Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

"Genocide" resolution would "die" in session of US Congress

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • "Genocide" resolution would "die" in session of US Congress

    "GENOCIDE" RESOLUTION WOULD "DIE" IN SESSION OF US CONGRESS

    news.az
    April 20 2010
    Azerbaijan

    Adil Baguirov News.Az interviews Adil Baguirov, Ph.D., Managing
    Director and co-founder US Azeris Network (USAN).

    How do you expect the issue of "Armenian genocide" to be settled after
    the decision of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Congress?

    It will be the same as last year and the years before - the resolution
    would "die" in this session of Congress, and "resurface" in the next
    Congress (next year). This trick, courtesy of the Armenian lobby and
    its friends at the Armenian Caucus, will keep re-appearing for as
    long as Turkey plays on defensive, whilst the Armenian lobby feels
    this is the only subject that can energize and mobilize the Armenian
    diaspora worldwide.

    Considering the fact that the US administration is against the
    recognition of the "Armenian genocide" by Congress, is it possible
    to say that this issue will not be put for voting in the House of
    Representatives?

    I think it's virtually impossible for the resolution to be scheduled
    for a vote on the floor of the Congress. Firstly, because there
    won't be enough votes. Secondly, because of the opposition from
    the Administration, business circles, some historians, the Turkish
    government as well as the Turkish-American and Azerbaijani-American
    diasporas. And thirdly, because U.S. Congress has a lot of truly
    important legislature to take care of - such as jobs bill, climate
    change bill, financial regulations, etc.

    Do you think President Barack Obama will call the 1915 events in
    the Ottoman Empire as "genocide" in his traditional annual speech on
    April 24?

    He will not use the English (Latin) word "genocide", but just like
    last year, would probably use the Armenian term "Metz yeghern" instead.

    Which actions do you expect the Armenian Diaspora to take over the date
    of "genocide" and are Turkish and Azerbaijani diaspora organizations
    preparing the response actions?

    While the Armenian diaspora and lobby will be doing the traditional
    demonstrations, saturation of TV, radio and newspaper coverage, as well
    as more presentations and speeches at the conferences and seminars,
    at the same time they are preparing for the big date - year 2015. For
    that year, they are working on a number of book projects and films,
    as well as want to open their museum in Washington D.C.

    Needless to say that the Turkic-Americans are engaged in defending
    the image, honor and record of Turkey and the Turks, and inform the
    scholarly as well as wider public about the multitude of facts that
    are omitted and not mentioned by the Armenian lobby.

    Do you think the normalization of the Turkish-Armenian relations
    is possible after the attempts by Armenian lobby to impose the
    recognition of "genocide" to the United States? If yes, how far can
    this process go?

    If such a resolution would ever pass the U.S. Congress, or an American
    President is ever to classify the events of 1915, which were equally
    tragic for Turks, Kurds, Azeris, and Armenians, just to name a few,
    as "genocide", it would lead to short-term and even medium-term
    deterioration of relations between U.S. and Turkey, and make any kind
    of "normalization" between Armenia and Turkey impossible. Mindful of
    that, the U.S. leadership would not allow such a resolution to pass,
    or president's speech to include the word "genocide".

    Meanwhile, I do expect people in both Armenia and Turkey to attempt to
    improve the relations between these two nations. Of course, Armenia
    knows what it can do to quickly improve its relations not just with
    Turkey, but also with Azerbaijan, but for some reason is not taking
    the right step. Both Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as all rational
    people in U.S., Europe and elsewhere, should urge Armenia and its
    people to realize some of the basic facts, ranging from demography
    to economy and finance to even history, and urge a more rational
    behavior and response.

    How do you assess the unity and organization of the Azerbaijani
    diaspora in the United States?

    It has come a long way - compare the achievements of our diaspora
    from 5, 10, or 20 years ago with what it has now - it's a huge
    positive difference. We have become recognized as a factor and actor
    of international relations and domestic politics. Just 5 years ago
    this was not so. Today, Azerbaijani-Americans have their candidates
    running for political office, dozens of articles published in the press
    each year, active participation at conferences, seminars and forums,
    some 130,000 letters and faxes sent to member of Congress and other
    elected officials, over a hundred proclamations, and much more. But
    of course, there is still a lot to do and learn. It's not fair to
    expect a relatively new community of 400,000 Azerbaijani-Americans to
    come very close in a short time to the level of the 2 million strong
    Armenian community that has been in U.S. for over a century. At the
    same time, at least politically, the Azerbaijani-Americans have almost
    reached the level of the Russian-Americans, and are far more active
    than the Georgian, Moldovan/Romanian or any other Turkic community
    save the Turkish-Americans.

    Does our diaspora take any steps to attain the full elimination of
    907 amendment to the Act on support of freedom adopted by the Congress
    in 1992?

    Of course, and not only Section 907 of the 1992 Freedom Support Act,
    but also the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, the issue of so-called military
    parity, and the outrageous act of direct aid to the Armenia occupied
    Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Working...
X