U.S. Congressmen condemn Turkey's threats

April 6, 2010 - 13:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Congressmen Jim Costa (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) have spoken out forcefully against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chilling warning - clearly intended to intimidate Armenia by raising the specter of 1915 - that Ankara may respond to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide by launching a new wave of deportations of Armenians living in Turkey, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"Prime Minister Erdogan's cruel threat to expel Armenians from Turkey as punishment for the House Foreign Affairs Committee's recent markup of my Armenian Genocide commemoration resolution is the latest example of a longstanding policy of using Armenians as 'human shields' in Ankara's campaign of genocide denial," said Congressman Schiff, the lead author of the Armenian Genocide Resolution. "Ninety-five years after Ottoman troops forced marched hundreds of thousands of Armenians through the desert and to their deaths, Erdogan's comments add a new measure of cruelty towards the survivors and their families."

"Turkey's threat of deportation against Armenian migrants, whether documented or undocumented, is irresponsible, especially considering that Armenia-Turkey relations continue to be haunted by the Armenian Genocide," said Congressman Costa, a leading member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"Congressman Costa and Schiff's powerful and principled comments condemning Prime Minister Erdogan's threats to deport Armenians stand in sharp contrast to the State Department's strained and, frankly implausible, efforts to somehow dismiss Ankara's chilling warnings as a simple immigration issue," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "Erdogan's comments were clear, as was his obvious intention to use the specter of 1915 to intimidate the Armenian people."

Earlier today, noted columnist Christopher Hitchens explained that Erdogan's threat was akin to the Turkish leader saying: "If democratic assemblies dare to mention the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the 20th century, I will personally complete that cleansing in the 21st!" He was also sharply critical of the U.S. silence in response to this ominous warning.

In recent weeks, the London Times has called Turkey's threats to expel Armenians "unconscionable" and "shameful," and The London Daily News noted Turkey was "entering the dark ages mode."

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.