WILL USA RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?
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| 14:35:34 | 15-06-2005 | Politics |
Washington, DC – Congressmen George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff
(D-CA), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today
introduced an Armenian Genocide resolution that would reaffirm the
U.S. record on this crime against humanity. Fifty additional Members
of Congress have signed on as original co-sponsors to this bipartisan
effort to have the United States reaffirm the Armenian Genocide.
The legislation calls upon the President to “ensure that the foreign
policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding” of the
“Armenian Genocide” and to “accurately characterize the systematic
and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide”
in the President’s annual message.
“On the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it is high time
to recognize the deliberate murder of a million and a half Armenians
during the first genocide of the 20th century. Passing a resolution
commemorating the genocide will be an important first step in the
long process of healing that needs to take place,” said Schiff.
There is a growing trend internationally to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide. Just since 2000, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy,
Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden have passed
legislation affirming the massacres and expulsion of the Armenian
people as genocide.
Additionally, the European Parliament resolved that Turkey must come
to terms with its genocidal legacy as part of its European Union
accession process. Turkey has responded with bombast internationally
and repression at home.
“The government of Turkey does its country and people great damage by
threatening nations that acknowledge the truth,” said Pallone. The
European Union will not embrace a nation that criminalizes free
speech and prosecutes its citizens for challenging official Turkey’s
unconscionable denial of the Armenian Genocide. At a minimum, enacting
this resolution will effectively end the ongoing campaign of denial.”