CITING POPE’S SERMON, SENATORS INTRODUCE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL RESOLUTION

11:03, 21 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Senators Menendez, Kirk, Boxer, and Gardner Seek Improved
Armenian-Turkish Relations Based on Ankara’s “Full-Acknowledgment”
of this Crime

WASHINGTON–On the heels of Pope Francis’ historic statement
reaffirming the Armenian Genocide and the European Parliament’s
overwhelming condemnation of that crime last week, Senators Robert
Menendez (D-NJ), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Barbara Boxer (D-IL), and
Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced legislation today seeking durable
Armenian-Turkish relations based on Turkey’s “full acknowledgment”
of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA).

The bipartisan legislation is being launched on the eve of President
Obama’s anticipated April 24th statement, widely viewed as a watershed
moment in terms of U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide. The measure
praises the Pontiff for describing “the atrocities perpetrated by the
Ottoman Turks against the Armenians as the first genocide of the 20th
Century.” It is nearly identical to one introduced in April of 2014 –
with the addition of language regarding the Pope’s reaffirmation. A
revised version of the resolution was adopted by the U.S. Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, by a 12 to 5 vote last year.

“The Pope’s inspirational call to conscience – reflected in today’s
Armenian Genocide legislation and reinforced by calls from all corners
of American civil society – shines a welcome spotlight on the clear
choice before President Obama on April 24th. With the world watching
during this solemn Centennial, President Obama needs to decide. He
can speak the truth, and establish a legacy of principled American
leadership against genocide; or, he can cave in to Ankara’s threats,
allowing the Turkish government to tighten the gag-rule it so publicly
enforces on the U.S. government,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian.

“We join with our community and all our genocide-prevention coalition
partners in supporting the principled leadership of Senators Menendez,
Kirk, Boxer and Gardner. We are particularly encouraged that this
forward-looking measure urges President Obama to seek an enduring
improvement in Armenian-Turkish relations through the only principled
and practical path, Ankara’s full acknowledgement and honest reckoning
with this still unpunished crime,” continued Hamparian.

Lead sponsors – Senators Menendez, Kirk, Boxer and Gardner – cited the
importance of a clear U.S. policy reaffirming the Armenian Genocide.

“One hundred years ago, 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children
were killed by Ottoman Turks during the Armenian Genocide,” Senator
Menendez said. “It is past time for this atrocity to be recognized for
what it was: a targeted ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population.

This Resolution makes clear that it is unacceptable to deny
the facts and history of the Armenian Genocide and continue to
silence the voices of those who perished. As the world gathers to
commemorate the centenary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24th,
the United States must commit itself to recognizing the full meaning,
magnitude and history of this genocide in order to both honor the
innocent victims and prevent similar tragedies from happening again,”
continued Menendez.

“100 years is far too long not to call the murder of 1.5 million
Armenians what it was: genocide,” said Senator Kirk. “In April 1915
during the beginning of WWI, the Ottoman Turks systematically killed
1.5 million Armenians and forced many others to flee their homeland.

It is long past time that the United States recognize it as a genocide
and honor the victims, those who survived and ensure atrocities such
as this never happen again,” Senator Kirk said.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide –
an unspeakable tragedy that has left a dark stain on the collective
conscience of the world,” Senator Boxer said. “More than 20 countries,
43 U.S. states and Pope Francis have unequivocally affirmed the
Armenian Genocide and it is time for the United States to join them,”
concluded Senator Boxer.

“This year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of one of the
greatest crimes against humanity of the 20th century, the Armenian
Genocide,” said Senator Gardner. “The lives of as many as 1.5 million
men, women, and children were brutally ended, leaving lasting scars
on the families and communities affected. This resolution honors the
memory of those who were killed, and helps us resolve anew to never
allow such an event to occur again,” noted Senator Gardner.

A parallel measure (H.Res.154), the Armenian Genocide Truth + Justice
Resolution, has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives
spearheaded by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Robert Dold
(D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair
Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and David Valadao (R-CA).

The full text of the Resolution is below.

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide.

Whereas the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the
Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of
nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children
were killed and 500,000 survivors were expelled from their homes,
and the elimination of the over 2,500-year presence of Armenians in
their historic homeland;

Whereas, on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers of England, France, and
Russia jointly issued a statement explicitly charging for the first
time ever another government of committing crimes “against humanity
and civilization”;

Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide”, and whose draft
resolution for a genocide convention treaty became the framework for
the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime of Genocide, recognized the Armenian Genocide as the type
of crime the United Nations should prevent and punish through the
setting of international standards;

Whereas Senate Concurrent Resolution 12, 64th Congress, agreed to
February 9, 1916, resolved that “the President of the United States
be respectfully asked to designate a day on which the citizens of
this country may give expression to their sympathy by contributing
funds now being raised for the relief of the Armenians”, who at the
time were enduring “starvation, disease, and untold suffering”;

Whereas Senate Resolution 359, 66th Congress, agreed to May 11, 1920,
stated that “the testimony adduced at the hearings conducted by the
subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations have clearly
established the truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities
from which the Armenian people have suffered”;

Whereas House Joint Resolution 148, 94th Congress, agreed to April
8, 1975, resolved, “That April 24, 1975, is hereby designated as
‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and the
President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a
proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe
such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of genocide,
especially those of Armenian ancestry …”;

Whereas House Joint Resolution 247, 98th Congress, agreed to September
10, 1984, resolved, “That April 24, 1985, is hereby designated
as ‘National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, and
the President of the United States is authorized and requested to
issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the United States
to observe such day as a day of remembrance for all the victims of
genocide, especially the one and one-half million people of Armenian
ancestry…”;

Whereas, on April 11, 2014, the Committee on Foreign Relations of
the Senate reported favorably Senate Resolution 410, 113th Congress,
expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, and calling on the President to “ensure that the
foreign policy of the Unites States reflects appropriate understanding
and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights crimes
against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the
United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide”;

Whereas on April 12, 2015, Pope Francis described the atrocities
perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks against the Armenians as the first
genocide of the 20th century;

Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, an independent
Federal agency, unanimously resolved on April 30, 1981, that the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum would document the Armenian Genocide
in the Museum, and has done so through a public examination of the
historic record, including lectures and the maintenance of books,
records, and photographs about the Genocide;

Whereas the Government of the Republic of Turkey has continued its
international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial, maintained a
blockade of Armenia, and continues to pressure the small but growing
Turkish civil society movement for acknowledging the Armenian Genocide;
Whereas, in April 2011, the month of remembrance of the Armenian
Genocide, the Government of the Republic of Turkey demolished a
100-foot-high statue in the city of Kars which was erected to promote
reconciliation with Armenia;

Whereas the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Government of
the Republic of Turkey has prevented the meaningful advancement of a
constructive political, economic, and security relationship between
Armenia and Turkey; and

Whereas the teaching, recognition, and commemoration of acts of
genocide and other crimes against humanity is essential to preventing
the re-occurrence of similar atrocities: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate–

(1) to remember and commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide on April 24, 2015;

(2) that the President should work toward an equitable, constructive,
stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relationship that includes the
full acknowledgment by the Government of the Republic of Turkey of
the facts about the Armenian Genocide; and

(3) that the President should ensure that the foreign policy of the
United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, crimes against humanity,
ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record
relating to the Armenian Genocide.