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HISTORY AT THE FOREFRONT OF CURRENT US FOREIGN POLICY
EurActiv
http://www.euractiv.com/en/foreig n-affairs/history-forefront-current-us-foreign-pol icy-analysis-493656
May 4 2010
"Recognition of the Armenian genocide by the full Congress and [US]
President [Barack] Obama's administration would pave the way for
Turkey's eventual acknowledgement of these events," writes Harout
Harry Semerdjian, a foreign policy expert based in Washington, D.C.
and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford,
in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.
The following op-ed was sent exclusively to EurActiv by Harout Harry
Semerdjian.
"It is an unlikely phenomenon that a historical issue from nearly a
century ago would affect modern-day relations between nations and have
far-reaching political implications on them. Last month the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives voted in favour of
recognising the Turkish killings of some 1,500,000 Armenians in 1915
as genocide - a term initially coined by a Polish-Jewish lawyer in
1943 after a thorough study of the Armenian case. As a consequence,
Turkey recalled its ambassador back to Ankara for 'consultations'
and threatened US-Turkey ties.
Some of our elected leaders and average citizens may question the
rationale behind such resolutions in the US House of Representatives.
The answer is quite clear, however, and begs for explication. It is a
little known fact that American diplomats and Christian missionaries
posted in Turkey in 1915 were among the most vocal decriers of the
massacre of Armenians.
As the wholesale killings and deportations of Armenians were being
unleashed, Leslie A. Davis, the US Consul posted in the remote Turkish
town of Harput, sent a US diplomatic dispatch to Washington, D.C.
dated July 24, 1915 stating: 'I do not believe there has ever been
a massacre in the history of the world so general and thorough as
that which is now being perpetrated in this region.' While the word
'genocide' was not in existence in 1915, Consul Davis called the
killings a 'general massacre' and American Ambassador to Turkey Henry
Morgenthau labeled the events 'murder of a nation'.
With global developments after WWI, Turkey's importance for the
United States increased particularly in light of expansionist
Soviet policies. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
threat of Islamic fundamentalism and US military efforts in Iraq
and Afghanistan helped fuel Turkey's geopolitical prominence in
the region. In past assessments of regional strategic interests,
consecutive US governments have been reluctant to label the killings
by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who
affirmatively supported the recognition of the genocide as senators
and later as presidential candidates, have so far displayed a similar
reluctance to change our assessment of regional strategic interests.
Ironically, the US archives contain thousands of documents recording
the facts of the Armenian genocide. These documents include eye-witness
accounts by our own American diplomats - the most powerful form of
evidence in light of persistent denial. For example, upon visiting a
lake near his post in Harput, Consul Davis witnessed the thousands of
massacred Armenians along its shores and labeled this part of Turkey
'The Slaughterhouse Province'.
He wrote: 'What the order is officially and nominally to exile the
Armenians from these Vilayets [Provinces] may mislead the outside
world for a time, but the measure is nothing but a massacre of the
most atrocious nature. The shooting and killing of people a few hours
after their departure from here is barbarous and shows that the real
intension of the government is not to exile them but to kill them'.
Realism in the assessment of our regional interests requires sober
consideration of such powerful evidence offered by our diplomats. It
is consistent with transparent democratic debate of our values and
interests that the US House of Representatives brings up this relevant
issue for a vote given our own diplomatic observations of events in
Turkey at that time.
Sound foreign policy is built on realism, and genocide recognises no
statute of limitations. Our lawmakers are merely setting the record
straight given our own values of democracy and commitment to human
rights.
Today, 95 years after the killings, the Cold War era is over and new
global developments have changed the world order. France, Belgium and
Switzerland were among the first nations to recognise the Armenian
genocide after re-assessing their Cold War strategies. As the world's
only superpower, we can find the political courage to discuss the
wrongs of our friends openly and not help conceal them.
April 24, the anniversary date of the killings, should be a day
that matters to all Americans who value human rights, transparency,
accountability and clear-eyed assessment of our strategic partnerships
in southwest Asia. Recognition of the Armenian genocide by the full
Congress and President Obama's administration would pave the way
for Turkey's eventual acknowledgement of these events - which will
not only help bring about a closure to this tragic chapter in world
history but also bring long-term peace and security in the Caucasus
and the Middle East.
Turkish acknowledgement of the genocide would also further Turkey's
aspirations to join the EU and place the country one step closer to
the European family of nations as well as to the modern values they
uphold. Turkey would thus set a serious foundation for reconciliation,
peace and cooperation with its Armenian neighbour."
