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Worcester Telegram, MA
Oct 13 2007
Local Armenians cheer action
House to vote on genocide resolution
By Thomas Caywood TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER - For Armenian-American Van M. Aroian, the brewing
diplomatic crisis over a proposed congressional resolution labeling
the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a genocide comes
down to expediency versus morality.
He sees the choice like this: Congress can placate the Turkish
government to preserve an important ally in the Iraq war, or it can
take a public stand against genocide, come what may.
`Most Armenians think, as do most Americans, that American foreign
policy has to be based on some moral ideals,' said Mr. Aroian, whose
mother as a young girl fled the mass killings during and after World
War I in what is now Turkey. `When the genocide is denied, it
continues on a psychological level.'
The Turkish government attributes the deaths and displacement of
Armenians between 1916 and 1923 to civil war and general unrest and
disputes the claim that up to 1.5 million were killed. Turkey has
threatened to cut military ties with the United States over the
resolution, which made it out of committee Wednesday and is expected
to come to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
by Thanksgiving.
Local Armenian-Americans cheered the news that after decades of
trying the resolution is headed for a vote on the House floor, where
it appears to have enough support to pass. Its prospects in the
Senate are less clear.
The Turkish government, meanwhile, has dug in its heels against the
resolution - recalling its ambassador for consultations and yesterday
publicly musing about invading the Kurdish area of northern Iraq.
`I just hope that people understand that it's still in the best
interest of the United States not to back off human rights because of
threats from any country,' said Armenian-American Lara R. Kopoyan of
Northboro.
George Aghjayan, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of
Central Massachusetts, said the group's members are pleased to see
the resolution move forward but are far from declaring victory.
`It was such a difficult vote, and people were very relieved at the
outcome,' he said. `We're very, very excited, but there's still a lot
of work to do.'
Mr. Aghjayan said members of his group have been lighting up the
switchboards in congressional offices all week urging lawmakers not
to be swayed by the Turkish threat to cut off access to their air
bases.
`Are the people treating the issue this way, the ones we really want
to be working with as our allies?' he said.
Mr. Aroian said he fears the threat of a diplomatic fall out with
Turkey might become an excuse for lukewarm supporters of the
resolution in Congress to `get off the hook,' he said.
The Pentagon has said roughly 70 percent of air cargo supplies for
American troops in Iraq pass through Turkey, and American forces use
Turkish airspace and airfields to fly missions in Iraq.
Mr. Aroian said he can appreciate the delicate position the Bush
administration is in with the Turks, but he sees no reason why
President Bush can't throw his weight around too.
`He's got to say, `Hey, you're an important ally, but why don't you
act as a responsible country? Open up that border with Armenia,' '
Mr. Aroian said. `If President Bush is trying to be the leader of a
democracy with some international standing, he's got to put some
pressure on the Turks to obey international law.'
As the killings raged last century, Mr. Aroian's mother, who was 8
years old at the time, slipped into the Syrian desert with her
mother. The two were separated there somehow, and his mother ended up
first in Egypt and then with an aunt in Woonsocket, R.I. She later
learned that her mother was still in Syria.
`I can remember coming home from school and looking up to see my
mother in the window,' he said. `If her head was down, I knew my
mother was crying, and I knew when I walked up the stairs there'd be
a letter from my grandmother.'
http://www.telegram.com/article/20071013/NEWS/71 0130355/1116
Oct 13 2007
Local Armenians cheer action
House to vote on genocide resolution
By Thomas Caywood TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER - For Armenian-American Van M. Aroian, the brewing
diplomatic crisis over a proposed congressional resolution labeling
the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a genocide comes
down to expediency versus morality.
He sees the choice like this: Congress can placate the Turkish
government to preserve an important ally in the Iraq war, or it can
take a public stand against genocide, come what may.
`Most Armenians think, as do most Americans, that American foreign
policy has to be based on some moral ideals,' said Mr. Aroian, whose
mother as a young girl fled the mass killings during and after World
War I in what is now Turkey. `When the genocide is denied, it
continues on a psychological level.'
The Turkish government attributes the deaths and displacement of
Armenians between 1916 and 1923 to civil war and general unrest and
disputes the claim that up to 1.5 million were killed. Turkey has
threatened to cut military ties with the United States over the
resolution, which made it out of committee Wednesday and is expected
to come to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives
by Thanksgiving.
Local Armenian-Americans cheered the news that after decades of
trying the resolution is headed for a vote on the House floor, where
it appears to have enough support to pass. Its prospects in the
Senate are less clear.
The Turkish government, meanwhile, has dug in its heels against the
resolution - recalling its ambassador for consultations and yesterday
publicly musing about invading the Kurdish area of northern Iraq.
`I just hope that people understand that it's still in the best
interest of the United States not to back off human rights because of
threats from any country,' said Armenian-American Lara R. Kopoyan of
Northboro.
George Aghjayan, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of
Central Massachusetts, said the group's members are pleased to see
the resolution move forward but are far from declaring victory.
`It was such a difficult vote, and people were very relieved at the
outcome,' he said. `We're very, very excited, but there's still a lot
of work to do.'
Mr. Aghjayan said members of his group have been lighting up the
switchboards in congressional offices all week urging lawmakers not
to be swayed by the Turkish threat to cut off access to their air
bases.
`Are the people treating the issue this way, the ones we really want
to be working with as our allies?' he said.
Mr. Aroian said he fears the threat of a diplomatic fall out with
Turkey might become an excuse for lukewarm supporters of the
resolution in Congress to `get off the hook,' he said.
The Pentagon has said roughly 70 percent of air cargo supplies for
American troops in Iraq pass through Turkey, and American forces use
Turkish airspace and airfields to fly missions in Iraq.
Mr. Aroian said he can appreciate the delicate position the Bush
administration is in with the Turks, but he sees no reason why
President Bush can't throw his weight around too.
`He's got to say, `Hey, you're an important ally, but why don't you
act as a responsible country? Open up that border with Armenia,' '
Mr. Aroian said. `If President Bush is trying to be the leader of a
democracy with some international standing, he's got to put some
pressure on the Turks to obey international law.'
As the killings raged last century, Mr. Aroian's mother, who was 8
years old at the time, slipped into the Syrian desert with her
mother. The two were separated there somehow, and his mother ended up
first in Egypt and then with an aunt in Woonsocket, R.I. She later
learned that her mother was still in Syria.
`I can remember coming home from school and looking up to see my
mother in the window,' he said. `If her head was down, I knew my
mother was crying, and I knew when I walked up the stairs there'd be
a letter from my grandmother.'
http://www.telegram.com/article/20071013/NEWS/71 0130355/1116