As I understand it, the Human Rights Commission is an advisory board. It recommended to that the Town sever ties. Now the Board of Selectman must make the final decision.

In Belmont, the Board Selectman is comprised of 3 members. For those of you unfamiliar with quaint “Yankee” municipalities, many communities are run by a legislative body called Town Meeting and an a handful of Select Man which head up the executive branch.

It is now up to the Armenian population of Belmont (which is significant) to apply pressure on their elected Selectman.

All last week Turkish columnists for the newspapers Zaman, Sabah, and Milliyet have been writing that "the perception has become the reality," and that diplomatic pressure on foreign governments to stop Armenian Genocide recognition has failed utterly. The stronger articles have been appearing only in the English, French, and other international wire services of the newspapers, because journalism within Turkey is not yet free, and to state anything for general Turkish readership that comes close to admission of the Genocide would trigger prosecutions under Article 301 ("insulting Turkishness"). But Turkey's facade of denial is showing cracks: 301 is likely a dead letter already, since too many Turkish journalists have skirted it in these last weeks to chase them all down, and no arrests or other concrete government reactions to their articles have followed. Official Turkey looks exhausted. A done deal. What's the use? Trace the slow course of Turkish collapse on No Place for Genocide Denial.

Now comes this:

For the first time in history a Turkish MP speaks of Armenian Genocide recognition

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ For the first time in history a member of the Turkish parliament has recognized the Armenian Genocide and spoken of restitution of the despoiled property.

In an interview with journalist Raffí Arax recently, Turkish MP Mehmet Ufuk Uras said, "We committed a terrible massacre against Armenians and Turkey must recognize it. It’s not important how we name this calamity: genocide, ethnic purification, etc. The most important thing is that a terrible massacre was committed and it is undeniable.”

“We must face up to the history, bandage the wounds, develop the relations with Armenia, defend our Armenian compatriots and restore what was the property of their ancestors. I come from the area of Durig close to Sebastia where I heard the truth from my parents,” he said.

“We are confident that negationism will take us nowhere,” he resumed.