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  • The Armenian Mirror-Spectator: "Why Do We Ignore ICTJ's Report On Ge

    THE ARMENIAN MIRROR-SPECTATOR: "WHY DO WE IGNORE ICTJ'S REPORT ON GENOCIDE?"

    AZG Armenian Daily
    28/03/2008

    Armenian Genocide

    Washington, DC - The Armenian Assembly of America would like to call
    your attention to the following editorial published on March 8, 2008
    in The Armenian Mirror-Specator entitled "Why Do We Ignore ICTJ's
    Report on Genocide?"

    Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly is the largest
    Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
    and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
    membership organization.

    Below is the full text of the the editorial entitled "Why Do We Ignore
    ICTJ's Report on Genocide?"

    March 8, 2008

    Why Do We Ignore ICTJ's Report on Genocide?

    Turkey's current Genocide denial strategy is grounded on a specious
    proposal for a new joint study by Armenian and Turkish historians
    of the events of 1915-1923 although just that kind of study had
    already been done by the International Center for Transitional Justice
    (ICTJ). The center's report categorically concluded that the horrors
    suffered by Armenians in Ottoman Turkey during World War I met all the
    critical criteria of genocide as defined by the 1948 International
    Genocide Convention. That treaty was adopted by the international
    community of nations, including Turkey.

    The Armenian and Turkish participants in the Turkish Armenian
    Reconciliation Commission, (TARC), whose membership was agreed to by
    both governments, jointly sponsored the ICTJ study. That center is
    a highly-respected institution whose mission includes the readiness
    "to assist countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity
    or human rights abuses." ICTJ scholars studies all the critical
    evidence and arguments submitted by both Turks and Armenians and
    after careful analysis concluded that the Armenian population of
    western Armenia had been victims of Genocide. Whereas ICTJ study's
    strict mandate was to define 1915-1923 atrocities, it did not
    further comment whether Armenians could use its finding to seek
    reparations from Turkey. After all is said, its finding remains as
    powerful argument for our nation. Its verdict was so stark that Turks
    immediately denied its validity. That the Turks rejected the findings
    is understandable. They lost.

    But why have most Armenian political activists deliberately ignored
    the findings?

    The reason for Armenian silence is self-evident. When TARC was formed,
    it generated an emotional opposition campaign led primarily by the
    ARF. Even though the Armenian government was consulted throughout the
    entire TARC process and approved of its mission, Yerevan distanced
    itself from the enterprise when the sharp attacks on TARC were
    hottest. Most other groups in the diaspora did as well. They were
    uncomfortable with the controversy and either shied away from it or
    joined the chorus of criticism.

    We also took issue with TARC. But we objected to the adopted process
    of the effort and composition of the group and not its intent. In
    any case, whether TARC should have been organized differently or
    whether it made tactical or other mistakes, it is a fact, that its
    singular achievement, the ICTJ's validation of the Armenian Genocide,
    was not recognized.

    The Armenian Assembly has been the lone advocate of the ICTJ report. It
    consistently invoked the ICTJ verdict in statements issued before and
    during the congressional effort to pass Resolution 106 recognizing
    the Armenian Genocide. There were two other notable exceptions. Hrant
    Dink and former US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans. Hrant Dink said
    the formation of TARC and the ICTJ report gave him the opportunity
    to pursue his cause to gain Turkey's acknowledgement of the Armenian
    Genocide. And Evans has cited the ICTJ report as one of the key factors
    that convinced him to publicly state the veracity of the Armenian
    Genocide. It is a pity that others have not done the same. We have
    needlessly deprived ourselves of a powerful argument in our efforts
    to gain Congress to enact the Armenian Genocide resolution.

    Henceforth, the Armenian Mirror-Spectator will invoke the ICTJ report
    to counter Turkey's new study ploy.

    We will expose that proposal as a smokescreen to hide Turkey's true
    motive. Ankara fears the inevitability of congressional recognition
    and hopes that their offer will convince enough members of Congress
    to avoid enacting Resolution 106. They want their proposal to be
    seen as reasonable and a fair way to remove this vexing problem from
    public discussion.

    We must not let that happen. Whatever the Armenian communities'
    objections were to the TARC process the ICTJ verdict was an impressive
    achievement indeed. It is an important weapon in our arsenal of
    arguments to gain the international recognition of the Armenian
    Genocide. Turkish denial must be confronted always and everywhere
    and to deny us the compelling verdict of the ICTJ is both unwise
    and self-defeating.

    Press Committee of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator
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