Obama and the Denial of Genocide – An Interview With David Boyajian
By Michael Zezima, 12 May 2009
Michael Zezima, one of the Web’s most noted political commentators,
conducted the following interview with David Boyajian. Zezima is
known professionally as `Mickey Z.’ (). The interview
was also published on several other widely read websites, including
ForeignPolicyJournal, CounterCurrents, IndyMedia, OnlineJournal, and
OpEdNews.
Writer-activist David Boyajian’s investigative articles and
commentaries have appeared in Armenian media outlets in the U.S.,
Europe, Middle East, and Armenia, and the Newton Tab and USA Armenian
Life newspapers named him among their "Top 10 Newsmakers of 2007." So,
when Barack Obama paid a visit to Turkey last month, it seemed like a
good time to ask Boyajian for his take on the new president’s approach
to the issue of the Armenian genocide.
Mickey Z: This April, President Barack Obama broke campaign promise
#511, namely to explicitly acknowledge the Armenian genocide as U.S.
President. What happened on his recent visit to Turkey? What are the
ramifications of his breaking this promise?
David Boyajian: President Obama visited Turkey from April 6 to 7, where
he did not use the word `genocide’ when referring to the 1.5 million
murders committed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire against its Armenian
citizens from 1915-1923. As a candidate, Obama had promised several
times to do so. His statement in Turkey that he had `not changed his
views”implying he still believes it was genocide’was still a clear
breach of his promise to use the `G word.’ It was a case study in
verbal gymnastics and political duplicity and should be studied in
political science courses. Obama’s broken promise obviously eroded his
credibility. The same holds true for Vice President Joe Biden and
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who, as senators, supported the
Armenian genocide resolution. They’ve since fallen disgracefully
silent. Dr. Samantha Power should also be embarrassed. She’s the
National Security Council’s genocide expert and a Pulitzer Prize
winning author. As a campaign advisor to Obama, she made a video
telling Armenian Americans that as president, Obama would definitely
acknowledge their genocide. `Take my word for it,’ she said.
Appeasement of a genocide-denying country such as Turkey is bad policy
because its message is that genocides can be committed without
consequence. Appeasement also erodes U.S. credibility on human rights
and its stated desire to be a leader in genocide prevention. Unlike
what lobbyists for Turkey would have us believe, Armenian genocide
affirmation by America would not harm U.S. national interests. Turkey
depends on the U.S. for weapons systems, support for billions in loans
from the International Monetary Fund, security guarantees through NATO,
advocacy for Turkish membership in the European Union, and more. Some
20 countries, including Canada, France, and Switzerland, as well as the
parliaments of the EU and the Council of Europe, have acknowledged the
Armenian genocide. None has ever experienced much more a Turkish
temper tantrum in retaliation.
MZ: Two days prior to Armenian Genocide Remembrance day’ which
annually falls on April 24’Turkey and Armenia announced that they had
agreed to a `roadmap’ to normalize relations. What was the significance
of this timing? What does the `roadmap’ contain?
DB: Behind the scenes, the U.S. State Department had long been twisting
Armenia’s arm to agree to a so-called `roadmap’ with Turkey before
President Obama issued what has become a customary `April 24 statement’
by U.S. presidents marking Armenian genocide memorial day. The
`roadmap,’ announced on April 22, provided political cover for Obama to
not use the `G word’ on April 24. That is, since there was now
supposedly a roadmap for normalization of relations’no matter how vague
and hurriedly slapped together’ Obama could say that he did not want to
upset Turkey and the touted-as-highly-delicate Turkish-Armenian
negotiations by using the `G word.’ Notice that Obama did not consult
with Armenian-Americans or Armenia about this. So much for promises
and moral principles. It’s disgraceful that Obama, simply to help
Turkey save face, not only broke his promise, but showed blatant
disregard for the activists’not just Armenians’who labored so hard for
many years for the cause of recognizing all genocides.
