The following are unedited excerpts from the American and Turkish press.
The Jewish Daily Forward: Armenian Genocide Crisis Tests Tight Ties Between Turkey and Israel, ADL to Ankara “Deep Regret”
August 29, 2007
Sensoy [Turkey's ambassador to the U.S.] told the Forward that Turkey was “very disappointed” by the ADL’s statement “because it changed the premise of everything we had achieved with the U.S. Jewish community.”
Foxman told the Forward that he has had numerous conversations about the issue in recent days and stressed that the ADL had not changed its position on the congressional resolution . . . “We want to make sure the Turkish government understands that the use of the word ‘genocide’ doesn’t change our position on what Congress needs to do,” Foxman told the Forward. “Some people don’t understand it. Some people understand it, and the Turkish prime minister is among them.”
Today's Zaman: ADL Corrects “Genocide” Mistake in Letter, Erdogan Says
August 25, 2007
Foxman said in his letter that the ADL had huge respect for the Turkish people and has never desired to put the Turkish people and their leaders into a difficult situation, expressing deep regret over what the Turkish people had to go through in the past few days . . .
"The wrong step that has been taken is corrected," said Erdogan in subsequent comments to reporters. "They [The ADL] said they shared our sensitivity and expressed the mistake they made . . . They said they will continue to give us all the support they have given so far," he added.
