Wednesday, January 20 2021 11:07

ArmInfo.In its final hours, the Trump administration signed a disastrous US-Turkey  bilateral memorandum of understanding giving Turkey legal rights to  the vast religious and cultural heritage of the region's indigenous  peoples and other minorities, the Armenian National Committee of  America (ANCA) said.

The agreement, the report notes, was signed in  response to a request from the Turkish government more than a year  ago - a move strongly opposed by the ANCA, the Greek American  Leadership Council and In Defense of Christians (IDC), as well as  numerous cultural and human rights groups. including the Association  of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), the Committee for Cultural Policy  (CCP), the Global Heritage Alliance (GHA) and the International  Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN). "The Trump  administration in its final hours gave Turkey legal rights to claim  the vast religious and cultural heritage of the region's indigenous  peoples and national minorities, including Armenians, Greeks,  Assyrians, Syrians, Kurds, Jews and others," said ANCA executive  director Aram Amparyan. According to him, this reckless and  irresponsible step was taken in response to the protests of ANCA and  other national structures, knowing full well that Turkey has openly  and without a twinge of conscience systematically pursued a policy of  destruction of monuments of national minorities over the past two  centuries, desecrating their holy places and erasing them. from the  face of the earth. 

Andy Zemenides, Executive Director of the Greek American Leadership  Council, noted that the current Department of State ignored both the  divergence of strategic interests and, most importantly, democratic  values, and signed a cultural agreement with Turkey that demonstrated  intent to destroy its Christian minorities and their heritage. is a  parody. "Those who participated in the signing of this agreement have  the potential to be complicit in Turkey's ongoing oppression of  Christians. We will work with the new Secretary of State and the  administration to ensure that this agreement is indeed implemented in  a way that effectively protects Turkey's Christian heritage." - said  Zemenides. IDC President Tufik Baaklini noted that the signed  memorandum is a shameful sign of American approval for the  destruction of Christian cultural heritage in Turkey. "We will work  with the coming Biden administration to ensure that US policy towards  Turkey is much stronger in the future," he said.