WHILE STEPHEN Kinzer, a seasoned reporter, is rushing to heap praise on Turkey, he makes a number of basic journalistic missteps. He asserts that most Jews would “happily’’ accept a commission, as per suggestion of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to examine the veracity of the Holocaust. Kinzer must have missed the fact that Congress condemned the bellicose statements of Ahmadinejad in response to vehement outcry from major Jewish organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee.
He goes on to paint the legitimate opposition of Armenians to the protocols of a Turkish-Armenian accord as a bizarre phenomenon out of France and America. He neglects to mention that most Armenian communities in the world came out against the protocols, including tens of thousands of people in Armenia and 12 political parties there that signed a petition condemning the protocols. However, the voice of Armenians from Armenia has not been heard much, since most of the media is controlled by the state.
Another key element that Kinzer does not mention is that the current Armenian government came to power under suspicious conditions. Serge Sarkisian’s grandiose yet capitulating efforts in the foreign policy arena are mere steps to gain international legitimacy that he is lacking at home.
Ara Nazarian
Watertown
The writer works with the Armenian National Committee of Massachusetts. 
