DALOGLU: THE ARMENIAN TRAGEDY
Tulin Daloglu

Washington Times
/24/the-armenian-tragedy/
Dec 24 2008
DC

Congress ponders genocide bill: But was it genocide?

In a recent action alert, Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) wrote that "[t]he Turkish government, which has outlawed
discussion of the Armenian genocide within its borders, is exporting
its undemocratic free-speech restrictions to the United States by
imposing a ‘gag-rule’ on congressional consideration and adoption
of the Armenian Genocide Resolution." This kind of talk will soon –
once again – dominate the U.S.-Turkey relationship.

Armenia, the world´s oldest Christian nation, is best known for its
mountains and monasteries, but Yerevan abounds with urban diversions
and hums with a youth-driven café and disco scene. CNS Photo courtesy
of CM Communications.

President-elect Barack Obama will have to decide by April 24,
Armenian Remembrance Day, whether he will keep the promise he made
to his Armenian-American constituents to call their World War I loss
a "genocide." Congress will make its decision separately – either
before or after the president’s annual statement. This issue has
come before Congress many times over the last three decades, and for
various reasons those bills did not pass. President Reagan used the
word "genocide" once, in his 1981 annual statement. But he did not
continue to use it throughout his presidency. Some think Mr. Obama
will choose to follow in Mr. Reagan’s footsteps.

The issue of the Armenian "genocide" has proven to be a thorny one for
all sides. Winston Churchill once said, "A fanatic is someone who can’t
change his mind, and won’t change the subject." Unfortunately, this
issue has created fanatics. And in such an environment, the chance for
people to gain a fuller understanding of their past and hopefully begin
to heal is being delayed. It’s not clear whether people are demanding
an acknowledgement of past atrocities, or if they simply want revenge.

If the "genocide" bill in Congress is written with a moral duty in
mind, why is it so focused on the Armenian tragedy and not those
suffered by others – for example, the Ukrainians? Studies show that
an estimated 25,000 people died daily at the height of the Ukrainian
famine in 1933. By the end of that year, nearly 25 percent of the
Ukrainian population is thought to have perished. Russia refuses to
call this a "genocide." Or, take a look at how many American Indians
were killed on this land. Sen. Daniel Inouye, Hawaii Democrat, once
said, population levels are 90 percent below what they were when
Columbus landed. For that matter, what about North Korea? Congress
passed the North Korean Human Rights Act almost three years ago despite
significant criticism. Yet since then, Congress has not been able to
use the bill as leverage, or as a tool to end human rights abuses in
North Korea – because it feared that North Korea would withdraw from
nuclear talks.

The White House and Congress need to clarify why they believe a
"genocide" bill would help people to move on, and what other good it
would do.

The ANCA seems to regard all developments in Turkey as tu quoque. It
is, however, no longer taboo to discuss the issue in public. But
it took a long time, and many unfortunate incidents, to get to
this point. The issue is now being discussed in every household, in
universities and in the newspapers. Now almost everyone feels pressured
to take sides. Recently, 100 Turkish academics and journalists started
an Internet campaign, "We apologize" (), which
stated that they apologize for the Great Tragedy that Armenians
suffered under the Ottoman rule. So far, more than 15,000 Turks
have publicly offered their support by attaching their names to
this statement.

University professor Cengiz Aktar, the father of this idea, told
me that since the murder of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the
Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, he has felt a duty to start a dialogue
– and to do something about the issue. "This is a private, civilian
expression of our feelings about what happened to the Armenians who
once lived on this land," he told me. "This has nothing to do with
the bills that are before the U.S. Congress. … If the U.S. Congress
passes the bill this year, then we will think what to say about
it." University professor Soli Ozel agreed, saying, "If they were to
free Turkey of the pressures [of these bills], we would be able to
talk about the issue in a more desirable way." Turkey still has issues
when it comes to freedom of speech, but on this matter, it’s like a
free-for-all for people to say whatever they wish. Unfortunately, that
freedom hasn’t always extended to the U.S. Pressure from the Armenian
community forced Georgetown University to cancel a speech to students
by Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan, the Armenian patriarch of Istanbul,
last year. There was concern that the archbishop might challenge the
notion that Armenians were innocent victims of the Ottomans.

If Mr. Obama’s presidency will be defined by change, his first order
of business with NATO ally Turkey should not be about whether to
call what happened to the Armenians "genocide." It should be about
bringing definitive clarity both to the end of World War I for Turkey,
and about how Turkey and the West move forward into the 21st century.

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