Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 31 2007

Refutation of the Armenian resolution, article by article-5

by
Prof. Dr. KEMAL ÇÝÇEK*

(Article 21) President Ronald Reagan in proclamation number 4838,
dated April 22, 1981, stated in part `like the genocide of the
Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which
followed it — and like too many other persecutions of too many other
people –the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.’

If the fact that the speechwriter of President Ronald Reagan was
Kenneth L. Khachigian is taken into account, one can understand why
the president used this terminology as opposed to that of his
predecessors.

(Article 22) House Joint Resolution 247, adopted on Sept. 10, 1984,
resolved: `[t]hat April 24, 1985, is hereby designated as `National
Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man,’ and the President of
the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation
calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day as a
day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide, especially the
one and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry.’

Even after such a decision, it is important to note that US
presidents have since then not recognized April 24 as `Armenian
Genocide Day.’ The resolution of the House of Representatives was
certainly a political one; few of undersigned persons cared about its
truthfulness.

(Article 23) In August 1985, after extensive study and deliberation,
the United Nations SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities voted 14-1 to accept a report entitled
`Study of the Question of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide,’ which stated `[t]he Nazi aberration has unfortunately
not been the only case of genocide in the 20th century. Among other
examples, which can be cited as qualifying, are….the Ottoman massacre
of Armenians in 1915-1916.’

This is one of the untrue articles of the resolution. The UN has
never accepted the report of Mr. Whitaker and as we have shown below,
the Subcommittee did not receive the report in question, but only
`took note of.’ (File E/CN.4/1986/5-E/CN.4/Feb.2/1985/57; Para.57)
and instead of that, it is added to the special report as `noted’
(E/CN.4/1986/5 E/CN.4/Feb.2/1985/57 page 99. Para 1). Unfortunately,
we have encountered that big lie even in scientific meetings.

(Article 24) This report also explained that `[a]t least 1,000,000,
and possibly well over half of the Armenian population, are reliably
estimated to have been killed or death marched by independent
authorities and eye-witnesses. This is corroborated by reports in
United States, German and British archives and of contemporary
diplomats in the Ottoman Empire, including those of its ally
Germany….’

It is obvious that Mr. Whitaker’s report was prepared with the
direction of Armenian historians. As a matter of fact, in the meeting
of the subcommittee, US representative Mr. Carey said: `All the
existing sources have not been taken into account and the matter has
not been elaborated sufficiently in depth. The question of genocide
has not been elucidated sufficiently.’ Carey added, `He was not in a
position to approve any resolution on this issue.’ In the same
meeting of the committee, French representative Mr. Joinet said, `The
debate on Mr. Whitaker’s report is in fact a debate on history.’

(Article 25) The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an
independent federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981,
that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would include the
Armenian Genocide in the Museum and has since done so.

This resolution cannot be taken as a proof of the international
acceptance of the so-called Armenian genocide, nor does it strengthen
the false Armenian thesis.

(Article 26) Reviewing an aberrant 1982 expression (later retracted)
by the United States Department of State asserting that the facts of
the Armenian Genocide may be ambiguous, the United States Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1993, after a review of
documents pertaining to the policy record of the United States, noted
that the assertion on ambiguity in the United States record about the
Armenian Genocide `contradicted longstanding United States policy and
was eventually retracted.’

Like other decisions that were taken without consulting the Turkish
side, this resolution also is not obligatory.

(Article 27) On June 5, 1996, the House of Representatives adopted an
amendment to House Bill 3540 (the Foreign Operations, Export
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997) to reduce
aid to Turkey by $3 million (an estimate of its payment of lobbying
fees in the United States) until the Turkish government acknowledged
the Armenian Genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its
victims.
Again this decision was taken under the pressure of the effective
Armenian lobbying in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the
politicians are not very interested in reality. In fact, Turkey has a
very strict policy concerning US aid, and will not accept any
stipulation of this kind in order to benefit from US aid.
(Article 28) President William Jefferson Clinton, on April 24, 1998,
stated: `This year, as in the past, we join with Armenian-Americans
throughout the nation in commemorating one of the saddest chapters in
the history of this century, the deportations and massacres of a
million and a half Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years
1915-1923.’
As it is seen, President Clinton talked about massacres and
deportations but did not define that tragedy as `genocide.’ Genocide
is a crime against humanity as defined by the UN Convention of 1948.
Moreover, `massacre’ and `genocide’ are very different terms from the
perspective of law. No need to say that massacres may occur anywhere
and anytime during wars.
(Article 29) President George W. Bush, on April 24, 2004, stated: `On
this day, we pause in remembrance of one of the most horrible
tragedies of the 20th century, the annihilation of as many as 1.5
million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the
Ottoman Empire.’
Again the events that took place in Anatolia between 1915 and 1923
were defined as tragedy in the speech of President Bush. A moment of
silence for the victims of war is a duty for all human beings.
(Article 30) Despite the international recognition and affirmation of
the Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international
authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide is
a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in the
future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future
genocides.
Unfortunately those who are saying this carried out a massacre in
Hocalý in Feb. 26, 1992, deported 180,000 Azeris from the Karabag
enclave and occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory. Today
there are more than 1 million refugees in the city of Baku from the
occupied areas and these people live in deplorable conditions.

* Head of Black Sea Technical University, Faculty of Arts & Sciences;
Turkish Historical Association, Armenian Desk