Armenia has always said that it was ready to normalize relations with
Turkey’which would include Turkey’s re-opening its border with
Armenia’without pre-conditions. Suddenly, however, Armenia has had
pre-conditions imposed on it in this `roadmap.’ According to the
Turkish press, the `roadmap’ allegedly contains pre-conditions such as:
Armenia’s agreeing to a joint commission to examine the veracity of the
Armenian genocide’yes, you heard right, Armenia’s formal recognition of
current Turkish boundaries’which contain the Armenian homeland, and,
possibly, Armenia’s accepting Turkish mediation in the conflict between
Armenians and Azerbaijan over the disputed Armenian region of
Karabagh’which is absurd since Azerbaijan and Turkey are allies. It
appears that Armenia’s president, whose electoral legitimacy is in
question, has been worn down in these negotiations by Turkey, the West,
and possibly even Russia. And because the Armenian president is
grappling with his legitimacy, he is not heeding the cautions being
voiced by the20people of his own nation about the `roadmap.’
MZ: The U.S. administration and mainstream media would have us believe
that Turkey is seeking to `reconcile’ with Armenia. Is
`reconciliation’ really a possibility, or have we misunderstood what’s
going on?
DB: The word `reconciliation’ in relation to Armenian-Turkish relations
is largely an invention of U.S. policymakers, their emissaries, and the
mainstream media who take their cues from them. What the U.S. and
Europe would like to see is a more stable Caucasus’that is, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Georgia’with open borders. Open borders, you see,
would facilitate laying more oil and gas pipelines that would originate
in the Caspian Sea region and proceed west to Turkey and then to
energy-hungry Europe and Israel. The U.S. and Europe don’t want to put
it quite that crudely’no pun intended’so they try to depict Armenia and
Turkey as possibly `reconciling’ and thus resolving all their
differences. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 out of
sympathy with its ally Azerbaijan, which was in a war with the
Armenians of Karabagh, a historically Armenian-populated autonomous
area within Azerbaijan that Stalin handed to Azerbaijan. Turkey has
also been infuriated that Armenia and Armenians worldwide have been
demanding that Turkey acknowledge the genocide it committed against
Armenians.
Turkey has to acknowledge the genocide or there will never be peace
between it and Armenia. And although the Armenian government has not
put forth any claims for reparations arising out of the genocide, or
for territory, many Armenians do have these goals. They cite the
Treaty of Sèvres of 1920, which provided for Armenian sovereignty over
Armenian lands upon which Turkey committed the genocide, and which have
since been incorporated into what is now eastern Turkey.
MZ: The countries of the Caucasus are Armenia, Georgia, and
Azerbaijan. Most Americans, including the mainstream media, could not
find these small countries on a map. Why are Russia and the U.S.’the
latter being thousands of miles from the region’so interested in these
three small countries?
DB: The Caucasus is truly Ground Zero in Cold War II, the ongoing
conflict between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S.’along with Europe and
the NATO military alliance’regard Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan as
middlemen between the West and the gas and oil-rich regions around the
Caspian Sea. The West has already laid gas and oil pipelines from
Azerbaijan through Georgia and then on to Turkey and the west. The
U.S. wanted those and future pipelines to bypass Russia and Iran
because those two countries could shut such pipelines to pressure the
U.S. and others. The only possible pipelines routes, therefore, are
through Georgia or Armenia. But Turkey shut its border with Armenia in
1993, and Azerbaijan closed its border with Armenia even earlier due to
the conflict between it and the de-facto Armenian region of Karabagh.
That left Georgia as the only place for these Western pipelines. After
the Russian-Georgian war last year, however, opening an alternative
route has become more urgent. That largely explains the West’s renewed
interest in Armenia. Conversely, Russia sees the Caucasus as within
its traditional sphere of influence, and regards U.S. and European
interest in the region as hostile acts.
