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In 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire launched the first genocide of the 20th century – the Armenian Genocide. By the time the atrocities ended in 1923, 1.5 million men, women, and children had been killed. Since then, despite overwhelming historical evidence, the Ottoman Empire’s successor – Turkey – has maintained a decades-long policy of refusing to accept responsibility for the acts of its predecessor government, and actively obstructing any attempt by the American government or other nations to recognize what happened to the Armenian people for what it was: genocide. Turkey’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide exacerbates underlying tensions in that region, and undermines foundations for durable peace and security.
For the 100th anniversary of this horrific event, I joined with colleagues from both parties to introduce H. Res. 154, which called on the President of the United States to work toward the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgement of the facts and consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this crime against humanity. 42 states and 11 of our NATO allies have already stood together in recognizing the Armenian genocide and standing against genocide denial. This bipartisan resolution would ensure that the U.S. government stands with them and with the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
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HRES 154 IH
Whereas the Obama Administration has, since early 2009, sought to improve Armenian-Turkish relations through diplomatic efforts to lift the Republic of Turkey’s block-ade of Armenia and facilitate an end to Ankara’s refusal to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan; Whereas at the start of this process, President Barack Obama had, on April 6, 2009, voiced the United States Government’s expectation that Armenia-Turkey dialogue would ‘‘bear fruit very quickly’’, but that, since then, the Obama Administration has commended Armenia’s par-ticipation in this dialogue while holding Turkey largely responsible for the lack of results from this process, with the Secretary of State noting, on June 4, 2012, that, on this matter, ‘‘the ball remains in Turkey’s court.’’; Whereas on April 24, 2013, President Barack Obama stated, ‘‘A full, frank, and just acknowledgment of the facts is in all of our interests. Nations grow stronger by acknowl-edging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, thereby building a foundation for a more just and toler-ant future.’’; Whereas the Republic of Turkey, rather than acknowledging and reckoning with painful elements of the past, has es-calated its international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial, maintained its blockade of Armenia, and increased its pressure on the small but growing Turkish civil soci-ety movement acknowledging the Armenian Genocide and seeking justice for this systematic campaign of destruc-tion of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Pontians, Syriacs, and other Christians upon their bib-lical-era homelands; Whereas the United States is on record as having officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, in the United States
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HRES 154 IH
Government’s May 28, 1951, written statement to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Geno-cide, through President Ronald Reagan’s April 22, 1981, Proclamation No. 4838, and by Congressional legislation, including House Joint Resolution 148 adopted on April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247 adopted on September 10, 1984; Whereas even prior to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the United States has a record of having sought to justly and constructively address the consequences of the Ottoman Empire’s inten-tional destruction of the Armenian people, including through Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 adopted on February 9, 1916, Senate Resolution 359 adopted on May 11, 1920, and President Woodrow Wilson’s Decision of the President of the United States of America Re-specting the Frontier between Turkey and Armenia, Ac-cess for Armenia to the Sea, and the Demilitarization of Turkish Territory Adjacent to the Armenian Frontier, dated November 22, 1920; Whereas President Barack Obama entered office having stat-ed his ‘‘firmly held conviction that the Armenian Geno-cide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence’’, affirmed his record of ‘‘calling for Turkey’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide’’, and pledged that ‘‘as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide’’; and Whereas the United States national interests in the establish-ment of equitable, constructive, stable, and durable rela-tions between Armenians and Turks cannot be meaning-
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HRES 154 IH
fully advanced by circumventing or otherwise seeking to avoid materially addressing the central political, legal, se-curity, and moral issue between these two nations, Tur-key’s denial of truth and justice for the Armenian Geno-cide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
That the House of Representatives calls on
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the President to work toward equitable, constructive, sta-
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ble, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations based upon
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the Republic of Turkey’s full acknowledgment of the facts
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and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, and
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a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of
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this crime against humanity.
Source: http://dold.house.gov/genocide