It’s time for a new American approach to the Armenian Genocide, one that is as simple as it is sound: progress and peace based upon truth and justice.
American policy on the Armenian Genocide can be both principled and practical. For, in properly commemorating this crime, standing up to its denial, and seeking its just resolution, we will be bringing our policies as a government into alignment with our principles as a nation, to the benefit of both U.S. interests and American values.
Years of futile U.S. efforts to appease Turkey have failed to end Ankara’s blockade of Armenia and have only hardened Ankara’s denial of truth and obstruction of justice for this crime. In fact, it was only moments after Turkey and Armenia signed the Ankara-inspired protocols back in 2009 that the Turkish government, rather than moving toward recognition of this crime, reversed course by brazenly adding new demands regarding Nagorno-Karabagh. Ankara proudly declared it would continue enforcing its illegal blockade of Armenia, and then, in an open affront to its U.S. ally, actually escalated its international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial. Turkey, having secured the Armenian Foreign Minister’s signature on this document, has, for the past four years, used it non-stop as its weapon of choice in a relentless campaign to derail international progress toward a just resolution of this still unpunished genocide.
To the extent that there is, today, constructive discourse on this subject within a small but growing segment of Turkish civil society, the credit belongs to the international campaign for truth, empowered by independent scholarship and driven by Armenian calls for justice. Allies of Ankara, including those in Washington, are now shamelessly seeking to take credit for this new awareness and activism, but only because they failed to bully Armenians into silence and to bury this epic injustice. These apologists, sadly, remain part of the problem, not the solution.
Turkey’s obstruction of justice has, over the course of nearly a century, allowed Ankara to consolidate its hold on the genocidal gains of its crimes against the Armenian people, blocking the return to the Armenian nation of key elements—indispensable elements—of viability that long sustained the Armenian people on their ancient homeland. This denial poisons Armenian-Turkish relations, fosters wave after wave of anti-Armenian intolerance within Turkey, threatens Armenia’s and Artsakh’s security, and, of course, fuels regional tensions.
We must reject Ankara’s false choice that, when it comes to the Armenian Genocide, protecting U.S. interests means compromising American values. The future of this region—its sustainable stability over the long-term—cannot be built upon a foundation of lies. Justice is good geopolitics.
It’s time for the Obama-Biden Administration to reject Ankara’s gag-rule and proudly reaffirm our government’s record of having recognized the Armenian Genocide. Sadly, under foreign pressure, President Obama has failed to reflect, much less reinforce, America’s standing acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide as a crime of genocide. Our current president’s retreat is regrettable on many levels and certainly must be reversed, but it does not detract from the fact that, dating back to the time of President Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. government has officially condemned Turkey’s intentional campaign to destroy its Armenian and other indigenous Christian populations. Since Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide” and President Harry Truman became the first head of state to sign the Genocide Convention, the United States has, on several occasions, formally recognized the Armenian Genocide as a crime of genocide:
–The U.S. government’s May 28, 1951 written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in which the “Turkish massacres of Armenians” is cited as an “outstanding examples of the crime of genocide.”
–President Ronald Reagan’s April 22, 1981 Proclamation number 4838, in which he stated, in part, “like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians, which followed it—and like too many other persecutions of too many other people—the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.”
–House Joint Resolution 148 adopted on April 8, 1975, which designated April 24, 1975 as “National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man,” citing “all the victims of genocide, especially those of Armenian ancestry who succumbed to the genocide perpetrated in 1915.”
–House Joint Resolution 247 adopted on Sept. 10, 1984, which designated April 24, 1985 as the “National Day of Remembrance of Man’s Inhumanity to Man,” citing “all the victims of genocide, especially the one and one-half million people of Armenian ancestry who were the victims of the genocide perpetrated in Turkey between 1915 and 1923.”
–The adoption, by the House of Representatives on June 5, 1996, of an amendment to House Bill 3540 (the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997) to reduce aid to Turkey by $3 million (an estimate of its payment of lobbying fees in the United States) until the Turkish government acknowledged the Armenian Genocide and took steps to honor the memory of its victims.
President Obama himself entered office having stated that his “firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” He affirmed his U.S. Senate record of “calling for Turkey’s acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide,” and, as we all know, pledged publicly that “as president I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
After years of failed efforts to appease Ankara, it’s time for President Obama to honor his words, and for our government to live up to America’s promise of truth and justice.
It’s time to stop outsourcing our nation’s Armenian Genocide policy to Turkey and, in the interest of both regional stability and our core values as a nation, to reclaim American leadership in support of a truthful and just resolution of this crime.
Aram Hamparian
Latest posts by Aram Hamparian (see all)
- Armenian Americans: A Key Vote in 2024 Battleground States - October 5, 2023
- Hamparian: President Biden is on the wrong side of Artsakh - September 19, 2023
- It’s not too late for Joe Biden to stop Azerbaijan’s genocide against Artsakh - July 27, 2023
Aram…Your heart may be in the right place, but I’m sorry to say that if you believe that the US government actually cares about genocide recognition at this stage, then your mind certainly has strayed. Governments do not do the right thing; they do not exist on truth and correct judgment. If they happen to lean in that direction now and then, it’s because someone either has a gun to their collective heads, or it benefits them in some way. But please do not think that the US, nor their “ally” Turkey will do what we Armenians hope they’ll do.
