US ARMENIANS INSIST ON ‘GENOCIDE RECOGNITION’

Hurriyet Daily News
rmenians-insist-on-genocide-recognition-2009-09-03
Sept 3 2009
Turkey

As Turkey and Armenia step up efforts to normalize their relations,
two top U.S. Armenian groups said forcing Turkey to accept what they
called the "Armenian genocide" remained their top-priority objective.

Turkey and Armenia jointly announced Aug. 31 that they would work
to sign a document to formally establish diplomatic ties within six
weeks. They also pledged to work toward other aspects of normalization,
including reopening the land border.

The radical Armenian National Committee of America, or ANCA,
qualified the move as a Turkish effort to gain time to avoid "genocide
recognition," while the more moderate Armenian Assembly of America,
or AAA, said it supported normalization between Armenia and Turkey
but that "genocide recognition" was still a top issue.

Turkey recognized Armenia’s independence in 1991, but has refused to
set up diplomatic relations in protest of Armenia’s aggression in a
war with Azerbaijan, Ankara’s close friend and ally. Turkey closed
its land border with Armenia in 1993.

Armenians qualify World War I-era killings of their kinsmen in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkey rejects the term, saying both
Armenians and Muslims were killed in ethnic strife during the last
years of the Ottoman Empire.

Ankara and Yerevan first said in April that they had launched a
normalization process, backed by the United States.

But ANCA said in a statement on Wednesday that the latest move by
Turkey and Armenia was meant to serve only Turkish interests.

Radical Armenians criticize ‘Turkish tactic’

"This provision, a tactic long pursued by Ankara to cast doubt
on the historical record of the Armenian genocide, is intended to
serve Turkey’s drive to roll back the growing tide of international
recognition of this crime against humanity," said Aram Hamparian,
ANCA’s executive director, according to the statement.

"There can be no enduring relationship between Armenia and Turkey
that is not built upon the foundation of Turkey’s acceptance of a
true and just resolution of this crime," he said.

Hamparian’s remarks were conveyed to the members of the U.S. Congress,
the statement said.

The AAA said it "supports normalization of relations between Armenia
and Turkey" but that this should be done without Turkish precondition.

In a written statement, the AAA said it urged "President [Barack]
Obama and the U.S. Congress to unequivocally affirm the Armenian
genocide. In so doing, the United States will honor a proud chapter
in U.S. history in helping to save the survivors of the first genocide
of the 20th century."

"We recall Turkey’s ample track record of unfulfilled promises. As
such, many remain skeptical as prior governments of Armenia had also
offered to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions only
to be rebuffed," it said.