ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Eileen Mansoorian
Daily Sundial, CA
California State University at Northridge
April 24 2008
After 93 years of fighting for recognition, there still seems to be
no light at the end of the tunnel.
Exactly 93 years ago today, soldiers from the Ottoman Empire were
given orders to execute high-ranking males of the Armenian community
in Constantinople. They went into the homes of religious leaders,
educators, and artists and said to come with them. There was no
remorse, no warning, and no chance to fight back. It was, what the
United States government has not recognized, a genocide.
It is no secret that the Armenian Genocide happened. There are pictures
and documentations on the atrocities that can fill up a museum. If
a person has done their research, there is no way they can deny the
inhumane acts of the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the 20th
century as an act of genocide.
The U.S. government, on the other hand, still has not come forth and
declared to the world that they, as a nation, recognize the crimes
committed upon the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire. There have
been governors and senators that publicly recognized the incident as
genocide, but the nation as a whole has failed to do so.
In October 2007, there seemed to be some hope for Armenians to the
genocide recognized by the U.S. government. House Resolution 106,
which was introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff [D-CA] on Jan. 30, called for
the President "to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues
related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented
in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide, and
for other purposes."
There were petitions and rallies in support of the legislation, which
resulted in a 27-21 win and the House Foreign Affairs Committee
adopting the resolution. The support for the resolution seemed
astounding, and the Armenian community believed recognition was on
the horizon after all these years.
Unfortunately, once the momentum for the passage of this resolution
began to pick up speed, the voting on the bill was postponed until
the timing for the recognition of the resolution was more favorable,
as was said in a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on October
25, 2007 by lead author of the resolution Rep. Schiff and others.
At the rate the U.S. government is going, the chances of the resolution
being brought back onto floor doesn’t look so good. When is the
timing right to bring this resolution into discussion? When there is
world peace and all relations between the U.S. and the Middle East
are friendly?
If that is the case, then I suppose the resolution will never be
brought back into the light if politicians are waiting for the world’s
political climate to be at a stable temperature.
Excluding the U.S., other countries have recognized the atrocities
committed on the Armenian people as genocide. France and Canada both
recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1998. When will it be the U.S.’s
turn to do so?
Even though having other countries publicly recognize the genocide
will always be one step closer to having worldwide recognition, if
the U.S. doesn’t pass legislation that announces to the world that
the events that occurred in the beginning of the 20th century were
an act of genocide, then the Armenians have a long way to go.
The fact that a world power such as the U.S. still has not recognized
the Armenian Genocide shows their moral compass is not pointed towards
truth, but in the direction of political agenda. Their inability to
do the right thing gives the connotation that we should forget about
the 1.5 million lost lives and concentrate on the all to important
naval base Turkey holds in the palm of their hands.
I suppose the reasoning behind the U.S. stalling action towards
recognizing the Armenian Genocide is to prevent any political strains
with their relationship with Turkey.
The Los Angeles Times writer Richard Simon reported on October 26, 2007
that Turkey was threatening the U.S. if they passed the resolution that
recognized the Armenian Genocide there would be serious repercussions
that would affect the U.S. military efforts in Iraq.
Since the situation in Iraq was and still is highly sensitive, support
for the resolution quickly subsided. This came to the satisfaction
of the Turkish government, who do not recognize the killings of the
Armenians as an act of genocide.
The withdrawal of support for the resolution could have legitimately
prevented any further damage to the War in Iraq. With direct threats
coming from Turkey, the U.S. would naturally do everything necessary
to keep their political relationship with Turkey on good terms. By not
having the resolution pass, the U.S. can continue sending supplies to
Iraq through Turkey and not have to worry about any military attacks
that would worsen the War in Iraq.
But when does it become right to put human rights on the back burner?
Due to the political state of the world, the passage of this resolution
could have had a negative effect on the U.S. But how long can our
government continue making excuses for not recognizing a genocide
that is as real as the genocide occurring in Darfur?
As human beings, the U.S. owes it to the 1.5 million perished lives to
recognize the Armenian Genocide in hopes of it bringing the Turkish
government’s moral compass into focus, recognizing the killings of
the Armenian people as an act of genocide and not casualties of war.