World Markets Research Centre
Global Insight
March 5, 2010

Armenia Welcomes U.S. Congressional Committee’s Recognition of Armenian Genocide

BYLINE: Lilit Gevorgyan

Today, Armenian foreign minister Eduard Nalbandyan issued a statement
hailing the 4 March decision by U.S. lawmakers to define the massacres
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide. Nalbandyan called the
decision by the U.S. House of Foreign Affairs Committee as an
important step forward for human rights and "an important step toward
the prevention of crimes against humanity". The Congressional
Committee’s resolution can now enter the House of Representatives for
a full vote. The resolution is non-binding and calls on U.S. president
Barack Obama to reflect on the Armenian genocide, and label the
killings of over 1.5 million Armenians accordingly in his annual
statements made on 24 April, the day when Armenians commemorate the
victims of genocide.

The voting on the resolution went ahead despite the last-minute call
from U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton to the Committee Chairman
Howard Berman urging him to defer the vote in order not to derail the
reconciliation efforts recently launched between Armenia and Turkey.
Prior to the Congressional Committee’s session Turkish president
Abdullah Gul had warned the U.S. administration of the serious
repercussions that passing the resolution could have for bilateral
relations. Berman opened the session by acknowledging Turkey’s role as
a vital and loyal ally but added that "nothing justifies Turkey’s
turning a blind eye to the reality of the Armenian genocide", urging
Turkey "to come to terms with its own history."

Significance:While the Armenian government and indeed the
6-million-strong Armenian Diaspora will celebrate the latest
resolution, they also realise that with the opposition of the Obama
administration, the document is not likely to garner enough support in
the House of Representatives. This is the second time in recent years
that the Congressional Committee has endorsed a resolution recognising
the Armenian genocide. The latest resolution was adopted in 2007.
However successive U.S. administrations have proven to follow the same
pattern when it comes to this painful issue both for Armenians and
Turks. Nearly all U.S. presidents, including Obama, have promised to
support the recognition of the genocide if elected to the White House.
However following their elections they have failed to deliver on their
promises as the benefit of a non-binding and morally motivated
resolution had been consistently outweighed by the importance of
maintaining U.S. relations with Turkey. Turkey is likely to use the
adoption of this resolution as an excuse to delay the ratification of
the Armenian-Turkish October 2009 peace protocols, aimed at
normalisation of bilateral relations (seeTurkey – Armenia: 12 October
2009:). Turkey has been hoping that by signing the protocols it would
be able to contain the Armenian government’s efforts to see worldwide
recognition of the genocide. However this policy by the Turkish
government is not likely to succeed given that the pursuit of the
recognition of the Armenian genocide is enshrined in the Armenian
declaration of independence and also it has not been an issue of
discussion during the signing of the October protocols.