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Recognition of Armenian Genocide Increasing Despite White House Opposition
Asbarez Armenian Daily, News Report, Compiled by Peter Micek, Apr 29, 2004
New recognition of the Armenian Genocide -- the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 -- results from a “big push” among immigrant activists across the country, according to a daily Armenian newspaper in Los Angeles.
“This month was just amazing,” said Maral Habeshian, editor of the Asbarez Armenian Daily's English section, in an April 28 interview.
Despite being “deeply troubled” by ambiguous statements from President Bush on the 89th anniversary of the massacres April 24, Armenian-American immigrants and activists have brought new recognition to the genocide, her paper reports.
Ignoring long-standing government policy, the Canadian Parliament passed a resolution this month saying Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915. Armenian activists in Canada heavily promoted the bill, which angered the Turkish government. A phone and fax campaign telling legislators to “vote their conscience" won the 153 to 68 vote on the motion, Habeshian said.
Both the New York Times and the State of Idaho have recognized the massacres as genocide, Asbarez reports.
The New York Times now allows reporters to freely use the expression “Armenian Genocide,” instead of phrases such as "what Armenians call the Armenian Genocide," or "alleged genocide of Armenians," Asbarez reports. The New York Times reported extensively on the massacres when they occurred, according to Asbarez.
Idaho has become the 33rd state to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne issued a proclamation, reprinted on Asbarez’s website, calling the killings an attempt to eliminate the over 3,000-year-old civilization. It praises the leadership of Armenian-Americans living in Idaho.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared April 24 a “Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.”
Also reprinted by Asbarez was a statement from Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, saying, “At the outset of the Jewish Holocaust, Adolph Hitler said that no one remembered what happened to the Armenian people during the genocide. He then proceeded to implement his Final Solution.”
“Genocide is not only an act of hatred toward one particular group,” Sen. Boxer said, “but toward all humankind.”
Boxer says recognition from the United States government is an important first step toward learning from the tragedy and avoiding similar ones.
Both presidential candidates, President George W. Bush and John Kerry voiced concerns this April regarding the Armenian Genocide.
The Bush Administration has formally opposed Congressional legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reports. President Bush issued a statement April 24 calling for a “pause in remembrance” of the “annihilation of as many as 1.5 million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire.”
Bush overlooked calls to explicitly recognize the events as genocide from more than 190 U.S. legislators, according to the Armenian National Committee of America and failed to honor his campaign pledge to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide as "genocide," according to Asbarez.
“Armenian Americans remain deeply troubled that for the fourth year in a row … despite [Bush’s] repeated calls for 'moral clarity' in the conduct of our international affairs, he has used evasive and euphemistic terminology to avoid properly identifying the Armenian Genocide -- an important chapter in America's emergence as an international humanitarian power -- as what it was,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
Hamparian says Bush also played down Turkey’s belligerence and Armenia’s contributions to the stability of the region.
Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called for international recognition of the “dark period of history” represented by the Armenian Genocide. He said it should be recognized as a genocide.
Many of the recent gains in recognition, Habeshian said, came from political pressure exerted by people of Armenian descent. Youth activism is important to the movement, she said.
The Idaho proclamation, Asbarez reports, follows a resolution adopted by the students at Boise State University recognizing the Armenian Genocide and condemning efforts to rewrite history.
Asbarez addressed an editorial on the subject to young people this month. “It’s our duty as Armenians to force people to look at what’s wrong and listen, and act,” Asbarez wrote. “Otherwise, we literally let them get away with murder.”
Habeshian, the Asbarez English-language editor, said she gave a speech to young Armenian-Americans stressing the major gains the country has made. Before 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, she said, “Who would have thought Armenia would have been free?”
The movement around the Armenian Genocide has moved beyond “phase one” -- recognition of the massacres. “It’s a proven fact that genocide happened," she said. "What we try to stress is moral justice.”
