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OP-ED: IT'S TIME FOR OBAMA TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
The Patch
April 16 2015
A Bedford Man issued an essay in light of the upcoming centennial
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
By Barry Thompson
The following op-ed was sent to Bedford Patch by Robert Kalantari,
of 8 Donovan Dr., Bedford:
President Obama, during his 2008 campaign told the world, "My firmly
held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a
personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence."
"The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats
to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy," Obama wrote.
"As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
Armenian People in the United States and around the world are still
waiting for the president to fulfill his promise.
Speaking at the Mass on Sunday April 12, 2015, Pope Francis defined
the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians as "the first genocide of the
20th century," quoting the statement made by John Paul II. He continued
his speech acknowledging the other genocides of the 20th century.
"The remaining two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism," Francis
said. "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia."
Pope Francis said it was "necessary, and indeed a duty," to remember
the Armenians killed, "for whenever memory fades, it means that evil
allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like allowing
a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!"
In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion a plan to
expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. By the
early 1920's, when the massacres and deportations finally ended,
some 1.5 million of Turkey's Armenians were dead, with many more
forcibly removed from the country.
As David Fromkin put it in his widely praised history of World War
I and its aftermath in the text, "A Peace to End All Peace"; "Rape
and beating were commonplace. Those who were not killed at once were
driven through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians eventually succumbed or were
killed."
The man who invented the word "genocide" Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of
Polish-Jewish origin was moved to investigate the attempt to eliminate
an entire people by accounts of the massacres of Armenians. He coined
the term "genocide" in 1943, applying it to Nazi Germany and the Jews
in a book published a year later, "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe."
Today, most historians, including numerous Turkish historians and
scholars call this event genocide. However, the Turkish government
does not acknowledge these mass killings as genocide, and in fact they
have passed a law that criminalizes any mention of Armenian genocide
in Turkey. Sadly enough, our own government has not acknowledged
this crime as genocide, in spite of the fact that over 20 counties,
the Vatican, and 43 out of 50 states have officially recognized this
event and genocide.
In the past 30 years several bills to recognize the Armenian genocide
have been introduced by the congress, but none have passed. A similar
bill was recently introduced in 2009. However, once again, our leader
then and now, President Barack Obama and the Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton campaigned so hard to prevent the US Congress
acknowledging that the Ottoman Turkish massacre of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide.
When Hillary Clinton was in the senate, she had cosponsored successive
Armenian Genocide resolutions since 2002. But responding to a
question from a participant of a Town Hall Meeting on January 28,
2012 in CA she said, recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US
"opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through." This is
the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would
recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.
The rational for such an irresponsible act by our current and past
leaders, (with the exception of President Ronald Reagan, who did in
his speech mentioned genocide) is that if the U.S. acknowledges the
Armenian genocide, then Turkey, "our ally" will retaliate and not help
the U.S. in the region. Based on the past, we all know that Turkey
has always shown their true colors and have not supported any U.S.
missions in the area.
As we all know, history will repeat itself if crimes are not punished
and acknowledged. Turkey did not punish the perpetrators of this
crime when it happened, and they have not recognized this horrific
crime. An unrecognized crime is a repeated crime.
April 24 is the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the
first genocide of the 20th century. World leaders, who care about
preventing such crimes, will gather in Armenia to commemorate the
anniversary of this sad, unpunished crime forgotten by some nations.
We hope the 100 year anniversary will open the eyes of those who care
about the human race. We hope that once and for all there will be
acknowledgement and recognition of this crime as genocide and more
importantly for Turkey to accept the evil crime of their past. As
Pope Francis said, "Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a
wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!"
To find out more about this horrific event, please search the web
about the Armenian Genocide.
http://patch.com/massachusetts/bedford-ma/op-ed-its-time-obama-recognize-armenian-genocide
The Patch
April 16 2015
A Bedford Man issued an essay in light of the upcoming centennial
anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
By Barry Thompson
The following op-ed was sent to Bedford Patch by Robert Kalantari,
of 8 Donovan Dr., Bedford:
President Obama, during his 2008 campaign told the world, "My firmly
held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a
personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence."
"The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats
to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy," Obama wrote.
"As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide."
Armenian People in the United States and around the world are still
waiting for the president to fulfill his promise.
Speaking at the Mass on Sunday April 12, 2015, Pope Francis defined
the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians as "the first genocide of the
20th century," quoting the statement made by John Paul II. He continued
his speech acknowledging the other genocides of the 20th century.
"The remaining two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism," Francis
said. "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like
those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia."
Pope Francis said it was "necessary, and indeed a duty," to remember
the Armenians killed, "for whenever memory fades, it means that evil
allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like allowing
a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!"
In 1915, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion a plan to
expel and massacre Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. By the
early 1920's, when the massacres and deportations finally ended,
some 1.5 million of Turkey's Armenians were dead, with many more
forcibly removed from the country.
As David Fromkin put it in his widely praised history of World War
I and its aftermath in the text, "A Peace to End All Peace"; "Rape
and beating were commonplace. Those who were not killed at once were
driven through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians eventually succumbed or were
killed."
The man who invented the word "genocide" Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of
Polish-Jewish origin was moved to investigate the attempt to eliminate
an entire people by accounts of the massacres of Armenians. He coined
the term "genocide" in 1943, applying it to Nazi Germany and the Jews
in a book published a year later, "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe."
Today, most historians, including numerous Turkish historians and
scholars call this event genocide. However, the Turkish government
does not acknowledge these mass killings as genocide, and in fact they
have passed a law that criminalizes any mention of Armenian genocide
in Turkey. Sadly enough, our own government has not acknowledged
this crime as genocide, in spite of the fact that over 20 counties,
the Vatican, and 43 out of 50 states have officially recognized this
event and genocide.
In the past 30 years several bills to recognize the Armenian genocide
have been introduced by the congress, but none have passed. A similar
bill was recently introduced in 2009. However, once again, our leader
then and now, President Barack Obama and the Secretary of State,
Hillary Clinton campaigned so hard to prevent the US Congress
acknowledging that the Ottoman Turkish massacre of 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide.
When Hillary Clinton was in the senate, she had cosponsored successive
Armenian Genocide resolutions since 2002. But responding to a
question from a participant of a Town Hall Meeting on January 28,
2012 in CA she said, recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the US
"opens a door that is a very dangerous one to go through." This is
the same Hillary Clinton who, four years ago, pledged that she would
recognize the Genocide as President of the United States.
The rational for such an irresponsible act by our current and past
leaders, (with the exception of President Ronald Reagan, who did in
his speech mentioned genocide) is that if the U.S. acknowledges the
Armenian genocide, then Turkey, "our ally" will retaliate and not help
the U.S. in the region. Based on the past, we all know that Turkey
has always shown their true colors and have not supported any U.S.
missions in the area.
As we all know, history will repeat itself if crimes are not punished
and acknowledged. Turkey did not punish the perpetrators of this
crime when it happened, and they have not recognized this horrific
crime. An unrecognized crime is a repeated crime.
April 24 is the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the
first genocide of the 20th century. World leaders, who care about
preventing such crimes, will gather in Armenia to commemorate the
anniversary of this sad, unpunished crime forgotten by some nations.
We hope the 100 year anniversary will open the eyes of those who care
about the human race. We hope that once and for all there will be
acknowledgement and recognition of this crime as genocide and more
importantly for Turkey to accept the evil crime of their past. As
Pope Francis said, "Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a
wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!"
To find out more about this horrific event, please search the web
about the Armenian Genocide.
http://patch.com/massachusetts/bedford-ma/op-ed-its-time-obama-recognize-armenian-genocide