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Why I Support Recognition Of The Armenian Genocide (Rep. John Sarban

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  • Why I Support Recognition Of The Armenian Genocide (Rep. John Sarban

    WHY I SUPPORT RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE (REP. JOHN SARBANES)
    John Sarbanes

    The Hill
    http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreig n-policy/95181-why-i-support-recognition-of-the-ar menian-genocide-rep-john-sarbanes
    April 29 2010
    DC

    April 24th marked the 95th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide,
    the systematic annihilation of more than 1.5 million Armenians by
    Ottoman-era Turkish authorities. On March 4, 2010, the House Committee
    on Foreign Affairs voted in favor of Resolution 252 to recognize the
    Genocide. The next step is to achieve recognition in the full House of
    Representatives. The Armenian Genocide, the first of the 20th Century,
    included massacres, deportations, and death marches where hundreds
    of thousands were herded into the Syrian Desert to die of thirst and
    starvation. Without final rites, the remains of these victims lay
    strewn across the desert in testament to a horrific demise.

    Modern-day Turkish authorities sadly have chosen to deny this chapter
    of Turkish history and have sought every opportunity to discredit
    the findings of legitimate genocide scholars. Notable scholars
    and historians who recognize the Armenian Genocide include the
    International Association of Genocide Scholars and the Elie Wiesel
    Foundation for Humanity whose opinion is supported by 53 Nobel
    Laureates. Yet, in the face of all the evidence, Turkey presses
    on, exporting a legacy of Genocide denial - a legacy ruthlessly
    enforced within its own borders. In Turkey, anyone who uses the word
    "genocide" to describe the massacre of the Armenians is subject to
    criminal punishment under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. The
    late journalist Hrant Dink was prosecuted under this article, and
    after being marked as an "enemy of the state," was slain in 2007 by a
    17-year old Turkish nationalist. In 2005, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's first
    Nobel Laureate, was charged with the crime of insulting Turkishness,
    because he too made mere reference to the Armenian Genocide during
    an interview. Thankfully, an international outcry spared him from
    full prosecution.

    Affirmative denial of the Armenian Genocide - as well as denial
    of similar aggression directed in the past at millions of Greeks,
    Assyrians and other religious minorities -- compromises Turkey's
    ability to tell the positive story of its economic and political
    progress in recent years. It also reinforces international perceptions
    that Turkey is still governed by a repressive impulse - one that
    continues to be directed at those of its peoples who do not comply
    with a rigid definition of "Turkishness." For years, Turkey has
    discriminated against its largest ethnic minority by outlawing the
    Kurdish language, suppressing the Kurdish culture, and officially
    classifying Kurds as Mountain Turks, or Eastern Turks. Even the
    religious liberties of Turkey's Muslim majority are subjected to
    discriminatory state controls.

    In Congress, there is significant support for recognizing the Armenian
    Genocide, but sponsors of a resolution to do just that have been
    thwarted by Turkey's relentless lobbying campaign. Threatening
    all manner of retaliation should the resolution pass, Turkey has
    convinced some members that such action would imperil Turkish-American
    relations. The United States should be confident enough about
    the mutual stake both parties have in their relationship to know
    otherwise. Furthermore, the experience of other nations suggests
    there is every reason to believe that America's recognition of the
    Armenian Genocide will ultimately enhance, not damage, its relations
    with Turkey. The European Parliament and the legislatures of more
    than twenty countries including Canada, France, Italy, and Russia,
    have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. Turkey has not
    halted its attempts to join the European Union, and its political
    and economic relationship with each of these countries has only grown
    since their Genocide recognition.

    By speaking candidly to our ally, we can encourage Turkey to face
    the dark chapters of its past and abandon the destructive ventures
    of its present, such as the ongoing state-sanctioned discrimination
    against the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the continued occupation of the
    Republic of Cyprus and the disenfranchisement of the Kurdish minority.

    Recognition of the Armenian Genocide can serve as a catalyst in
    securing Turkey's status as a European democracy worthy of full
    European Union membership.

    I have heard the common refrain: "It's just not a good time." That
    excuse - and it is only an excuse - can always be trotted out based on
    one or another issue that may be pending between the United States and
    Turkey. But that excuse ignores the moral imperative to recognize the
    Genocide and misunderstands that such recognition will actually enhance
    Turkish-American relations and advance America's strategic interests.

    For the sake of its core values and in true furtherance of its
    strategic interests, the United States must take a deep breath, look
    its ally Turkey in the eye, and recognize the tragedy of the Armenian
    Genocide to be an unambiguous fact of history.
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