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U.S. SHOULD CALL ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY ITS NAME: LA TIMES
11:59, 14 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board calls on U.S. President Barack
Obama to take a cue from Pope Francis and include the word genocide
in his annual message marking the centennial of the Armenian genocide.
Sunday, Pope Francis took the audacious step of celebrating a Mass
at St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the
slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians, and then calling those killings
by their name: genocide. For that, the Turkish government summoned
the Vatican's envoy in Ankara for a talking-to and recalled its
own ambassador to the Vatican for "consultation." Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that "the pope's statement,
which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis,
is simply unacceptable."
That's right: A full century after the mass killings by the Ottoman
Empire, the Turkish government continues to reject the documented
historical reality that Turkey was responsible for the first genocide
in what turned out to be a century of grotesque ethnic, religious
and political violence, from the Holocaust to the Cambodian killing
fields to the Rwandan genocide.
Turkey's disingenuous view compounds the original crime with the
insult of denial. (Turkey claims that most Armenian victims were
killed in a civil war, and that many Turks also perished at the hands
of Armenians.) Yet the U.S. government has been complicit in Turkey's
defiance, thanks primarily to a policy of realpolitik that calls for
deference to a strategic ally in an increasingly unstable region of
the world. That's why American presidents have repeatedly refused to
call the genocide a genocide.
Although Barack Obama promised as a candidate to "recognize the
Armenian genocide" if he became president, so far he (like his
predecessors) has avoided using that apparently too-blunt word in
annual statements condemning the "Meds Yeghern," as it's known in
Armenian. The farthest he's gone is to call the killings a "horror"
while reaffirming the U.S.
government's adherence "to the principle that such atrocities must
always be remembered if we are to prevent them from occurring ever
again."
But how can you remember if you won't acknowledge the facts? Obama
has said that "a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts
is in all of our interests," yet he has continued to engage in a
diplomatic dance out of misdirected fidelity to an ally.
It's true that the U.S.-Turkey relationship is a very important one,
and one worth nurturing and protecting, but not at the expense of
denying history.
Strategically, Turkey needs U.S. support -- and weapons -- as much
as the United States needs a presence in the region (including its
Air Force base near Incirlik). This is a partnership based on mutual
interests, and we would hope that it would not be imperiled by an
insistence on truth.
The president should take a cue from Pope Francis and include the
word genocide in his annual message marking the carnage a century ago.
Enduring friendships require such honesty.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/14/u-s-should-call-armenian-genocide-by-its-name-la-times/
11:59, 14 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board calls on U.S. President Barack
Obama to take a cue from Pope Francis and include the word genocide
in his annual message marking the centennial of the Armenian genocide.
Sunday, Pope Francis took the audacious step of celebrating a Mass
at St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the
slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians, and then calling those killings
by their name: genocide. For that, the Turkish government summoned
the Vatican's envoy in Ankara for a talking-to and recalled its
own ambassador to the Vatican for "consultation." Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that "the pope's statement,
which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis,
is simply unacceptable."
That's right: A full century after the mass killings by the Ottoman
Empire, the Turkish government continues to reject the documented
historical reality that Turkey was responsible for the first genocide
in what turned out to be a century of grotesque ethnic, religious
and political violence, from the Holocaust to the Cambodian killing
fields to the Rwandan genocide.
Turkey's disingenuous view compounds the original crime with the
insult of denial. (Turkey claims that most Armenian victims were
killed in a civil war, and that many Turks also perished at the hands
of Armenians.) Yet the U.S. government has been complicit in Turkey's
defiance, thanks primarily to a policy of realpolitik that calls for
deference to a strategic ally in an increasingly unstable region of
the world. That's why American presidents have repeatedly refused to
call the genocide a genocide.
Although Barack Obama promised as a candidate to "recognize the
Armenian genocide" if he became president, so far he (like his
predecessors) has avoided using that apparently too-blunt word in
annual statements condemning the "Meds Yeghern," as it's known in
Armenian. The farthest he's gone is to call the killings a "horror"
while reaffirming the U.S.
government's adherence "to the principle that such atrocities must
always be remembered if we are to prevent them from occurring ever
again."
But how can you remember if you won't acknowledge the facts? Obama
has said that "a full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts
is in all of our interests," yet he has continued to engage in a
diplomatic dance out of misdirected fidelity to an ally.
It's true that the U.S.-Turkey relationship is a very important one,
and one worth nurturing and protecting, but not at the expense of
denying history.
Strategically, Turkey needs U.S. support -- and weapons -- as much
as the United States needs a presence in the region (including its
Air Force base near Incirlik). This is a partnership based on mutual
interests, and we would hope that it would not be imperiled by an
insistence on truth.
The president should take a cue from Pope Francis and include the
word genocide in his annual message marking the carnage a century ago.
Enduring friendships require such honesty.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/14/u-s-should-call-armenian-genocide-by-its-name-la-times/