THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND US AMBASSADORS HENRY MORGENTHAU AND JOHN EVANS

ireport
058
Dec 5 2008

I would like to call attention to the documentary "Scream Bloody
Murder," by CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour. I am a human rights
activist and would like to thank CNN for taking such an extensive
role in uncovering stories of genocide that took place in Cambodia,
Rwanda and other sites where this mass atrocity has taken place. As
Armenians are victims and survivors of genocide, I as an Armenian
American work tirelessly to ensure that these stories are not only
told – but learned as historical lessons to end the cycle of genocide
we see continuing today in Darfur.

Regrettably, I am disappointed in the lack of attention this work
affords to the Armenian Genocide. This documentary presented a unique
and supremely fitting opportunity to discuss what all genocide scholars
call the Forgotten Genocide – to educate the lay public on the first
genocide of the 20th Century. It is ironic that the word "genocide"
was coined in large part because of the Armenian case and yet the
Amanpour feature barely touches upon the Armenian Genocide.

I recently read an interview in the press with Amanpour, where
she freely uses the word of genocide to refer to the Armenian
case. However, mention of the Armenians in the documentary is only
45 seconds long with a strong inference that the narrative states
or perhaps was edited to particularly avoid using the word genocide
while going on to discuss Raphael Lemkin’s pivotal role in creating an
international law on genocide. Furthermore, as the main focus of the
documentary is on those that spoke out against what was happening
during the time genocide was being committed, the Armenian case
presents a perfect example in two ways.

In 1915, no one heard the pleas of U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman
Empire, Henry Morganthau, whose story of witnessing the campaign of
race extermination implemented by the Ottoman government is noted in
Samantha Power’s book "A Problem from Hell: American and the Age of
Genocide". Secondly, John Evans, the recent United States Ambassador
to Armenia, was dismissed from his post in 2006 because he stated that
the Armenian Genocide was a historical fact. Evans even was slated to
receive an award for constructive dissent from the State Department
which was quickly rescinded because of the pressure applied by the
Turkish government to continue denying the Armenian Genocide.

On the website promoting "Scream Bloody Murder", I noticed that
educational pieces are provided for several genocides listed
throughout the page. Quite sadly, the Armenian Genocide is not
covered. As genocide scholars point out, denial is the final stage of
genocide, and seeing denial take place regarding a genocide that took
place 93 years ago or even genocide taking place today in Darfur is
unacceptable. The unfortunate consequence of genocide is the denial
instituted by the perpetrators and the ongoing denial of the Armenian
genocide has taken shape in many forms.

I understand that in a documentary like this it is difficult to discuss
all genocides – small or large which have taken place throughout the
world – however, given the context of this documentary, the Armenian
Genocide represented a very appropriate and highly relevant component
that strongly merits inclusion as it was the first major case of the
20th century which was seminal to the current definition and creation
of the word "genocide" itself.