AAA again calls on Bush administration to acknowledge Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - On the heels of President George W. Bush's announcement of Marie L. Yovanovitch and James F. Jeffrey to serve as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republics of Armenia and Turkey, respectively, the Armenian Assembly of America calls attention to a U.S. filing with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the United Nations Genocide Convention squarely acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as a crime.



As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from the AAA, the document reads in part:



"The Genocide Convention resulted from the inhuman and barbarous practices which prevailed in certain countries prior to and during World War II, when entire religious, racial and national minority groups were threatened with and subjected to deliberate extermination. The practice of genocide has occurred throughout human history. The Roman persecution of the Christians, the Turkish massacres of Armenians, the extermination of millions of Jews and Poles by the Nazis are outstanding examples of the crime of genocide."



Moreover, this 1951 document recently discussed by leading genocide legal authority Professor William A. Schabas of The Irish Centre of Human Rights also reads:



"This was the background when the General Assembly of the United Nations considered the problem of genocide. Not once, but twice, that body declared unanimously that the practice of genocide is criminal under international law and that States ought to take steps to prevent and punish genocide."



"Professor Schabas has reminded us again of the historic American record of affirmation," said Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "Now the Bush Administration has an opportunity to utilize the confirmation process to ensure that Turkey's ongoing denial campaign is squarely confronted."



"Furthermore and in particular," Ardouny added, "the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey has a unique opportunity to follow in the tradition of Ambassador Henry Morgenthau to ensure that universal principles of human rights are adhered to, and that minorities in Turkey are protected not persecuted."



Yovanovitch, a career member of the Foreign Service, currently serves as Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic. Prior to this, she served as Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the Department of State. Earlier in her career, she served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kiev. Yovanovitch received her bachelor's degree from Princeton University and her master's degree from the National War College.



Jeffrey, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor at the White House. Prior to this, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Earlier in his career, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Baghdad, United States Ambassador to Albania, and three other assignments in Turkey. Ambassador Jeffrey received his bachelor's degree from Northeastern University and his master's degree from Boston University.



The Assembly anticipates a vigorous confirmation process. Last Ambassador to Armenia John Evans was forced out due to his public acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide.