WASHINGTON– US Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Tuesday began
circulating a Dear Colleague letter, urging fellow House Members
to sign on as co-sponsors of H. Res. 252, the Affirmation of the
U.S. Record on the Armenian Genocide, introduced by him to
recognize, commemorate and properly characterize the murder of
1.5 million Armenian men, women and children during World War I
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 said 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.
“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.”
In an
ongoing effort to parallel H. Res. 252 to recognize and
commemorate the Armenian Genocide, Rep. Schiff is also calling
on survivors of the genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire
from 1915 to 1923, as well as their family members and
descendants, to submit their stories and memories for inclusion
into the Congressional Record. To contribute to Rep. Schiff’s
Armenian Genocide Congressional Record Project, send your
family’s story to Mary Hovagimian in Rep. Schiff’s Pasadena
office at
mary.hovagimian@mail.house.gov.
Below
is the full text of the Dear Colleague letter that Rep. Schiff
sent to his fellow Members of Congress today:
From: The Honorable Adam B. Schiff
Sent By:
timothy.bergreen@mail.house.gov
Bill: H.Res. 252
Date: 6/15/2010
NOW
IS THE TIME TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
AS
TURKEY SIDES WITH IRAN, WHY DEFEND ITS CAMPAIGN OF GENOCIDE
DENIAL?
-
Join 143 Members in Honoring the Victims of the Armenian
Genocide -
Dear Colleague:
Ninety-five years ago, the Government of the Ottoman Empire
initiated a campaign of extermination against the Armenian
people. Hundreds of thousands were murdered outright. Others
died on forced marches through the searing heat of the deserts
of modern-day Syria. Families, towns and communities
disappeared in an orgy of collective blood-lust carried out by
the Ottoman government. By the time that the killings ended in
1923, one and a half million Armenians were dead and the
world’s oldest Christian nation had been shattered – with its
survivors scattered around the world.
Although there is near unanimity among historians that the
events of 1915-23 constitute genocide, the government of the
modern Republic of Turkey steadfastly denies that the mass
murders carried out by its predecessor was genocide and
threatens any nation or group of nations that recognizes it as
such. For too long, the United States has given in to Turkey’s
bullying and Congressional efforts to recognize the victims of
the genocide have fallen short.
Every Member of Congress, past and present, who has reviewed
the facts, who has reviewed the State Department cables and
other documentary evidence in our National Archives, who has
read the contemporary newspaper accounts of the horrors
visited upon the Armenian people, knows that this was
genocide. But year after year, proponents of Congressional
recognition of the Armenian Genocide have been told “now is
not the time.” 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.
Given Turkey’s recent behavior, this Congress needs to
reevaluate whether we should continue to dishonor the dead to
placate a false friend. While many Americans remember Turkey’s
refusal to allow coalition forces to enter Iraq from its
territory in 2003, Ankara’s refusal to assist American forces
has grown to embrace an agenda that is at odds with our own.
Turkey has become one of Iran’s primary defenders and
apologists. Last fall, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan told an
interviewer said of Iran’s bellicose president Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, “There is no doubt he is our friend.”
Recently, Turkey and Brazil tried to frustrate months of
careful diplomacy at the United Nations by announcing a sham
nuclear deal with Iran that would have allowed the Iranians to
continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons. When the
international community, including Russia and China, pressed
ahead with a new round of sanctions, Turkey was one of only
two votes against the plan in the Security Council.
Turkey has also turned on its ally, Israel. The two countries
used to enjoy close relations, but under the government of
Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkey has launched numerous
rhetorical fusillades against Israel. Erdogan, who in the past
has talked of the “Jewish controlled international media,” has
called Israel the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East.
Turkey was the main instigator of the recent “Gaza flotilla”
and, thus, bears responsibility for the tragic events of May
31.
Ankara supports Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir,
whose government perpetrated the Darfur genocide and who once
harbored Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership. Bashir,
who recently was declared the winner of an election widely
seen as rigged, is the only sitting head of state wanted by
the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
This is not the behavior one expects from a friend, and Turkey
can no longer be allowed to work against us in numerous
international fora, but then assert that our “alliance” cannot
withstand an expression of remembrance for one and a half
million souls.
Amazingly, a handful of Genocide survivors is still with us.
The youngest of them are in their nineties and they have only
one wish – to see their families’ suffering properly
memorialized in their lifetimes. Now is the time to reassert
our moral leadership in the fight against genocide, and to
honor the memory of a million and a half innocent men, women
and children.
I
urge you to join me in fulfilling our obligation to remember.
To cosponsor H. Res. 252, please contact Tim Bergreen of my
staff at 5.4176 or at Timothy.Bergreen@mail.house.gov.
Sincerely,
ADAM B. SCHIFF
Member of Congress