Simultaneously, NATO has been pushing into the region. Georgia,
Azerbaijan, and to some extent even the ex-Soviet republics on the
other side of the Caspian Sea, are on the path to joining NATO. Russia
was already upset that, following the Cold War, NATO had absorbed the
former Warsaw Pact nations of Eastern Europe. NATO is now attempting,
in effect, to do the same thing on Russia’s southern border. Russia
fears that it will eventually be virtually surrounded by NATO. As a
result, we have Cold War II: The U.S. and NATO are trying to push into
the Caucasus and Central Asia, while Russia is trying to keep them out.
MZ: Why is Israel interested in the Caucasus, and what role is that
country playing? Why are Israel and the pro-Israel lobby dead set
against recognition of the Armenian genocide by the U.S. Co
ngress?
DB: Israel is interested in getting some of the oil and gas that flow
out of the Caspian Sea region. That is, from countries such as
Azerbaijan, oil and gas flow west through Georgia, and then on to
Turkey and other countries, possibly including Israel. After all, the
U.S. and Turkey, which are important players in these pipelines, are
obviously also very friendly with Israel. Israel also welcomes all
non-Arab supplies of energy since they would make its Western allies
less dependent on Arab oil and gas. And Israel has long had what it
calls its Periphery Policy. Historically, Israel has not had good
relations with its Arab neighbors. Therefore, to serve as
counterweights, Israel befriends those countries further away,
especially Muslim countries, that aren’t necessarily sympathetic to
Israel’s Arab neighbors or Palestinians. Azerbaijan, the only Muslim
nation in the Caucasus, and some Muslim nations to the east, such as
Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, are such countries. Fortuitously for
Israel, they also possess significant deposits of gas and oil.
For decades, Israel and Turkey have had very good relations, mainly
because they have a common ally, the U.S., and common adversaries,
namely Arab nations. In the 1990’s, Israel and Turkey signed a number
of military, economic, and political agreements that solidified their
relationship. Even before that, but particularly after that, Turkey
felt that it did not have sufficient lobbying muscle in Washington. So
the Turks asked Israel to convince some of the pro-Israel lobby’the
Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and others’to serve
as advocates for Turkey. The Jewish lobby groups agreed. So these
groups, as part of their deal with Turkey, deny or call into question
the Armenian genocide and work to prevent U.S. acknowledgement of that
genocide. These groups won’t tolerate anyone questioning of the
Holocaust, and yet hypocritically work against acknowledgment of the
Armenian genocide. Interestingly, for the last 2 years, Armenian
Americans have exposed the ADL’s hypocrisy. In Massachusetts, for
example, fourteen cities severed ties with an anti-bias program
sponsored by the ADL because of the latter’s hypocritical and
anti-Armenian stance (see NoPlaceForDenial.com). Armenians are
determined to challenge genocide denial whenever it occurs.
MZ: Is there a problem with the way the mainstream media has been
covering Armenian issues?
DB: Yes. The mainstream media have several problems. First, they know
very little about the Caucasus or Armenians. Reporters tend,
therefore, to copy each other and repeat clichés and falsehoods’such as
that Armenia and Turkey are on the verge of a historic
`reconciliation.’ Media also tend to accept at face value the
propaganda issued by Western governments whose interest in the Caucasus
is’let’s be frank’not `reconciliation,’ democracy, or human rights, but
rather self-interested economic, political, and military political
penetration of the Caucasus.
Turkey has about 30 times more people and territory, and 50 times more
Gross Domestic Product, than Armenia. The power differential is
enormous. Turkey has infinitely more allies in Western media,
governments, think tanks, and multi-national corporations’and knows how
to use them. Commentators who have a vested interest in touting Turkey
for their own political and even financial reasons have particularly
come out of the woodwork to deride legitimate Armenian demands. But we
rarely hear commentators speak of how a small country that has been the
victim of genocide, that has had most of its territory stripped from
it, and that has been blockaded by the denier of that
genocide’Turkey’is being threatened by that very same unrepentant
denier. Mainstream media largely fail to appreciate the foregoing
facts. Hopefully, Mickey, this interview will help the media and your
readers understand the issues and the region a bit better.
David Boyajian can be reached at David_Boyajian@yahoo.com