Nahapetian Testimony Before Senate Panel Challenges U.S. Complicity in Turkey’s Denial as Contributing to Ongoing Cycle of Genocide
WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) this week called the attention of an influential U.S. Senate panel to how the failure of U.S. policy-makers to confront past genocides has materially contributed to an international environment which tolerates continued crimes against humanity, reported the ANCA.
“Considering… the moral and legal obligations we have undertaken as parties to the Genocide Convention, it is truly astonishing that the United States has more recently pursued a policy of complicity in Turkey’s state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide and has even gone to the lengths of assisting Turkey in covering up a crime that was publicly cited by Raphael Lemkin as one of the major motivating factors in the very drafting of the Genocide Convention,” explained ANCA Government Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian in written testimony submitted to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law for a hearing titled “The Law of the Land: U.S. Implementation of Human Rights Treaties.”
Nahapetian continued, noting that, “Turkey’s success in silencing one of the most powerful countries in the world on one of the best documented cases of genocide emboldens other states to commit genocide and undermines the ability of the U.S. and the international community to prevent crimes against humanity. The starkest example of this consequence is Sudan’s mimicking of Turkish genocide denial tactics and the growing alliance between these two countries.”
The complete text of Nahapetian’s testimony can be viewed at:
http://www.anca.org/assets/pdf/testimony/1209_Sen_Judiciary.pdf
One more comment to all uneducated people why is it called GENOCIDE because Armenians couldn’t fight back from massacre. They were not armed what so ever, plus there was never a war meaning man against a man but instead it against the whole nation includes men, women, children, and elderly! Read the history before any judges this………besides Greeks, Kurds, Bulgarians, and Jews were killed too!
Hye, Kate, shornagaltiun guh hydnenk,
Words fail me, my relatives whom we lost to the Turkish Genocide of our Armenian nation, resting easier… are still watching, still awaiting… for our Covenant to come to pass… Manooshag
Eva, you seem to be totally ignorant of so many facts related to this issue. Armenians were surely armed, and armed well. My grandfather, an officer in the region at the time, chased armed Armenian insurgents around, had battles, witnessed their brutality to Muslims, and even worse to each other when there was a disagreement. Armenians had accumulated enormous weapons caches, they were better armed then Ottoman soldiers, see the countless pictures of fedayees in Armenian books. They were not going fishing. They were able to field regular troops, had military schools, had generals and brutally occpied and killed all Muslims, including my grandfather’s family, in Bitlis, Mus, Van etc. They did this while Ottomans were engaged in battles for their very existence in multiple fronts. They gave keys of Ottoman cities to Russian generals. This is newspaper stuff, all told in your Armenian books too. How can anyone expect an apology? Who will apologize for my ancestors – if I needed one? So have a little respect for facts.
Murat, I continue to be amazed at the denial mentality. It is an historical fact that the Armenians were an oppressed minority who were treated as second class citizensin the Ottoman Empire; despite their significant contributions to the infrastructure of the empire. The denial mentality lumps all violence into one bucket. There is no doubt that there were someacts of violent retribution commitedby the Armenians. It is silly to think otherwise. Watching your people annihilated for decades(1890, 1894,1909 etc) leads to defensive efforts(which is basically what the revolutionary
groups/fedayees were).Their contributions were to defend a vulnerable population from an empire
with a long history of contempt for this Christian minority. Even with this history, the Armenians supported the Ittihadist reforms cooperated with the government. I am sorry for the loss of anyone
during conflicts and this goes for Turkish civilians that were victims of undisciplined retribution
from Armenians
You must acknowledge,Murat,that there is a significant difference between the loss of civilians
during conflictand the planned extermination of an entire population.WHAT KIND OF A GOVERNMENT INDISCRIMINATELY MURDERS ITS OWN CITIZENS. If the Armenians werea threat
then why were children,womenand older removed,Why werethey not allowed to return after the war. Why are the Ottoman archives full of incriminating premeditation documents. WHY?
It’s so ironic because the Turks today would be so much better off distancing themselves from the morallycorrupt Ittihads, accept the fact that this was an attempt to annihilate the Armenians and move on. There is no futurein denial. I have met three kinds of Turks in this regard. One type are filled with nationalistic zeal and then national ego will not allow that this could have happened. Another type are truly ignorant of history and are a product of the Turkish educational revisionist
system. The final group are an off shoot of the secondand have become educated. This group is my hope for Turkey. This group is becoming largerand more influential. Genocide forums in Turkey,apology petition and reconcilation efforts. After education, they are feel the guilt. I feel for them and as Armenians we must reach out to them.
Murat, my friend,I hope that reach this state of knowledge. Ease your anger and frustration
with thte simple truth that there was a Turkish government that attempted to eliminate our people.
All reconciliation must be based on the truth. As Hasan Cemal told a Turkish man in the audience at Harvard, we must open our hearts to learning what happened in1915.
Well said Stephan..
I completely agree with you and your reasoning.
I hope Murat opens his heart and understands that we all regret and feel pain for those who lost their innocent lives due to this haineous genocide.. I am truly sorry for that.. we all know what that feels….
However, fedayee groups as Stephan stated above were formed to protect the precious lives that still remained on the land.. they were formed to stop the flood of blood and deaths and save those who could be saved. It is absurd to think that ARmenians would have part in fighting back.k.. who can sit back and witness his or her family killed like animals.. if we did not rise and start fighting back then we might as well call ourselves wild animals.. because only animals don’t feel and understand.. but then again some animals have and do feel better than those who brought this Genocide upon my people.. the resistance groups have had enough and decided to fight and die like heros..and they did.. May their soul and those innocent who perished live on in lights of our Savior’s kingdom…
Murat, I am not blaming you for your feelings and your thoughts but sometimes it is hard to put aside your emotions and look at matters logically.. but you have to; otherwise it will do nothing by hurt you.. facts speak louder than feelings.. we all have feelings and we all want justice for the loved one we lost; however what happened is no fluke, is no fantasy, is not a lie.. it is a fact.. it is the truth.. the sooner we educate people including the 3rd type of Turks like Stephans stated above, the better off we will all be..
God Bless all..
Gayane