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ANCA: Senators Call on Obama to Recognize Armenian Genocide

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  • ANCA: Senators Call on Obama to Recognize Armenian Genocide

    Armenian National Committee of America
    1711 N Street, NW Washington, DC 20036
    Tel. (202) 775-1918
    Fax. (202) 775-5648
    Email. [email protected]
    Internet www.anca.org

    PRESS RELEASE
    April 20, 2010
    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
    Tel: (202) 775-1918


    SENATORS CALL ON OBAMA TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    -- Boxer Letter Urges President to "Stand on the Right Side of History"


    WASHINGTON, DC - California Senator Barbara Boxer (D) was joined
    this week by more than a dozen of her Senate colleagues in calling
    on President Obama "to stand on the right side of history and
    unequivocally affirm the Armenian Genocide," reported the Armenian
    National Committee of America (ANCA).

    "We would like to thank Senator Boxer and her Senate colleagues for
    their effort to end Turkey's gag rule on U.S. affirmation of the
    Armenian Genocide - a morally bankrupt policy that continues to
    undermine our nation's credibility in the fight to end the cycle of
    Genocide," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "President
    Obama has a clear choice to make on April 24th - to emerge as the
    torchbearer of truth regarding the Armenian Genocide or to remain
    the Turkish government's accomplice in the denial of this crime
    against humanity."

    The letter, circulated by Senator Boxer and sent to the White House
    earlier today with the signatures of 14 Senators from 10 different
    states, underscored that, "despite an irrefutable body of evidence,
    the United States Government has yet to recognize the events of
    1915-1923 by their rightful name." The signatories urged the
    President, this April 24 "to correct this injustice and finally
    acknowledge one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century for
    what it was - genocide."

    In comments to the ANCA, Senator John Ensign (R-NV), a co-signer of
    the letter, noted that, "This month will mark the 95th anniversary
    of the Armenian Genocide. The atrocities that occurred 95 years
    ago have yet to be recognized by our government as a genocide. In
    this letter, my colleagues and I urge President Obama to once and
    for all declare that the lives lost during this dark period were a
    result of a deliberate and intentional massacre of innocent men,
    women, and children."

    During his campaign for the White House, President Obama repeatedly
    promised to recognize the Armenian Genocide, but, since, taking
    office, has broken his pledge, even going so far as pressuring the
    U.S. Congress against adopting legislation commemorating this crime
    against humanity.

    The full list of Senators co-signing the letter is as follows:
    Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Environment and Public
    Works Committee; Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the Banking
    Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Policy; John Ensign (D-OH),
    Ranking Member of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on
    Communications; Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chairman of the Foreign
    Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Africa; Dianne Feinstein (D-
    CA), Chairwoman of the Select Intelligence Committee; Frank
    Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chairman of the Commerce Committee's
    Subcommittee on Surface Transportation; Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman
    of the Armed Services Committee; Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman
    of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; Jack Reed (D-RI),
    Chairman of the Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Emerging
    Threats; Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Chairman of the Homeland Security
    Committee; Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Chairwoman of the
    Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce; Charles
    Schumer (D-NY), Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus; Debbie
    Stabenow (D-MI), Chairwoman of the Energy Committee's Subcommittee
    on Water and Power, and; Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chairman of the
    Environment Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight.

    The full text of the Boxer Letter is provided below.

    #####

    President Barack Obama
    The White House
    1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20500

    Dear Mr. President:

    As you know, April 24 marks Armenian Remembrance Day 2010, the
    ninety-fifth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Despite an
    irrefutable body of evidence, the United States Government has yet
    to recognize the events of 1915-1923 by their rightful name. We
    urge you-on this April 24-to correct this injustice and finally
    acknowledge one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century for
    what it was-genocide.

    Over the years, this deliberate massacre of the Armenians has been
    well-documented through eye-witness accounts and confirmed by
    numerous scholars. Simply put-between 1915 and 1923, more than 1.5
    million Armenians were marched to their deaths in the deserts of
    the Middle East, murdered in concentration camps, drowned at sea,
    and forced to endure horrific acts of brutality at the hands of the
    Ottoman Empire.

    In his memoirs, Henry Morgenthau, the American Ambassador to the
    Ottoman Empire between 1913 and 1916, wrote: "When the Turkish
    authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were
    merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood
    this well, and in their conversations with me, they made no
    particular attempt to conceal the fact." And even as it was just
    beginning, the New York Times reported the mass killing of
    Armenians as "systematic," "authorized," and "organized by the
    government."

    Tragically, Adolf Hitler even used the Ottoman Empire's action
    against the Armenians to justify the extermination of the Jews,
    saying in 1939, "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation
    of the Armenians?"

    The fact is that many have affirmed the Armenian Genocide, and it
    is long past time that the United States do the same, joining with
    Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy,
    Lebanon, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia,
    Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela, the Vatican and over 40
    U.S. states.

    While we fully acknowledge the importance of the U.S.-Turkey
    relationship, we should never, for any reason, fail to call a
    tragedy of this magnitude by its rightful name. As such - on this
    April 24 - we urge you to stand on the right side of history and
    unequivocally affirm the Armenian Genocide.

    Thank you for your consideration of this important request.

    Sincerely,

    Barbara Boxer
    United States Senator

    cc. The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
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