Armenian Americans rally in opposition to Oz’s Pennsylvania Senate bid – By Alex Seitz-Wald (NBC News) / April 19, 2022
Allies of the Turkish American candidate have dismissed questions about his heritage as racist.
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Senate hopeful Mehmet Oz has faced a barrage of questions and criticism from his Republican primary opponents about his initial refusal to relinquish his dual Turkish citizenship.
Oz relented and said he would give up his formal ties with Turkey.
But prominent leaders of a minority group argue that his ties to Turkey demand further scrutiny as Oz, the celebrity physician who picked up the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, competes in the crowded Senate race.
Allies have rejected questions about Oz’s Turkish heritage as racist and as dog whistles. But some Armenian American leaders say Oz has failed to adequately answer questions about a 100-year-old dispute over the mass deportations and massacres of Armenians in the early 20th century Ottoman Empire, widely characterized as genocide, a description Turkey vigorously disputes.
