November 7, 2001

The Honorable Jane Swift
Governor of Massachusetts

State House, Room 360
Boston, MA 02133

Re: Flawed Proclamation Commemorating October 29, 2001 in the State of Massachusetts "Turkish Republic Day of Massachusetts"

Dear Governor Swift:

I regret that I have to inform you that your proclamation regarding Turkey is seriously flawed in that it contains false and misleading statements regarding the contributions made by Turkey to the U.S.

Whoever suggested this proclamation to you and whoever drafted the language for the proclamation did you and the people of Massachusetts a substantial disservice. I urge you to review the matter and withdraw this misleading proclamation.

Attached as Exhibit 1 (click here) is a brief review of the proclamation's WHEREAS clauses with comments as to where they are false and misleading.

In recent weeks, the Governors of Alabama, Don Siegelman and Connecticut, John Rowland, and the Mayor of Hartford, ConnecticutMichael P. Peters, retracted similar proclamations, albeit of a more flawed nature regarding factual inaccuracies and omissions. Governor Siegelman officially retracted a proclamation titled "Day of Remembrance of the Turkish Tragedy for Liberation to Sovereignty and Independence" on October 3, 2001 and Governor Rowland on October 25, 2001, while Mayor Peters issued a formal apology on September 6, 2001 to the Greek and Armenian communities for issuing a similar proclamation.

It would seem that since those proclamations were retracted, the initiators have taken to amending the language thereby hoping to slip this version through.

I would very much hope and request that you reconsider and withdraw this flawed proclamation. If one of your aims is to recognize the contributions of Turkish Americans to the State of Massachusetts, may I suggest that you issue a proclamation dealing with that issue solely.

Respectfully,

Nick Larigakis

Encl.

cc: Congressional delegation