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Still waiting for resolution on genocide

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  • Still waiting for resolution on genocide

    The Macomb Daily
    Editorial Page

    Still waiting for resolution on genocide

    By:Mitch Kehetian, Macomb Daily Editorial Page Editor May 02, 2004

    For four years, President Bush has ignored calls to honor his campaign
    pledge of properly recognizing the Armenian genocide, says Macomb
    Daily Editorial Page Editor Mitch Kehetian.

    When President Bush talks about his vision for America in Monday's
    speech at Freedom Hill, he'll focus on his resolve in meeting the
    tests of our time and, no doubt, on how the United States will solve
    the conflict in Iraq.

    We can also expect the president to inform the gathering in Sterling
    Heights about the nation's stronger economy and how he will improve
    our communities and keep America safe.

    The last time I talked with Bush was during the Michigan Republican
    presidential primary. It was a telephone conversation arranged by
    then-Gov. John Engler that proved to be enlightening for both of us,
    as we shared equal concerns about the nation and its role in a safer,
    more just world.

    While Bush will certainly take his share of hard-line questions
    following the Freedom Hill rally, there's one I would ask if given the
    opportunity. It's a subject that members of the president's press
    corps know very little about, and, besides, Bush is faced with more
    pressing issues than the Armenian genocide.

    The growing division within the United States over the war in Iraq is
    a genuine concern, and there are the problems of national security and
    the steady loss of jobs to outsourcing, so one would have every right
    to question why the 1915-23 genocide of the Armenian people by the
    Ottoman Turkish Empire remains such an issue after 89 years?

    There are several good reasons. Today's Turkish regime denies the fact
    that a genocide even took place, claiming the deaths of 1.5 million
    Armenians were the result of a civil war in the closing days of the
    collapsing Ottoman government.

    During Bush's campaign for the presidency, he sent signed letters to
    prominent Armenian-Americans who were supporting his run against Al
    Gore. In a Feb. 19, 2000, letter, he said that if he were elected
    president, he "would ensure that our nation properly recognizes that
    the Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies
    comprehension and commands all decent people to remember and
    acknowledge the facts of an awful crime in a century of bloody crimes
    against humanity."

    For four years, Bush has ignored calls to honor his campaign pledge of
    properly recognizing the Armenian genocide.

    His 2004 statement about the carnage inflicted on the Armenian people
    refers to the brutal slaughter as "one of the most horrible tragedies
    of the 20th century," but he doesn't mention the word "genocide."

    The president refuses to acknowledge his pledge, forcing me to ask,
    when will he uphold his commitment and stop Turkey from blackmailing
    American presidents on the issue?

    When the French parliament referred to the Armenian genocide in a
    government directive last year, Turkey, in retaliation, threatened to
    cancel lucrative contracts it had with French companies. The threats
    turned out to be bluffs.

    Last month, the Canadian parliament formally recognized the Armenian
    genocide, and immediately its action was denounced by the Turkish
    government with the same blackmailing threats.

    I know there was a genocide. I don't need the president to tell me
    that. I grew up without grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins
    because they died in the genocide of 1915-23. But the Turks still say
    the genocide never happened.

    While campaigning for president, Bush was adamant in declaring it was
    a genocide. Now he can't find the words to say it.

    Mr. President, it's time to summon truth as our ally.

    Mitch Kehetian is Editorial Page editor of The Macomb Daily.


    The Macomb Daily. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=11423523&BRD=988&PAG=461&a mp;dept_id=141266&rfi=6
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