A veteran diplomat lays out why previous administrations chose not to make the declaration — and why Biden’s choice is now the right one.

For Armenians around the world, April 24 is known as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a day to recall and mourn the victims of the massacre — genocide in fact — perpetuated by the Ottoman Empire against its ethnic Armenian citizens, starting in 1915. For eight years, first in the Bush administration, then in the Obama administration, I helped draft the U.S. government’s annual statements on that remembrance, none of which used the word “genocide” to characterize what took place.

The facts have long been known. The Armenian Genocide was among the first of the 20^th century’s genocidal horrors. U.N. bodies, Pope Francis, the European Parliament, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and many national governments (e.g., France) all recognized the Armenian Genocide. But successive U.S. administrations — Democratic and Republican — did not.

Until today. 

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” President Joe Biden said.

Why the long delay? Why did the U.S., champion of human rights, resist use of “the g-word” for so long? When I worked on this issue, my colleagues and I knew the facts of the killings. We did not deny that they were genocide. But we did not use genocide to describe them. We used terms like atrocities, mass killings, slaughter, and mass murder. Strong terms all, but not genocide.

There were two reasons why the U.S. took that position. One, long championed in the U.S. government, had to do with relations with Turkey, a staunch NATO ally during the Cold War and after. Turkey regarded any U.S. use of the word genocide as a redline in relations and made clear that using the term would trigger a harsh reaction. Given U.S. interests in relations with Turkey, particularly military and security relations, such Turkish warnings carried weight. Besides, the U.S. had for decades maintained its close alliance with Turkey despite that country’s authoritarian bent, including a pattern of military rule. The U.S. didn’t much like that but had learned to live with it. In that context, putting the bilateral relationship under stress for the sake of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, something some in the U.S. government regarded as a historical dispute, was simply not seen as worth it.

That sort of “realist school” calculation was common in U.S. government thinking for decades. Support for the Greek Colonels regime after 1967, for the authoritarian Shah of Iran, and for Chile’s military rule after 1973, followed that pattern of swallowing hard yet remaining allied with authoritarian countries. Trying to brush away the Armenian Genocide as an irritating distraction that could disrupt otherwise close U.S.-Turkish relations fit that model. It was the norm for U.S.-Turkey policy for many years. These sorts of calculations made a kind of sense at the time. But they often do not look good in retrospect. Hypocrisy has a price. 

I and my colleagues in the Bush administration had another, hopefully better, reason for avoiding use of the term Armenian Genocide: we wanted to encourage Turkey to come out of its shell of historical denial and hostility to Armenia; to find its own way to reconcile with Armenia and its own past.

This wasn’t just wishful thinking. Turkish-Armenian relations were and remain burdened by a lot of issues, including but not only the Armenian Genocide and Turkey’s refusal to look at the that dark chapter in the historical legacy of the Ottomans, but also by terrorism perpetuated against Turks by Armenian terrorist groups. And there is more. When the Soviet Union broke up and Armenia declared its independence, it fought a brief, successful war with another emerging country, Azerbaijan, Turkey’s friend and ethnic cousin, over the disputed Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited by a lot of Armenians. As a result of that war in the 1990s, Armenia ended up in effective control of Nagorno-Karabakh and its seven surrounding Azerbaijani regions. To support Azerbaijan, Turkey shut its border with Armenia. So, Armenia had not only its bitter historical experience with Turkey but a current dispute that would not yield to years of diplomacy (in which I also participated) and that left its land border with a NATO country and its best potential economic partner closed.

The U.S. government saw an opportunity for Turkey to make peace with its neighbors and at home emerging in the early years of the 21^st century. And it wanted to give Turkey the opportunity to own its history, not to have to react to a U.S. government statement acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. 

Starting in 2001, non-governmental Turks and Armenians joined in a reconciliation effort to try to deal with the past and build a better future. In 2002, the new AK Party swept to power in free elections and promised a deepened democracy and “zero problems with neighbors,” as the Turkish saying then went. Soon, the Turkish Foreign Ministry opened a confidential channel to Armenia, with Swiss help and quiet U.S. support, to pave the way for reconciliation, diplomatic relations, an open border, and a commission of historians to examine the past, including “The Great Calamity,” as the Armenian Genocide is often called in the Armenian language. By 2008, 

Starting in 2001, non-governmental Turks and Armenians joined in a reconciliation effort to try to deal with the past and build a better future. In 2002, the new AK Party swept to power in free elections and promised a deepened democracy and “zero problems with neighbors,” as the Turkish saying then went. Soon, the Turkish Foreign Ministry opened a confidential channel to Armenia, with Swiss help and quiet U.S. support, to pave the way for reconciliation, diplomatic relations, an open border, and a commission of historians to examine the past, including “The Great Calamity,” as the Armenian Genocide is often called in the Armenian language. By 2008, the Turks and Armenian negotiators had reached agreement on a text; by 2009, thanks to the able efforts of the Obama administration, they had signed it. 

