Tweet
'SPOTLIGHT' ON OBAMA
By James Morrison
The Washington Times
January 25, 2012 Wednesday
Armenian-Americans predict that Washington will be the next diplomatic
battlefield after the French Parliament approved a bill that would
make it a crime to deny that the Turkish massacre of Armenians during
World War I was genocide.
"The spotlight is on President Obama," said Aram S. Hamparian,
executive director of the Washington office of the Armenian National
Committee of America.
Turkish-Americans, however, say the French bill will have no impact
on the U.S. debate because France is "criminalizing thought," said
Gunay Evinch, a former president of the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations.
The bill would impose a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine
of $57,000 for denying that the killings amounted to genocide -
the deliberate attempt to eliminate an entire people.
Mr. Hamparian criticized Mr. Obama Enhanced Coverage LinkingObama
-Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysfor
failing to recognize the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide.
When he was a U.S. senator, Mr. Obama supported congressional
resolutions on the Armenian issue. As a presidential candidate in 2008,
he promised Armenian-Americans, a small but powerful bloc, that he
would declare the massacre a genocide if he won the White House.
"He supported legislation as a senator that he opposes as president,"
said Mr. Hamparian, adding that Armenian-Americans will use the French
action as leverage to get Congress to adopt an Armenian resolution.
A House resolution is awaiting action in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. A Senate resolution was sent to the Foreign Relations
Committee last year, but Chairman John F. Kerry, Massachusetts
Democrat, took no action.
Mr. Hamparian said he hopes that the Senate sponsors, Democrats Barbara
Boxer of California and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, will introduce
another resolution this year.
He praised the French bill as a "very principled stand."
Mr. Evinch said that Turkish-Americans see the French bill as an
attempt to prohibit any independent research into the facts about
the Armenian massacre.
Turkey disputes Armenian claims of 1.5 million deaths. It insists
that about 500,000 Armenians were killed in an uprising during and
after World War I and that Turks and Kurds died at the hands of
Armenian rebels.
Asked whether the French action would affect the debate in Washington,
Mr. Evinch said, "I don't think so. ... It puts the issue in a
negative light."
"As an American," he added, "I can't envision criminalizing thought."
In Turkey on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced
the French bill as "discriminatory and racist."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the weekend threatened
France with "permanent sanctions" if the assembly adopted the bill.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57
Muslim-majority nations, accused the French of approving the bill for
"political and electoral gain" to win support from some 500,000 ethnic
Armenians in France.
"We reject this law and consider it to be inconsistent with historical
fact," the group said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to sign the bill within two
weeks, his office announced in Paris on Tuesday, while Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe appealed to France's "Turkish friends" to stay calm.
By James Morrison
The Washington Times
January 25, 2012 Wednesday
Armenian-Americans predict that Washington will be the next diplomatic
battlefield after the French Parliament approved a bill that would
make it a crime to deny that the Turkish massacre of Armenians during
World War I was genocide.
"The spotlight is on President Obama," said Aram S. Hamparian,
executive director of the Washington office of the Armenian National
Committee of America.
Turkish-Americans, however, say the French bill will have no impact
on the U.S. debate because France is "criminalizing thought," said
Gunay Evinch, a former president of the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations.
The bill would impose a penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine
of $57,000 for denying that the killings amounted to genocide -
the deliberate attempt to eliminate an entire people.
Mr. Hamparian criticized Mr. Obama Enhanced Coverage LinkingObama
-Search using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 Daysfor
failing to recognize the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide.
When he was a U.S. senator, Mr. Obama supported congressional
resolutions on the Armenian issue. As a presidential candidate in 2008,
he promised Armenian-Americans, a small but powerful bloc, that he
would declare the massacre a genocide if he won the White House.
"He supported legislation as a senator that he opposes as president,"
said Mr. Hamparian, adding that Armenian-Americans will use the French
action as leverage to get Congress to adopt an Armenian resolution.
A House resolution is awaiting action in the House Foreign Affairs
Committee. A Senate resolution was sent to the Foreign Relations
Committee last year, but Chairman John F. Kerry, Massachusetts
Democrat, took no action.
Mr. Hamparian said he hopes that the Senate sponsors, Democrats Barbara
Boxer of California and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, will introduce
another resolution this year.
He praised the French bill as a "very principled stand."
Mr. Evinch said that Turkish-Americans see the French bill as an
attempt to prohibit any independent research into the facts about
the Armenian massacre.
Turkey disputes Armenian claims of 1.5 million deaths. It insists
that about 500,000 Armenians were killed in an uprising during and
after World War I and that Turks and Kurds died at the hands of
Armenian rebels.
Asked whether the French action would affect the debate in Washington,
Mr. Evinch said, "I don't think so. ... It puts the issue in a
negative light."
"As an American," he added, "I can't envision criminalizing thought."
In Turkey on Tuesday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced
the French bill as "discriminatory and racist."
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the weekend threatened
France with "permanent sanctions" if the assembly adopted the bill.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents 57
Muslim-majority nations, accused the French of approving the bill for
"political and electoral gain" to win support from some 500,000 ethnic
Armenians in France.
"We reject this law and consider it to be inconsistent with historical
fact," the group said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to sign the bill within two
weeks, his office announced in Paris on Tuesday, while Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe appealed to France's "Turkish friends" to stay calm.