STUDENTS DISAGREE WITH U.S. HOUSE RESOLUTION
By Jeffery D. Hooten
UT The Daily Texan, TX
Oniversity of Texas
Oct 17 2007
Washington Post correspondent speaks on potential decision
A U.S. House committee’s recent approval of a resolution to recognize
as genocide the death of thousands of Armenians more than 90 years
ago, in what is now the Republic of Turkey, has resulted in opposition
from some UT students.
Though Resolution 106, also titled Affirmation of the United States
Record on the Armenian Genocide, is not the first such resolution to
appear in the House over the years, it may be the first to make it
to a vote on the House floor.
Many Turks are upset by what they see as a condemnation of modern-day
Turkey for events that took place while the area was still part of
the Ottoman Empire.
Ozgur Erciyes, a Turkish University Students Association representative
and history graduate student, said members of the association do not
think the designation of the massacres as genocide is relevant today.
"We think these are mostly political maneuvers to gain more votes,"
he said. "We don’t think this will promote more peace between Armenians
and Turkey."
Erciyes said it is difficult to classify the massacres as genocide
because they took place in the context of what amounted to a civil
war. He said that the term "genocide" ignores the thousands of Turkish
Muslims who were also killed.
"I don’t care if it was a genocide or a series of massacres.
Independent of the title, I feel sorry for each and every Armenian that
was killed," Erciyes said. "The same is not shown for the Muslims."
Taleen Asadourian, a program chair for the UT chapter of the White
Rose Society and a Plan II, economics and government senior, said
she believes most authorities on genocide do not have as much trouble
making the distinction.
"All the genocide scholars, aside from those in Turkey who are
officially prohibited from referring to it as ‘genocide,’ accept that
it was genocide," Asadourian said.
Asadourian said that a Turkish law titled Article 301 prevents Turkish
citizens from making statements that "insult Turkishness."
She said such statements could include referring to the death of
thousands of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.
"It’s just an indication as to how vehemently opposed they are to
looking at their history if there’s any stain on their history,"
Asadourian said.
She said that though Turkey may not have been responsible for the
Armenian deaths, modern Turkey is still culpable for Armenians today
feeling like second-class citizens, because the Turkish government
has taken extensive steps to cover up the massacre.
Glenn Kessler, a foreign policy correspondent for the Washington Post
who was on campus Tuesday promoting his new book, said the momentum
of the resolution is largely due to the support of Speaker of the
House Nancy Pelosi.
Pelosi’s push for the resolution is due partially to her large Armenian
constituency, Kessler said.
Kessler said that though similar resolutions have made it through
the Foreign Affairs Committee in the past, the fact that it seems
bound for the House floor made the vote much closer than previous
committee decisions.
"I think it’s going to be a very close vote in full House," Kessler
said.
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