Civil discourse on the subject has driven this topic as far as it has gone on the international stage, but it will take alot more than that to get Turkey to admit to anything in the near future. We all know the extent to which they’ve taken the denial game, and really, do we need a weak-kneed US government’s acknowledgement of what the world knows to be true? I say no. Who cares? As long as the truth continues to be spoken, let’s try to take governments out of the equation. Once people realize that those in power have no time for the “fly buzzing around the room”, then energies can be put in the proper place, and that is to maintain a strong discourse among societies. If the people want to know the truth, it will rise out of the ashes of lies, but to think that governments will do such a thing is a waste of time, and a pipe dream. There are too many covert games to be played in the Caucuses right now and in the near future, and something as unsightly as truth seekers are not going to stop them. The days of the government being of, by and for the people disappeared a long time ago.
I may sound like a nihilist, or at best a pessimist, and believe me, I hope that I’m wrong. But I base this opinion on past and current actions, not words from a campaigning politician.
Michael – Civic movements, from women’s suffrage and civil rights to child labor and South African Apartheid, have pressed the American people and government for change. None trusted blindly in the good will of others, particularly those with vested interests in the status quo, but neither did they lose hope that it is possible to bring about good and moral change in the civic arena. There is, I think you would admit, plenty of space between all-out hopelessness and overbearing confidence, and it is in that space that we seek to make the progress we can. Measured against maximalist dreams, our steps may seem meager, but judged against the option of inaction, they actually represent material progress.
We enter this arena with our eyes open, knowing full well that we may not get everything we work for, but that, surely, we will work for everything we get.
We can and should pursue our cause on other non-political fronts as well, and, of course, always grow stronger politically, but I have yet to hear a persuasive argument for a unilateral surrender from the civic arena that would, in the end, only the leave the political field all the more open to those who seek to advance their interests at our expense.
Aram
I totally agree with Aram. We should never surrender, never be a pessimist and never give up on our efforts, especially at a time when the Turkish government has increased its efforts in its denial propaganda. Ours is a just and truthful cause.
Aram in his article, did not mention that in the past few years, twice the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs passed resolutions affirming the US Record on the Armenian Genocide. Both times, the White House
and the State Depts put pressure on the House Leadership not to bring the vote to the floor. ANCA performed a superb job to garner majority votes to pass the resolutions in the Committee and now it is on record.
Administrations change, the political winds change, and the geopolitical strategies may be altered. One of these days, Turkey will screw up, NATO’s relevance or policies might change, the importance of the NATO bases in Turkey
(24 of them) might diminish simply due to the fact that the major threat to the
US today is not the USSR(which does not exist) or Russia but terrorism and rogue states like North Korea.
We, all Armenians, should continue to support the ANCA.
Vart Adjemian
Vart and Aram, thanks for both insights and thoughts in regards to my comment on the subject. Aram, I agree that surrender should be out of the question, and I hope that I didn’t insinuate that. On the contrary. To just walk away from the fight would only allow the deniers the solitary voice, and that cannot be done. I totally agree that the non-political arena is the way to go. That was the main point of my comment, to realize that these other governments are not going to help. I only say this after viewing past and current events.
And Vart, my point was that the US government will most likely continue on its current course. And what if they changed? What would come of it? It’s one country. Other countries HAVE acknowledged those horrible events using the G word, but it has changed nothing? If the US recognizes those events as genocide, will anything change? I seriously doubt it. Hey, it would be nice if they did the right thing. Fine if they do, fine if they don’t. And yes, winds change and anything can happen, but my main point, which may not have been stressed properly, is that we need to “maintain a strong discourse among societies. If the people want to know the truth, it will rise out of the ashes of lies….” By that I meant that the people within Turkey who admit to the truth, know it but are silent about it, or are on the fence, are the people who will change their government’s denials to acknowledgement. Armenians and Turks, from all over the globe, have opened and must continue to open dialogue, and that dialogue will increase the pressure on a government that looks more and more foolish in its denials. The people will make the changes that we seek, not the governments.
I applaud ANCA’s efforts and energies, and together with the diaspora and the republic, we may see the fruits of all these energies sometime soon. I think the next two years will be the most important.
Hi Michael, you are definitely right. We people can make real changes. It was never a real democracy in Turkey last 100 years. But today brave people of Anatolia fighting against not only today’s fascist government but dictatorial past as well. This fight started a week ago for a tree on a land that was an Armenian Cemetery at the centre of Istanbul. Yes Michael, whatever happens in Turkey, wherever you go in Anatolia you can see something from Armenians. This is our destiny, we can’t escape from each other. We lost each other 100 years ago and we can’t wait any more. And I want to start this dialogue right now here. My name is Sezai Layik, I live in Melbourne Australia. My email is slayik@gmail.com and mobile is 0408507633. I want to come together with Armenian community. I appreciate for any help.