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Monterey County Herald (California)
November 14, 2014 Friday
Stephen Zunes: U.S. still refuses to acknowledge Armenian genocide
By Stephen Zunes Special to The Herald
This coming year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
Do not expect there to be any congressional resolution or presidential
proclamation acknowledging it, however. Indeed, the United States has
never acknowledged there even was an Armenian genocide.
Between 1915 and 1918, under orders from the leadership of the Ottoman
Empire, an estimated 2 million Armenians were forcibly removed from
their homes in a region that had been part of the Armenian nation for
more than 2,500 years. Three-quarters of them died as a result of
execution, starvation and related reasons.
Dozens of other governments including Canada, France, Italy, and
Russia and several UN bodies, as well as 40 U.S. states, have formally
recognized the Armenian genocide. The Obama administration, however,
like every U.S. administration before it, has refused to do so and has
successfully blocked Congress from doing so either.
Congress has previously gone on record condemning former Iranian
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for refusing to acknowledge the German
genocide of the Jews. Congress appears unwilling, however, to
acknowledge the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians. While awareness of
anti-Semitism is fortunately widespread enough to marginalize those
who refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust, tolerance for anti-Armenian
bigotry appears strong enough that it's still considered politically
acceptable to deny their genocide of 1.5 million people.
Opponents of the measure argue they're worried about harming relations
with Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire and an
important U.S. ally. However, the United States has done much greater
harm in its relations with Turkey through policies far more
significant than a symbolic resolution acknowledging a tragic episode
from the early 20th century, such as clandestinely backing an
attempted military coup by right-wing Turkish officers in 2003,
defending Israel's 2011 attacks on unarmed Turkish ships in the high
seas killing 10 Turkish crewmen, and arming Iranian Kurds with close
ties to Kurdish rebels in Turkey who have been responsible for the
deaths of thousands of Turkish citizens.
Some argue it is pointless for Congress to pass resolutions or the
president to issue proclamations regarding historical events. Yet
there were no such complaints regarding commemorations of the
Holocaust, nor is there normally much opposition to the scores of
other dedicatory resolutions and proclamations regularly coming out of
Washington.
The Obama administration, like administrations before it, simply
refuses to acknowledge that the Armenian genocide even took place. As
recently as the 1980s, the Bulletin of the Department of State claimed
that "because the historical record of the 1915 events in Asia Minor
is ambiguous, the Department of State does not endorse allegations
that the Turkish government committed genocide against the Armenian
people." Even more recently, Paul Wolfowitz, who served as deputy
secretary of defense to President George W. Bush, stated in 2002 that
"one of the things that impress me about Turkish history is the way
Turkey treats its own minorities."
Adolf Hitler, responding to concerns about the legacy of his crimes,
once asked, "Who, after all, is today speaking of the destruction of
the Armenians?" The United States is sending a message to future
tyrants that they can commit genocide without acknowledgement by the
world's most powerful country.
Indeed, refusing to recognize genocide and those responsible for it in
a historical context makes it easier to deny genocide today. In 1994,
President Bill Clinton also refused to use the word "genocide" in the
midst of the Rwandan government's massacres of over half that
country's Tutsi population, a decision that contributed to the delay
in deploying international peacekeeping forces until after the
slaughter of 800,000 people.
As a result, U.S. refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide isn't
simply about whether to commemorate a tragedy that took place nearly a
century ago. It's about where we stand as a nation in facing up to the
most horrible of crimes. It's about whether we are willing to stand up
for the truth in the face of lies. It's about whether we see our
nation as appeasing our strategic allies or upholding our
long-standing principles.
Stephen Zunes is a Santa Cruz resident and a professor of politics and
coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San
Francisco.
http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_26940678/stephen-zunes-u-s-still-refuses-acknowledge-armenian
From: Baghdasarian
November 14, 2014 Friday
Stephen Zunes: U.S. still refuses to acknowledge Armenian genocide
By Stephen Zunes Special to The Herald
This coming year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
Do not expect there to be any congressional resolution or presidential
proclamation acknowledging it, however. Indeed, the United States has
never acknowledged there even was an Armenian genocide.
Between 1915 and 1918, under orders from the leadership of the Ottoman
Empire, an estimated 2 million Armenians were forcibly removed from
their homes in a region that had been part of the Armenian nation for
more than 2,500 years. Three-quarters of them died as a result of
execution, starvation and related reasons.
Dozens of other governments including Canada, France, Italy, and
Russia and several UN bodies, as well as 40 U.S. states, have formally
recognized the Armenian genocide. The Obama administration, however,
like every U.S. administration before it, has refused to do so and has
successfully blocked Congress from doing so either.
Congress has previously gone on record condemning former Iranian
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for refusing to acknowledge the German
genocide of the Jews. Congress appears unwilling, however, to
acknowledge the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians. While awareness of
anti-Semitism is fortunately widespread enough to marginalize those
who refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust, tolerance for anti-Armenian
bigotry appears strong enough that it's still considered politically
acceptable to deny their genocide of 1.5 million people.
Opponents of the measure argue they're worried about harming relations
with Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire and an
important U.S. ally. However, the United States has done much greater
harm in its relations with Turkey through policies far more
significant than a symbolic resolution acknowledging a tragic episode
from the early 20th century, such as clandestinely backing an
attempted military coup by right-wing Turkish officers in 2003,
defending Israel's 2011 attacks on unarmed Turkish ships in the high
seas killing 10 Turkish crewmen, and arming Iranian Kurds with close
ties to Kurdish rebels in Turkey who have been responsible for the
deaths of thousands of Turkish citizens.
Some argue it is pointless for Congress to pass resolutions or the
president to issue proclamations regarding historical events. Yet
there were no such complaints regarding commemorations of the
Holocaust, nor is there normally much opposition to the scores of
other dedicatory resolutions and proclamations regularly coming out of
Washington.
The Obama administration, like administrations before it, simply
refuses to acknowledge that the Armenian genocide even took place. As
recently as the 1980s, the Bulletin of the Department of State claimed
that "because the historical record of the 1915 events in Asia Minor
is ambiguous, the Department of State does not endorse allegations
that the Turkish government committed genocide against the Armenian
people." Even more recently, Paul Wolfowitz, who served as deputy
secretary of defense to President George W. Bush, stated in 2002 that
"one of the things that impress me about Turkish history is the way
Turkey treats its own minorities."
Adolf Hitler, responding to concerns about the legacy of his crimes,
once asked, "Who, after all, is today speaking of the destruction of
the Armenians?" The United States is sending a message to future
tyrants that they can commit genocide without acknowledgement by the
world's most powerful country.
Indeed, refusing to recognize genocide and those responsible for it in
a historical context makes it easier to deny genocide today. In 1994,
President Bill Clinton also refused to use the word "genocide" in the
midst of the Rwandan government's massacres of over half that
country's Tutsi population, a decision that contributed to the delay
in deploying international peacekeeping forces until after the
slaughter of 800,000 people.
As a result, U.S. refusal to acknowledge the Armenian genocide isn't
simply about whether to commemorate a tragedy that took place nearly a
century ago. It's about where we stand as a nation in facing up to the
most horrible of crimes. It's about whether we are willing to stand up
for the truth in the face of lies. It's about whether we see our
nation as appeasing our strategic allies or upholding our
long-standing principles.
Stephen Zunes is a Santa Cruz resident and a professor of politics and
coordinator of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San
Francisco.
http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_26940678/stephen-zunes-u-s-still-refuses-acknowledge-armenian
From: Baghdasarian