But in the end Turkey — by far the stronger country — could not bring itself to ratify the agreement or otherwise act to reconcile with Armenia. Even though Turkish President Erdogan himself acknowledged in 2014 that the Ottoman treatment of the Armenians was “inhumane,” Turkey did not then or later open its border to Armenia. Senior Turks used to say that they could not do so with the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute pending, given the fierce resistance to any normalization from Azerbaijan. But the Turkish government — not shy about asserting itself — could have acted at some point. It did not. Nor has the Turkish government acted in the wake of renewed fighting last year between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in which Azerbaijan with Turkish help retook much of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Bush and Obama administrations showed what they thought was forbearance on genocide question. But that forbearance was not permanent. 

The Biden administration, with its stress on democracy and human rights as fundamentals, knew the record: years of efforts to urge the Turkish government to reach out to Armenia and to deal honestly with the Ottoman historical legacy. They would not return to the realist school calculation of the past. And temporary forbearance to encourage Turkey to do the right thing had run its course. So, they decided — finally — to do the right thing.

There will be a price in U.S.-Turkish relations. Hopefully, that will be temporary and not too costly. The US-Turkish relationship remains important. But a line has been crossed. The U.S. will no longer have to engage in elaborate linguistic contortions to remain honest with history and truth while maintaining its immediate interests with Turkey and the region. The Biden team has made a tough, potentially costly, but correct decision.

Source: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/24/inside-americas-long-handwringing-over-the-armenian-genocide-484547

Biden is the first US president to recognize the Armenian genocide — and Turkey isn’t happy. By Cameron Peters

President Joe Biden became the first US president to formally refer to atrocities committed against Armenians as a “genocide” on Saturday, 106 years after the 1915 start of an eight-year-long campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Ottoman Empire that left between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians dead.

Previous presidents have refrained from using the word “genocide” in connection with the mass atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the early 20th century, and Turkey categorically denies that a genocide took place. So Biden’s declaration marks a major break from precedent, and could signal an increase in tensions with Turkey, a longtime US and NATO ally.

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Biden said in a statement Saturday. “And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.”

The move is the fulfillment of a campaign promise for Biden, who pledged on April 24 last year to recognize the genocide if elected. It also comes on a symbolic date: April 24 is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, a holiday observed in Armenia and by members of the Armenian diaspora.

And it’s emblematic of the Biden administration’s desire to center human rights in its foreign policy agenda, even at the cost of worsening relations with Turkey.

Biden is the first US leader in decades to use the word “genocide” in connection with the events of 1915-1923. Previous presidents, including George W. Bush and Barack Obama, made similar campaign promises to recognize the Armenian genocide, but never followed through while in office, and Bush later called on Congress to reject such a designation. In 1981, Ronald Reagan made a passing reference to “the genocide of the Armenians” during a speech commemorating victims of the Holocaust.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, accidentally recognized the genocide last year when White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made reference to an “Armenian Genocide Memorial” in Denver, Colorado — but rejected nonbinding resolutions by the House and Senate to declare it such.

Both the House and Senate measures, though not approved by Trump, passed overwhelmingly in 2019, paving the way for Biden’s action on Saturday.

With the addition of the US on Saturday, 30 countries — including France, Germany, and Russia — now recognize the genocide, according to a list maintained by the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC.

Biden spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday ahead of the official US announcement. It was the first conversation between the two allied leaders since Biden took office more than three months ago, which some regional experts have taken as a sign of cooling relations between the countries. According to a readout of the call released by the White House, the leaders agreed to hold a bilateral meeting “on the margins of the NATO Summit in June.” And according to news reports — but not the readout — Biden told Erdogan of his intentions to recognize the genocide.

Saturday’s statement officially recognizing the genocide nonetheless elicited a harsh response from Turkey.

