143 Congressmen co-sponsor Armenian Genocide resolution

June 16, 2010 - 12:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) began circulating a Dear Colleague letter, urging fellow Members to sign on as co-sponsors of H. Res. 252, the Affirmation of the U.S. Record on the Armenian Genocide, introduced by Rep. Schiff to recognize, commemorate and properly characterize the murder of 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children as genocide.

“For too long, the United States has given in to Turkey’s bullying and efforts to recognize the victims of the genocide have fallen short,” Rep. Schiff writes in the letter. “Preservation of the bilateral relationship has been allowed to supersede our moral duty to memorialize and honor those who died, and to comfort their descendants – our constituents – who fear that the first genocide of the Twentieth Century will be lost to history.”

While the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by more than 20 nations including Canada, Italy, Sweden, France, Argentina and Russia, as well as the European Parliament, it has not been formally recognized by the U.S. Congress in decades. Currently, 143 Members have signed on as co-sponsors to honor the victims of the Armenian Genocide, Rep. Schiff’s office told PanARMENIAN.Net

“Given Turkey’s recent behavior, this Congress needs to reevaluate whether we should continue to dishonor the dead to placate a false friend,” Rep. Schiff continues in the letter. “Now is the time to reassert our moral leadership in the fight against genocide, to honor the memory of a million and a half innocent men, women and children.”

The Armenian Genocide resolution

The resolution affirming the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide (H.Res.252) was formally introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-CA), George Radanovich (R.-CA), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D.-NJ), and Mark Kirk (R.-Ill). On March 4, 2010 it was adopted with a 22-21 vote by the House Committee on Foreign Relations. A similar resolution was introduced in the Senate.

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.