ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: TANER AKCAM IS ASKING OBAMA TO STAND FOR TRUTH
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2009 00:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Prominent Turkish-born genocide scholar Taner
Akcam delivered his inaugural lecture at Clark University titled,
"Facing History: Denial and the Turkish National Security Concept",
The Armenian Weekly reports. In 2008, Akcam was appointed the Robert
Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marion Mugar Chair in
Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark University.
Speaking to an audience that had packed the Tilton Hall of the Higgins
University Center, Akcam sent a powerful message to U.S. President
Barack Obama, asking him to liberate Turks and Armenians by properly
recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
Talking about the reluctance of Congress and some former
U.S. presidents to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Akcam said,
"There’s an ongoing theatrical drama–perhaps ‘comedy’ would be
a better term–that all the parties engage in every year, and
that has started to grow old. It’s time to end this dishonorable
play-acting." He explained how every time a U.S. president or Congress
has the issue of the genocide on their table, "They end up denying
for one day what they believe the other 364 days of the year."
Akcam continued, "All of the parties involved know very well what the
U.S. administration and Congress think about 1915. But Turkey asks them
to tell a lie only for one day. I have never understood why the Turkish
government extracts so much joy out of making the United States lie
for one day. I also find it completely dishonorable. Not only does this
lie fail to lead to a resolution, it needlessly locks up the debate."
Hence, Akcam argued, the importance of official U.S. recognition of
the Armenian Genocide–"if the United States declares what it believes
to be the truth and stands behind it"–would not only gain it "some
self-respect on the subject, but it will liberate Turks, Armenians,
and itself in the process."
Akcam ended his lecture by asking Obama to stand up for truth. "I
believe that we will enter a new era where morality and real politic
will not be considered mutually exclusive, if President Obama should
put an end to this lingering problem and liberate everybody in the
process by an official acknowledgment of genocide," he said.
Obama, both as a Senator and a presidential candidate, was an outspoken
advocate for proper U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide. He
repeatedly called on former president George W. Bush to recognize the
genocide and expressed reservations over the firing of U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia John Marshall Evans for his remarks recognizing that
crime. In January 2008, Obama issued a campaign statement, noting that
"America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be
that President."
Last week, Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), George Radanovich
(R-Calif.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) were
joined by 70 of their House Colleagues in the introduction of
Armenian Genocide legislation (H.Res.252) calling on the president
to recognize the Armenian Genocide. That resolution is identical to
the one introduced in the previous Congress, which was adopted by
the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a vote of 27 to 21, and had
over 200 co-sponsors.