President Mr Abdullah Gül conducted an official visit to the US on January 9, 2008, and during this visit, he held a meeting with representatives of selected Turkish Associations in Washington. Ambassador Nabi Sensoy hosted the meeting at the Turkish Embassy and President Gül was accompanied by Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon Ali Babacan. TACAM received an invitation and Didem Şeyhoğlu attended on behalf of our organization.
President Gül spent an hour with representatives of the Turkish Associations nationwide — he spoke about Turkish-American relations and his satisfaction from the meetings held with President Bush and other US Government officials. He then emphasized the importance of Turks working together in the US to ensure our voice is heard, and that our success in presenting Turkey is dependant on our relations with state and government representatives. President Gül asked us bring out the truth in the allegations of genocide proposed by the Armenians. Once the floor was open, Didem Şeyhoğlu had a chance to tell our President about the “Armenian Genocide” essay competition in Michigan and how its announcements on WWJ Detroit radio were stopped by TACAM members’ hard work with the Turkish Consulate in Chicago. She then asked him recommendations to Turkish Associations in being proactive on this matter in line with Turkey’s foreign policy. He emphasized focusing on educating the community on the history of the issue and working closely with our Consulate. We were very excited to be a part of this meeting.
