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U.S. Congressmen seek letter urging Trump to commemorate Genocide

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The leadership of the Congressional Armenian Caucus on Monday, February 13 called on their U.S. House colleagues to join with them in a bipartisan request that President Donald Trump honestly and accurately commemorate the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Visit anca.org/genocide to add your voice to the Congressional Armenian Caucus in calling upon President Trump to reject Turkey’s gag-rule against an honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

“This is a vital moment. At the start of this new and disruptive era, we have an opportunity to help America break bad habits that have, for far too long, held America hostage to the irrational dictates of foreign governments. So, please, take action today and then encourage your friends and family to join you in asking their U.S. Representatives to co-sign this Congressional letter.”

In a “Dear Colleague” letter to U.S. Representatives, Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Trott (R-MI) and David Valadao (R-CA) as well as Vice-Chairs Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) explained “there is no debate that an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were massacred in the first genocide of the 20th century. The United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, documented the Genocide and raised significant funds to help the Armenian people in its aftermath.” Their letter went on to state that “A Presidential recognition would pay tribute to the lives lost, the perseverance and determination of those who survived, and to the many Americans of Armenian descent who have strengthened our country to this day.”

In their letter addressed to President Trump, Members of Congress will note that Presidential action on this matter would be an extension of previous affirmation by the executive and legislative branches of government, including “President Reagan, who recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1981, and the Eisenhower Administration, which did the same in a 1951 submission to the International Court of Justice. The House of Representatives has also commemorated the Armenian Genocide in 1984.”

The ANCA has launched a nationwide online letter writing and calling campaign urging Members of Congress to co-sign the Armenian Caucus letter to President Trump.

U.S. Congressmen hold press conference on Kessab (video) #savekessab

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PanARMENIAN.Net – With the U.S. Capitol looming large in the background, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) led a Congressional press conference condemning the forced 177801depopulation of the historically Armenian city of Kessab, Syria by al Qaeda affiliated terrorists aided and abetted by neighboring Turkey, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

Congressman Schiff was joined by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and Brad Sherman (D-CA), as well as ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian in calling for increased U.S. leadership in assisting those displaced and investigating Turkey’s role in facilitating the attack.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian thanked each of the legislators taking part in the news conference, stressing that: “These attacks came from Turkey, with the clear support of the Turkish military. We should have a zero-tolerance policy for any NATO ally working with Al-Qaeda-linked groups to attack religious minorities. It’s for this reason, that we support calls upon the House and Senate intelligence committees to investigate Turkey’s role in the attack on Kessab. We deserve to know if our allies – and possibly our arms – are being turned against Christians in the Middle East,” concluded Hamparian.

“Since the war began, I have continually raised my concern over the dangers facing Syrians of Armenian descent and other Christians,” explained Rep. Schiff. “I have spoken to the President about this directly, questioned our ambassador to the United Nations about this just last week, and urged the Appropriations Committee, on which I sit, to devote time, attention and resources to aiding Syria’s Christian community. In fact, this afternoon, I will be asking USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah about our efforts to reach the Christian communities still inside Syria.” Rep. Schiff went on to point out that “Many of the residents of Kessab are descendants of victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. There is particular poignancy to their being targeted in this manner, almost a century after the start of the genocide.”

Rep. Sherman was direct in his call for an investigation into Turkey’s role in the Kessab attacks. “I want to join with several of my colleagues in urging that the intelligence community and the State Department provide a classified briefing on what was Turkey’s role in assisting and providing shelter to al Qaeda linked terrorists who carried out this ethnic cleansing of the town of Kessab,” explained Rep. Sherman. “I also urge the State Department to go further than acknowledging a terrible situation and provide us with a clear, and I think it would have to be classified, description of how an Al-Qaeda linked group was able to enter Syria from Turkey, on a mission of ethnic cleansing, ” concluded Rep. Sherman.

“Over the past three years, the Syrian Christians have paid a high price in this civil war, and up until the last month, Kessab has been a safe haven for those seeking refuge,” noted Rep. Costa. “What’s even more troubling for me is the reports that the Turkish government has aided these terrorists by supplying them military support and supplies. And that’s why, I think it is incumbent upon those of us in Congress who care deeply about this issue, to provide the leadership, to speak out, and to ensure that our government provides the accountability necessary to get to the bottom of this.”

“I can’t help but think, ‘here we are again,” began Rep. Anna Eshoo. “Wherever there has been war across the Middle East, Christians have been targeted and have suffered enormously. And the recent rebel assault on the northern Syrian town of Kessab is yet another sad, sad chapter in what is taking place in the Middle East. And make no mistake, these communities, in this case the Armenians, are targeted because they are Christians and now they are residents on the chessboard of international politics. And as we anticipate almost the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide – it’s like ripping a scab off a wound. It runs very deep, it runs very broad,” concluded Congresswoman Eshoo.

“We see time and time again that it is the Christian minority, including the Armenian community, that is especially vulnerable,” noted Rep. Chu. “This was made tragically clear last month when Islamic militants from Turkey crossed the Syrian Turkish border and attacked the community in Kessab. It’s a city of refuge for Armenians fleeing the Armenian Genocide. It’s where Armenian Genocide survivors started a new life. This city served as a refuge for Syrian Armenians escaping the violence in Aleppo. Seeing this violence now is an unspeakable tragedy. […] Let’s return Kessab to a place of hope that it has been for the Armenian community for so many years,” concluded Rep. Chu.

“I think the U.S. has to be more involved in providing more help for not only Armenians but other Christians in Syria who are basically being harassed and persecuted and forced from their homes, because of the civil war,” explained Congressman Pallone. “One of the things that we did was that we wrote to the Appropriators and asked that sufficient help be given to the Armenians and other Christians for humanitarian purposes, because we know that while this incident, Kessab, is probably the most horrendous right now, there are other Armenians and Christians throughout Syria that had to flee their homes, that had been killed, and subject to loss of property and all sorts of other problems because of the civil war.”