In-Forum, ND
May 3 2008

Roundup: Remembrance and denial move to U.S. Congress

Published Saturday, May 03, 2008
Los Angeles Times

History can comfort or afflict us, and affliction was the order of the
day Thursday as Armenians around the world commemorating the genocide
of their people by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 were met by
Turks protesting that the genocide never took place.

The argument over remembrance and denial of the Armenian genocide has
in recent years moved from France to the U.S. Congress and now to
Israel, which faces its own moral and political dilemmas in deciding
whether to debate the issue in the Knesset. Turkey is strongly
lobbying to prevent such a debate. Like the United States, Israel is
now torn between its commitment to confront genocide deniers of all
kinds and its geopolitical interest in maintaining relations with its
only Muslim ally.

It’s a lose-lose proposition for any nation involved in the dispute,
and for the millions of Turks and Armenians alive today who will have
to continue to live next to each other. It’s a winner, however, for
Russia, which has been competing with the United States for influence
in Armenia and which has leverage over the former Soviet republic’s
economy.

A friendly, democratic government in Ankara could help Turkey rebuild
its frayed ties with the West, improve its economy and, eventually,
negotiate peace with Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Demonstrating the political maturity to pursue
rapprochement with Armenia could bring Turkey closer to its goal of
joining the European Union. History need not be destiny.