The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) launched an action alert calling on the public to urge Congress to support swift U.S. action against Turkey’s destruction of Camp Armen, the former summer camp located in the Tuzla district of Istanbul, which provided asylum for Armenian orphans until 1983, reported Asbarez.

The ANCA is asking the public to take a moment to write to their senators and representatives, urging them to call on the U.S. State Department to help stop the destruction of Camp Armen.

“This delay and the media attention it has sparked within Turkey itself provide a short window for U.S. leadership in demanding that the Turkish government not destroy this center of Armenian cultural and religious identity in Turkey,” read the ANCA statement accompanying the action alert.

The ANCA also urges U.S. Ambassador to Turkey to pressure Turkish authorities.

It is noted that the Istanbul authorities are planning to build luxury homes where this Armenian orphanage is located. But on May 6, shortly after starting the demolition of the premises, the demolition work ceased as a result of protests. The camp was once home to around 1,500 children, including the late Hrant Dink—the founder and chief editor of Agos Armenian bilingual weekly of Istanbul, and who was shot dead on January 19, 2007 outside the office of his weekly—, and his wife Rakel. After the confiscation of the building, it was left abandoned for years.