NUMBER OF OPPONENTS TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION DECREASED AT US CONGRESS
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.02.2010 19:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recently some changes occurred in Capitol Hill that
will likely impact Turkey’s ability to block Congressional recognition
of the Armenian Genocide.
As Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) director Aram
Hamparian reported, Congressman Robert Wexler, the Chairman of the
Turkish Caucus and a leading Armenian Genocide denier, has retired
from Congress.
Congressman John Murtha, who led attacks against the 2007 Armenian
Genocide Resolution, has fallen ill in recent days. The Washington
Post’s political blog reports that his political future may be
in doubt.
Congressman Dan Burton, the most vocal Armenian Genocide denier in
the U.S. House, is facing a powerful primary challenge from Dr. John
McGoff. Congresswoman Jean Schmidt, the number #1 recipient of funds
from Armenian Genocide deniers, is set to face David Krikorian,
a talented public servant and proud Armenian American, in this
November’s general election.
Congresswoman Jane Harman, who, while she was a cosponsor of the
Armenian Genocide Resolution in 2007 secretly sought to torpedo the
adoption of this human rights measure, is facing a solid primary
challenge from Marcy Winograd.
Congressmen John Tanner and Marion Berry (both have received F-
ratings from the ANCA) are both retiring from Congress.
The Armenian Genocide resolution (H.Res. 106) was submitted to the
House of Representatives by Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA), during
the 110th United States Congress. It is a non-binding resolution
calling upon the US President to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing,
and genocide documented in the United States record relating to
the Armenian Genocide, and for other purposes. The resolution was
introduced on January 30, 2007.
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.
The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be
April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople.
Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes
and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of
food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.
To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized
the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars
and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also
recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC,
The Washington Post and The Associated Press.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.