Former U.S. Envoy Backs Armenian Genocide Recognition
By Emil Danielyan
RFERL.ORG
7 March 05
A retired diplomat who served as Americaâ~@~Ys first ambassador to
Armenia has joined calls for international recognition of the
Armenian genocide, echoing surprise statements on the subject made by
the current head of the U.S. mission in Yerevan.
In a weekend interview with RFE/RL, Ambassador Harry Gilmore said the
extermination of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
fits into the definition of genocide set by the UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. â~@~There is no doubt that
the Armenian events were genocide,â~@~] Gilmore said.
â~@~Of course, we have to bear in mind that the Genocide Convention
came well after the events in the Ottoman Empire,â~@~] he added.
â~@~I think legally there is no question of the convention applying
retroactively. But the key point is that the convention sets up a
standard and the massacres and deportations of the Ottoman Armenians
meet that standard fully.â~@~]
Gilmore argued that Raphael Lemkin, the Jewish author of the word
â~@~genocide,â~@~] referred not only to the Jewish Holocaust but
also the events of 1915-1918 when he came up with the concept
following the Second World War. â~@~In fact, when Mr. Lemkin coined
the term genocide the Armenian events were one of the two archetypes
he used in his work,â~@~] he said.
Gilmore, who served as ambassador to Armenia from 1993-1995, was the
first U.S. government official to visit and lay flowers at the
genocide memorial in Yerevan. But both he and his two successors
consistently avoided calling the Armenian massacres a
â~@~genocideâ~@~] in line with Washingtonâ~@~Ys policy on the highly
sensitive subject.
Successive White House administrations have been anxious not to upset
Turkey, a major U.S. ally which strongly denies that the government
of the crumbling Ottoman Empire pursued a premeditated policy of
exterminating its Armenian population. Ankara also claims that the
Armenian death toll is inflated.
John Evans, the current U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, therefore took
many observers by surprise when declared at a series of meetings with
members of the Armenian-American community last month that the Turks
did commit â~@~the first genocide of the 20th century.â~@~] The
remarks fueled speculation about a pro-Armenian shift in the U.S.
governmentâ~@~Ys position on the issue.
But Evans denied it, saying in a statement last week that he
expressed his personal opinion. A senior official from the
administration of President George W. Bush told RFE/RL that
Evansâ~@~Ys statements â~@~absolutely contradict the policy of the
U.S. government.â~@~]
Gilmore declined to comment on possible implications of Evansâ~@~Ys
extraordinary genocide recognition. â~@~Because I am outside the
U.S. government now, I have no insider knowledge of what his
communication with the U.S. government might be on the issue,â~@~] he
said.
â~@~From my thorough study of the events of that period I am
persuaded that they do indeed constitute a genocide,â~@~] he added.
Evans likewise told the U.S.-Armenian community that he studied the
subject in detail and consulted with a State Department lawyer before
going on record. Leading Armenian-American organizations were quick
to commend him.
One of those groups, the Armenian Assembly of America, has launched a
public campaign in support of the envoy, sending letters to members
of the U.S. Congress. “The Assembly commends Ambassador Evans for
accurately labeling the attempted annihilation of the Armenians as
Genocide and urges the President to follow his example and properly
characterize the atrocities in his remembrance statement next month,”
the chairman of its Board of Trustees, Hirair Hovnanian, said in a
statement.
Frank Pallone, the co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus on
Armenian Issues, read out a similar statement on the House of
Representatives floor last Tuesday. â~@~Ambassador Evans simply
assigned the word to the definition that was already provided by
President Bush as well as members of his administration,â~@~] Pallone
said.
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