One of the cables disclosed by WikiLeaks presents details of the meeting of Armenian Patriacrh of Constantinople Mesrob II with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza. In the course of the meeting Mesrob II said that passage of the Armenian genocide resolution could lead to “violent backlash” against Armenians in Turkey. Patriarch also noted that “disaster of 1915 should be examined on separate platforms by politicians, historians, diplomats, and sociologists.  This would be very helpful in terms of creating empathy and understanding, rather than enmity”, says the cable classified by U.S. Consul General in Istanbul Deborah Jones.  

“By nature, the Patriarch is inclined to take the high road in defending his flock and the community; circumstances of the Armenian minority that number less than one in one thousand Turks make it imperative that he shape his public message with care.  

For Mesrob, there is continuity from the Ottoman into the republican government of Turkey where, for successive generations, minorities have carried the burden of their initially de jure and now de facto second class citizenship,” she said in her comments.