“We reject and denounce in the strongest terms the statement of the President of the US regarding the events of 1915 made under the pressure of radical Armenian circles and anti-Turkey groups on April 24,” Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that called on Biden to “correct this grave mistake.”

“This statement of the US … will never be accepted in the conscience of the Turkish people, and will open a deep wound that undermines our mutual friendship and trust,” the foreign ministry said.

Prominent Armenians, however, including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, welcomed the news on Saturday. Pashinyan tweeted a brief statement, and, in a letter to Biden, said that the president’s words both paid “tribute” to victims of the genocide and also would help to prevent “the recurrence of similar crimes against mankind.”

“I highly appreciate your principled position, which is a powerful step on the way to acknowledging the truth, historical justice, and an invaluable of support for the descendants of the victims of the Armenian Genocide,” he wrote.

American lawmakers also welcomed Biden’s decision. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, celebrated the statement in a tweet Saturday.

“Thankful that @POTUS will align with congressional & scholarly consensus,” Menendez wrote from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Twitter account. “As I said in 2019 when our resolution to recognize & commemorate the genocide passed the Senate, to overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation.”

Former Sen. Bob Dole, who advocated for recognition of the Armenian genocide throughout his career, also tweeted his appreciation for Biden’s words — alongside documents showing his own attempts at gaining recognition of the genocide in Congress in the 1970s and ’80s.

Catherine West MP has issued a statement on behalf of the Labour Party on the Armenian Genocide, the first time that a major political party in the UK has ever done so, reports the Armenian National Committee of UK.

“After an incredibly difficult year marked with loss and grieving the Armenian people are in my thoughts today as they mark the horrendous events of 1915,” she said.

“The atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the early part of the 20th century, are amongst the most appalling acts against a group of people the world has seen,” the MP added.

Labor stands with the Armenian people in condemning the historic and present acts against them,” Catherine West stated.

PRESS RELEASE  April 24, 2021

On Armenian Remembrance Day, President Biden issued a statement formally recognizing the genocide of Armenians that began on April 24, 1915. 

In response to the Biden administration’s formal recognition of the Armenian genocide, Freedom House issued the following statement:

“We applaud the Biden administration for its recognition of the Armenian genocide, and we hope that official recognition brings some relief to the millions of Armenians around the world whose ancestors were killed and displaced,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “An honest and truthful appraisal of the past allows us to fight against atrocities in the future and is critical for the health of democracy.”

“As we have said before, democracy is upheld by embracing diversity and pluralism, not suppressing it. This is true in Turkey and the South Caucasus just as it is true in the United States. Countries and societies are stronger when they confront their histories of racism, dispossession, and violence, and do not deny them.”

Armenia is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2021, Free in Freedom on the Net 2020, and is categorized as a Semi-Consolidated Authoritarian Regime in Nations in Transit 2020.

April 24, 2021 • Statements and Releases

Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring. Beginning on April 24, 1915, with the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople by Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of extermination. We honor the victims of the Meds Yeghern so that the horrors of what happened are never lost to history. And we remember so that we remain ever-vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms.
 
Of those who survived, most were forced to find new homes and new lives around the world, including in the United States. With strength and resilience, the Armenian people survived and rebuilt their community. Over the decades Armenian immigrants have enriched the United States in countless ways, but they have never forgotten the tragic history that brought so many of their ancestors to our shores. We honor their story. We see that pain. We affirm the history. We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.
 
Today, as we mourn what was lost, let us also turn our eyes to the future—toward the world that we wish to build for our children. A world unstained by the daily evils of bigotry and intolerance, where human rights are respected, and where all people are able to pursue their lives in dignity and security. Let us renew our shared resolve to prevent future atrocities from occurring anywhere in the world. And let us pursue healing and reconciliation for all the people of the world. 
 
The American people honor all those Armenians who perished in the genocide that began 106 years ago today.

Source: https://gagrule.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=87414&action=edit

The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, issued a statement on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, also known as Medz Yeghern. ARMENPRESS reports, citing the official website of the Canadian PM, Trudeau particularly said in his statement,

“Today on Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, we join Armenian communities in Canada and around the world to remember those who lost their lives and who suffered from the senseless acts wrought upon the Armenian people. We also honour their descendants and all those who continue to live with the pain, trauma, and loss from this tragedy.

