America Switches Its Allegiance to Armenia

[kskiska]

Right move for the wrong reasons (W's snit with Turkey). I have an Armenian grandfather I never knew (died in 1935). He fled Turkey for the U.S. several years before 1915 because the Turks massacred his family.

WASHINGTON - Some 88 years after one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered in Turkey in World War I, members of the Armenian community in the United States feel for the first time that it is possible American Congress will finally recognize the genocide they experienced.

A draft resolution that explicitly notes that what happened to the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the years 1915-1918 was a case of genocide has already won the endorsement of the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee and is currently in the process of obtaining preliminary endorsement from the Senate. While there were attempts in the past to win recognition of the Armenian genocide from American lawmakers, all were shot down by the administration and congress, which were consistently more attentive to Turkish rather than Armenian interests. Now, however, members of the Armenian diaspora believe their chances have improved, not because support for the Armenian cause has grown, but because of the anti-Turkish wave now sweeping over the United States since the war against Iraq.

(snip)

The Turkish government's official approach is also at variance with the number of Armenians who perished and claims that 1.5 million is a fantastic and impossible figure because at that time, there were not that many Armenians living in the Ottoman empire. They also claim that in trials held by Britain after the war in Malta, in which Turks were convicted of murdering Armenians, genocide was never proved. "It is unfair to call it genocide. We see it as a terrible result of war circumstances," states the Turkish diplomat.

more…
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=312774&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

[BuddhaGirl]

1. Well, it's about time!

Many other countries have recognized the horror that was the Armenian Genocide!

Turkey needs to stop the denial too. :-(

[alfredo]

2. It is amazing how quickly Bush

has turned allies into enemies. It will not be long before bush will screw the Armenians. If the Armenians want to stay in the good graces of the Bush Junta, they must do exactly as they are told.

So this bill is not out of concern for the Armenians, but to punish Turkey for looking out for their own best interests.

[SpiralHawk]

3. This will have profound ramifications.

You can bet your bippy on it.


"The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right thing, for the wrong reason." -- T.S. Elliot

[On the Road]

4. Woodrow Wilson Could Have Prevented It, Too

The British approached him about making Armenia an American protectorate, but Wilson didn't want any part of it. Maybe it was the right decision, maybe it wasn't anticipated, maybe it would have happened anyway, but there was a missed opportunity which carried a high cost in terms of lives.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. It's about damn time...

This needs to happen.

[davidinalameda]

6. "It is unfair to call it genocide."

so what the hell is the massacure of millions of people simply for their nationality?