of present-day

Turkey] prior to 1915 are still operating as churches," reported

the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Ambassador Ricciardone's demonstrably false assertion betrays a

callous disregard for Ottoman Turkey's wholesale destruction of

Christian churches, and for the fate of the millions of Christian

faithful, who worshipped in their homeland within these holy sites

until their genocidal annihilation," said Aram Hamparian, Executive

Director of the ANCA.  "Whether his response is due to a truly

remarkable lack of awareness or, instead, to a willful distortion

of the facts of history to fit Ankara's genocide denial narrative,

this nominee has clearly shown he's unable to effectively advance

U.S. interests or American values as our nation's representative in

Ankara."

The historical record shows that of the over 2000 Armenian Churches

that were functioning on the territory of present-day Turkey in

1915, less than 50 operate today.

Whitewashing Religious Freedom Abuses in Turkey:

Ambassador Ricciardone's response fits into a pattern of statements

glossing over well-documented and far-reaching religious freedom

abuses in Turkey. Earlier this year, during his July confirmation

hearing, in response to Delaware Senator Chris Coons' question as

to what steps he had taken to promote religious freedom in Turkey,

Amb. Ricciardone offered this evasive answer:  "…very

interestingly, they [the Turkish Government] follow our debates

about personal freedom and religious freedom and they say 'Here is

how you can understand this, American Ambassador. In your country,

you have in recent years made a distinction between freedom of

religion and the concept of freedom from religion. For too long in

our modern republic we focused on preventing the intrusion of

religion in our national life and political life. We are quite

comfortable to be observant Muslims, please don't call us

Islamists, by the way,' they tell us, 'but to the extent someone is

praying as a Christian or a Jew, it really doesn't bother us at all

– why should it? It's no threat to the state, on the contrary, we

are rather proud of our diversity and we happy to have them do it.

As to their property issues, let us take a fresh look at this and

make sure they get justice.'"

This assessment is sharply at odds with reports by the U.S.

Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which

raised the following alarm in its 2011 report: "The Turkish

government continues to impose serious limitations on freedom of

religion or belief, thereby threatening the continued vitality and

survival of minority religious communities in Turkey."

Reservations about the Ambassador's willingness to accept the

Turkish government's talking points on religious tolerance at face

value echo concerns expressed last fall by then Senator Sam

Brownback (R-KS), who, during the last session of Congress, placed

a hold on Ambassador Ricciardone's nomination to serve as U.S.

Ambassador to Turkey.  In an August 16, 2010, letter to Secretary

Clinton, Sen. Brownback voiced disapproval of Ricciardone's tenure

as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, noting, among other things, that "he

quickly adopted the positions and arguments of his Egyptian

diplomatic counterparts."

In the wake of Senator Brownback's hold, President Obama

circumvented Senate objections by issuing a "recess appointment" of

Amb. Ricciardone.  The Senate must approve his nomination in the

upcoming months, if Ambassador Ricciardone is to continue to serve

in Turkey for more than one year, of the usual three-year

ambassadorial term.  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will

likely take up his nomination upon their return from the August

Congressional recess.

The written exchange on this subject between Senator Menendez and

Ambassador Ricciardone is provided below:

Sen. Menendez: "To the best of your knowledge, approximately how

many of the more than 2,000 Christian churches functioning prior to

1915 on the territory of present-day Turkey are still operating

today as churches?"

Amb. Ricciardone: "Most of the Christian churches functioning prior

to 1915 are still operating as churches.  Some churches of

significance operate as museums.  The remaining have fallen into

disrepair or were converted to mosques for lack of use."