Asbarez Armenian Daily, News Report, Compiled by Peter Micek, Apr 29, 2004
New recognition of the Armenian Genocide -- the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 -- results from a “big push” among immigrant activists across the country, according to a daily Armenian newspaper in Los Angeles.
“This month was just amazing,” said Maral Habeshian, editor of the Asbarez Armenian Daily's English section, in an April 28 interview.
Despite being “deeply troubled” by ambiguous statements from President Bush on the 89th anniversary of the massacres April 24, Armenian-American immigrants and activists have brought new recognition to the genocide, her paper reports.
Ignoring long-standing government policy, the Canadian Parliament passed a resolution this month saying Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians in 1915. Armenian activists in Canada heavily promoted the bill, which angered the Turkish government. A phone and fax campaign telling legislators to “vote their conscience" won the 153 to 68 vote on the motion, Habeshian said.
Both the New York Times and the State of Idaho have recognized the massacres as genocide, Asbarez reports.
The New York Times now allows reporters to freely use the expression “Armenian Genocide,” instead of phrases such as "what Armenians call the Armenian Genocide," or "alleged genocide of Armenians," Asbarez reports. The New York Times reported extensively on the massacres when they occurred, according to Asbarez.
Idaho has become the 33rd state to recognize the Armenian Genocide. Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne issued a proclamation, reprinted on Asbarez’s website, calling the killings an attempt to eliminate the over 3,000-year-old civilization. It praises the leadership of Armenian-Americans living in Idaho.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared April 24 a “Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.”
Also reprinted by Asbarez was a statement from Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, saying, “At the outset of the Jewish Holocaust, Adolph Hitler said that no one remembered what happened to the Armenian people during the genocide. He then proceeded to implement his Final Solution.”
“Genocide is not only an act of hatred toward one particular group,” Sen. Boxer said, “but toward all humankind.”
Boxer says recognition from the United States government is an important first step toward learning from the tragedy and avoiding similar ones.
Both presidential candidates, President George W. Bush and John Kerry voiced concerns this April regarding the Armenian Genocide.
The Bush Administration has formally opposed Congressional legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Asbarez reports. President Bush issued a statement April 24 calling for a “pause in remembrance” of the “annihilation of as many as 1.5 million Armenians through forced exile and murder at the end of the Ottoman Empire.”
Bush overlooked calls to explicitly recognize the events as genocide from more than 190 U.S. legislators, according to the Armenian National Committee of America and failed to honor his campaign pledge to properly characterize the Armenian Genocide as "genocide," according to Asbarez.
“Armenian Americans remain deeply troubled that for the fourth year in a row … despite [Bush’s] repeated calls for 'moral clarity' in the conduct of our international affairs, he has used evasive and euphemistic terminology to avoid properly identifying the Armenian Genocide -- an important chapter in America's emergence as an international humanitarian power -- as what it was,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
Hamparian says Bush also played down Turkey’s belligerence and Armenia’s contributions to the stability of the region.
Presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called for international recognition of the “dark period of history” represented by the Armenian Genocide. He said it should be recognized as a genocide.
Many of the recent gains in recognition, Habeshian said, came from political pressure exerted by people of Armenian descent. Youth activism is important to the movement, she said.
The Idaho proclamation, Asbarez reports, follows a resolution adopted by the students at Boise State University recognizing the Armenian Genocide and condemning efforts to rewrite history.
Asbarez addressed an editorial on the subject to young people this month. “It’s our duty as Armenians to force people to look at what’s wrong and listen, and act,” Asbarez wrote. “Otherwise, we literally let them get away with murder.”
Habeshian, the Asbarez English-language editor, said she gave a speech to young Armenian-Americans stressing the major gains the country has made. Before 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, she said, “Who would have thought Armenia would have been free?”
The movement around the Armenian Genocide has moved beyond “phase one” -- recognition of the massacres. “It’s a proven fact that genocide happened," she said. "What we try to stress is moral justice.”
