Heffern shares Administration’ stand in Armenian Genocide issue

July 14, 2011 - 11:05 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the nominee of John A. Heffern as an Ambassador to Republic of Armenia took place the day before.

“If confirmed, I would like to work on expanding the U.S.-Armenia trade relationship, building on the already strong connections between Americans and Armenians, to foster more trade and investment between our countries,” said Heffern in his statement.

“The Administration supports Armenia’s courageous steps to begin a process with Turkey to address their history, and to find a way to move forward together in a shared future of security and prosperity. Through the Minsk Process, the U.S. supports Armenia and Azerbaijan as they work toward a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said the Ambassador-Designate adding that the President has urged Turkey and Armenia to work through their painfulhistory to achieve a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts. Also, he has publicly called the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians at this time one of the worst atrocities of the 20th the century.

“If confirmed, I will do my best to fulfill the President’s vision. There is still a lot to do. And, I would continue the efforts of my most able predecessor, Ambassador Masha Yovanovitch,” Heffern said.

On April 24, National Day of Prayer for the victims of the Armenian Genocide, President Barack Obama again betrayed his pledge to properly condemn and commemorate this crime against humanity. Despite repeated, detailed, and unambiguous pledges to recognize the Armenian Genocide, the President Obama offered only euphemisms and evasive terminology to describe the murder of over 1.5 million men women and children - effectively keeping in place the gag rule imposed by the Turkish government on the open and honest discussion of this crime. In refusing, under foreign pressure from Turkey, to his honor his pledge, he again fell far short of his own view, as voiced during his campaign, that America deserves a President who uses the term "genocide" to convey the full factual, moral, legal, and contemporary political meaning of this crime against all humanity.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.