U.S. Reps. call on California governor to sign Turkey divestment bill

U.S. Reps. call on California governor to sign Turkey divestment bill

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rep. Adam Schiff and eight colleagues in the California congressional delegation sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown to urge him to sign AB 1597, legislation passed by the state legislature which would require the California Public Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) to divest from investments in assets owned, issued, or controlled by the Turkish government if certain conditions are met.

AB 1597, which was sponsored by Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, passed the Assembly and Senate in August, and Governor Brown has until the end of September to sign it into law. The requirement to divest would come into effect upon the passage of a federal law imposing sanctions on Turkey for its failure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

The legislation was introduced to respond to Turkey’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide, which was carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, killing 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children.

As Schiff and the other signers wrote in the letter, “We believe this legislation is a proportionate and appropriate response to Turkey’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide, as well as its violations of human rights and actions counter to United States interests.” The letter also makes note of the increasingly autocratic rule of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, including the suppression of dissent and the imprisonment of journalists, as well as other steps they have taken contrary to U.S. national security interests.

In addition to Schiff, the letter was signed by Reps. Jackie Speier, Tony Cárdenas, Salud Carbajal, Jim Costa, Anna Eshoo, Grace Napolitano, Zoe Lofgren, and Brad Sherman.

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