EurActiv
http://www.euractiv.com/en/foreig n-affairs/history-forefront-current-us-foreign-pol icy-analysis-493656
May 4 2010
"Recognition of the Armenian genocide by the full Congress and [US]
President [Barack] Obama's administration would pave the way for
Turkey's eventual acknowledgement of these events," writes Harout
Harry Semerdjian, a foreign policy expert based in Washington, D.C.
and currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Oxford,
in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.
The following op-ed was sent exclusively to EurActiv by Harout Harry
Semerdjian.
"It is an unlikely phenomenon that a historical issue from nearly a
century ago would affect modern-day relations between nations and have
far-reaching political implications on them. Last month the Foreign
Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives voted in favour of
recognising the Turkish killings of some 1,500,000 Armenians in 1915
as genocide - a term initially coined by a Polish-Jewish lawyer in
1943 after a thorough study of the Armenian case. As a consequence,
Turkey recalled its ambassador back to Ankara for 'consultations'
and threatened US-Turkey ties.
Some of our elected leaders and average citizens may question the
rationale behind such resolutions in the US House of Representatives.
The answer is quite clear, however, and begs for explication. It is a
little known fact that American diplomats and Christian missionaries
posted in Turkey in 1915 were among the most vocal decriers of the
massacre of Armenians.
As the wholesale killings and deportations of Armenians were being
unleashed, Leslie A. Davis, the US Consul posted in the remote Turkish
town of Harput, sent a US diplomatic dispatch to Washington, D.C.
dated July 24, 1915 stating: 'I do not believe there has ever been
a massacre in the history of the world so general and thorough as
that which is now being perpetrated in this region.' While the word
'genocide' was not in existence in 1915, Consul Davis called the
killings a 'general massacre' and American Ambassador to Turkey Henry
Morgenthau labeled the events 'murder of a nation'.
With global developments after WWI, Turkey's importance for the
United States increased particularly in light of expansionist
Soviet policies. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the
threat of Islamic fundamentalism and US military efforts in Iraq
and Afghanistan helped fuel Turkey's geopolitical prominence in
the region. In past assessments of regional strategic interests,
consecutive US governments have been reluctant to label the killings
by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, who
affirmatively supported the recognition of the genocide as senators
and later as presidential candidates, have so far displayed a similar
reluctance to change our assessment of regional strategic interests.
Ironically, the US archives contain thousands of documents recording
the facts of the Armenian genocide. These documents include eye-witness
accounts by our own American diplomats - the most powerful form of
evidence in light of persistent denial. For example, upon visiting a
lake near his post in Harput, Consul Davis witnessed the thousands of
massacred Armenians along its shores and labeled this part of Turkey
'The Slaughterhouse Province'.
He wrote: 'What the order is officially and nominally to exile the
Armenians from these Vilayets [Provinces] may mislead the outside
world for a time, but the measure is nothing but a massacre of the
most atrocious nature. The shooting and killing of people a few hours
after their departure from here is barbarous and shows that the real
intension of the government is not to exile them but to kill them'.
Realism in the assessment of our regional interests requires sober
consideration of such powerful evidence offered by our diplomats. It
is consistent with transparent democratic debate of our values and
interests that the US House of Representatives brings up this relevant
issue for a vote given our own diplomatic observations of events in
Turkey at that time.
Sound foreign policy is built on realism, and genocide recognises no
statute of limitations. Our lawmakers are merely setting the record
straight given our own values of democracy and commitment to human
rights.
Today, 95 years after the killings, the Cold War era is over and new
global developments have changed the world order. France, Belgium and
Switzerland were among the first nations to recognise the Armenian
genocide after re-assessing their Cold War strategies. As the world's
only superpower, we can find the political courage to discuss the
wrongs of our friends openly and not help conceal them.
April 24, the anniversary date of the killings, should be a day
that matters to all Americans who value human rights, transparency,
accountability and clear-eyed assessment of our strategic partnerships
in southwest Asia. Recognition of the Armenian genocide by the full
Congress and President Obama's administration would pave the way
for Turkey's eventual acknowledgement of these events - which will
not only help bring about a closure to this tragic chapter in world
history but also bring long-term peace and security in the Caucasus
and the Middle East.
Turkish acknowledgement of the genocide would also further Turkey's
aspirations to join the EU and place the country one step closer to
the European family of nations as well as to the modern values they
uphold. Turkey would thus set a serious foundation for reconciliation,
peace and cooperation with its Armenian neighbour."