“The Armenian genocide showed the world the unconscionable cost of division, exclusion, and hatred. Canada vigorously opposes and condemns hate, intolerance, and xenophobia. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to the fundamental rights and dignity of all human beings, and commit to continue working with our partners to make sure atrocities like these never happen again.

“We continue to be inspired by the strength and spirit of the Armenian people in the face of unimaginable hardship, and look forward with hope to a more peaceful, just tomorrow.

“On this sombre anniversary, I invite all Canadians to pause to remember the victims and those who survived the horrors of the Armenian genocide. We will continue to honour them by fighting hate, protecting the most vulnerable, and working to make our world a better one.”

Historic statement will likely exacerbate tensions with Turkey, whose relationship with the U.S. has deteriorated in recent years

WASHINGTON—President Biden formally declared the massacres of Armenians in the early 20th century to be genocide, fulfilling a campaign promise to Armenian-Americans and others who have sought such an official acknowledgment for decades.

Mr. Biden’s declaration Saturday is the first such formal statement by a sitting U.S. president and will likely exacerbate growing tensions with Turkey, which denies that the killings of Armenians between 1915 and 1923, under the Ottoman Empire, constituted genocide.

The declaration came as part of a statement prepared for Saturday’s day of remembrance, an annual commemoration held by Armenians in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocide and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring,” Mr. Biden said in the statement. “We do this not to cast blame but to ensure that what happened is never repeated.”

Mr. Biden informed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the decision on Friday during the first call between the two leaders since Mr. Biden’s inauguration, a senior administration official said.

The official said Mr. Biden’s decision showed the U.S. focus on international human rights, adding that the statement was intended more for the victims rather than for assigning blame. The official said the two presidents plan to meet in June on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in the U.K. to address a range of differences.

Turkey objects to the use of the term “genocide,” arguing that the Armenians revolted and sided with invading Russian forces, and that both sides suffered casualties.

The Turkish government said Mr. Erdogan discussed “so-called Armenian genocide slander” at a meeting Thursday, and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Haberturk television on Tuesday that a declaration by Mr. Biden would only harm ties.

The term has been widely accepted by historians, governments and international organizations in reference to the Ottoman Empire’s treatment of Armenians and members of other ethnic and religious minorities from 1915 to 1923.

In recent years, ties between the U.S. and Turkey, a fellow NATO member, have deteriorated over Ankara’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air-defense system, as well as human- and civil-rights issues under Mr. Erdogan and Turkey’s role in several regional conflicts.

Under pressure from Congress, the Trump administration imposed sanctions against Turkish government entities over the acquisition of the S-400, which Pentagon officials said could be used to collect intelligence on the F-35 stealth jet fighters that Turkey was due to buy, and removed Ankara from participation in the U.S.-led F-35 stealth jet fighter program.

Congress in 2019 overwhelmingly passed nonbinding resolutions in the House and Senate calling the 1915 actions a genocide.

Analysts said Ankara could respond by calling attention to the treatment of Native Americans by European settlers, mounting a diplomatic protest or erecting informal barriers to U.S. exports. If tensions escalate, Turkey could bar U.S. forces from using the country’s Incirlik air base.

U.S. support for Kurdish militants fighting Islamic State in Syria has also alienated the Turkish government in recent years as the fighters belong to an offshoot of an organization that is labeled a terrorist group by both Washington and Ankara.

On Saturday, the Turkish government said the country’s forces launched a military operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. State broadcaster TRT said the operation, which began Friday night and focused on the Matina region just south of the Turkey-Iraq border, including helicopters and F-16 fighter jets.

Mr. Erdogan, who was in contact with the command center for the operation, said “many terrorists have been neutralized” in the offensive against militant hideouts in the region, according to Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu. Kurdish media also reported Turkish shelling in the area. The claims of casualties could not be immediately verified.

James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and senior official in the Obama and Trump administrations, said the question of genocide recognition has long been the subject of a debate within the U.S. government.

“Those of us who always argued that for geopolitical reasons we shouldn’t do it knew that sooner or later a president would do it,” he said of the decision to recognize the genocide.

As a result of years of tensions, U.S.-Turkey ties might now be damaged beyond repair, some observers of the relationship said.

yprus will continue the efforts for achieving the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the international community, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Twitter.

“Today is the day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide victims. We feel pain for their sacrifice. We are firmly attached to our Armenian brothers who live here, in our homeland. We will continue the efforts for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the international community”, the Cypriot President said.