Howard Berman criticizes lawmakers who opposed Armenian Genocide resolution

April 19, 2010 - 20:28 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - In an April 13 letter, Rep. Howard Berman chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, criticized lawmakers who opposed Armenian Genocide resolution. Berman, a long-time backer of the measure, called some of the arguments being made against the resolution as "morally-blind."

I disagree with many points in the letter, but I take particularly strong exception to the use of the phrase 'so-called 'Armenian Genocide Resolution,'' which casts doubt on the historicity of the Armenian Genocide. In doing so, it flies in the face of the overwhelming weight of unimpeachable historical evidence and the virtually unanimous opinion of genocide scholars," Berman writes in his Dear Colleague letter.

The California Democrat was referring to another Dear Colleague letter, this one dated March 29 and signed by Reps. Steve Cohen Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), the three co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on U.S.-Turkish Relations. In their letter, the three lawmakers asked their peers to call on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to not let the resolution come up for a floor vote.

A spokeswoman for one of the members said it seemed as if Berman misread their letter. "The chairman's entire letter seems to emanate from a misreading of the words he referenced. The words 'so called' modify or refer to 'Resolution' - not to 'Armenian Genocide' - hence, the 'so called Resolution' or the 'so called Armenian Genocide Resolution,'" said Whitfield spokeswoman Kristin Walker.

Walker also said the letter has not been released to Pelosi yet and has more than 20 lawmakers signing onto it so far.

In their letter, the three members argue the resolution will cause "irrevocable harm" to U.S. foreign policy as well as "derail" the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia, which has been helped along by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, if it is voted on by the full House. They also believe the measure could hurt the U.S. economy, considering the more than $10 billion shipped to Turkey in U.S. exports each year.

In his response, Berman takes issue with all of the Turkish Caucus leaders' points, saying that Turkey would not give up seeing U.S. intelligence on anti-Turkey militants in Iraq or forgo U.S. investment because of the measure. He also believes the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey has stalled not because of the U.S. resolution but because disagreements both sides have had on the deal instead.

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.