WHAT IS THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE?

Creative Loafing Atlanta
March 8 2010

Like many victims of long-ago crimes, if the Armenians can’t have
justice, they at least want recognition

On March 4, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the following
nonbinding resolution:

"Calling upon the 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."

You read that and probably wonder what the big deal is. Appropriate
understanding is great. Sensitivity is swell. Besides, Congress is
constantly honoring, commemorating, remembering and noting events
and people of the distant past. Congress loves it some symbolic
declarations.

Sometimes they’re innocuous. For example, last November, the House
voted to name a post office for W. Hazen Hillyard, a deceased former
Utah postmaster. Did you know Hillyard won the Boy Scouts of America’s
Silver Beaver Award in 1961? What exactly is a silver beaver, anyway?

Is it anything like a GILF?

Often the resolutions deal with more serious issues. Last June, the
Senate voted to acknowledge the 70th anniversary of a disgraceful
event: a ship with Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany was turned away
from U.S. ports.

With no place safe to land, the ship returned to Europe. Of the 937
passengers onboard, 254 subsequently died in the Holocaust. The Senate
described the anniversary "as an opportunity for public officials
and educators to raise awareness about an important historical event,
the lessons of which are relevant to current and future generations."

Translation: Acknowledging a giant screw-up now might help us avoid
the same screw-up later.

Armenian-Americans have long been pushing to have the U.S. join the
20-plus other nations that have already officially recognized the
Armenian Genocide. Like many victims of long-ago crimes, if they
can’t have justice, they at least want recognition.

Here’s the quick version of the broad historical consensus:
Armenians have lived in the Caucasus Mountains and Eastern Anatolia
(aka modern-day Turkey) area for 4,000 years. They have their own
language and, for more than 16 centuries, have been followers of an
obscure religion called Christianity.

Surrounded by ethnic and religious rivals in a corner of the world
where ethnicity and religion are kind of a big deal, the Armenians
haven’t always had an easy time. During the 16th century, Armenians
fell under the control of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Though
multi-ethnic and multi-religious, the empire itself was run by
Turkish Muslims.

With the empire near its death during World War I, the ruling Turks
launched an ethnic cleansing campaign against Armenians in Anatolia.

Because some Armenians sided with Russia against the Turks during the
war, the entire community was labeled disloyal. Armenians say they
lost 1.5 million of their own. The Turkish government disagrees. They
say 300,000 died and dispute that it was genocide. They say it was
war, that bad things happen during war, and that anyone who calls it
genocide is a liar. Seriously, Turkey prosecuted Nobel Prize-winning
novelist Orhan Pamuk for calling the killings genocide. Turkey also
threatens retaliation against nations that dare utter the dirty G-word.

The Turkish view, though firmly held, simply doesn’t square with
reality. Witnesses and historians have published ample evidence
that the genocide took place. The most damning evidence of late
was an Ottoman Empire Interior Ministry memo published last year
noting the disappearance between 1915 and 1916 of 972,000 Armenians
from Ottoman population rolls. They didn’t go on around-the-world
cruises. They died.

This month marks the second time in two years that the House Committee
on Foreign Affairs has passed an Armenian Genocide resolution. Just
like the last one, expect this one to disappear before going to the
full House of Representatives for a vote.

Though there’s no real dispute about whether the event took place,
Turkey is simply too vital an ally for U.S. politicians to risk
irritating the country over a nonbinding resolution condemning a
100-year-old mass murder. As a candidate, Obama promised to be the
first president to label the killing a genocide. But now that he’s
president, he has to choose between historical truth and present
reality. To make sure Turkey joins U.S. efforts to place tighter
sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, the White House urged
Congress not to pass the resolution. Don’t expect the full House to
vote on it.