TURKISH DIPLOMAT: US MAY RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN OCTOBER
by Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com
April 27 2010
SC
A diplomat, working for the Turkey’s Foreign Office tells Hurriyet
that Armenian Americans have a good chance to have the Armenian
Genocide resolution passed in the United States Congress and Senate
this October.
Hurriyet, one of the leading daily newspapers in Turkey, that also
publishes in English, does not reveal the name of the diplomat.
However, Umit Enginsoy does write that according to one Turkish
diplomat, who spoke over the weekend, Armenian-Americans and their
supporters in Congress "think they next have a chance in October,
a few weeks before the hotly contested elections for the House of
Representatives and the Senate."
While the identity of the diplomat is not revealed what is sad does
make sense and worthy of analysis. Especially when you put next to what
President Barack Obama said in his April 24th message commemorating
the Armenian Genocide.
Midterm elections are coming up in November of 2010. As many Armenian
Americans are not satisfied with President Barack Obama’s annual April
24 message for avoiding to use the term genocide, many Republican
candidates may want to explore this opportunity to get the votes of
the powerful U.S. Armenian diaspora. The positions of the Democrats
are faltering. This situation may create a very competitive environment
where each vote counts.
Democrats will see a big challenge coming from the Republicans.
Democrats will want to control the House and the Senate. The
republicans will want to regain their former positions in both
legislative branches of power.
In this competitive environment many current elected officials and
candidates may support the passage of the Armenian Genocide and the
U.S. recognition. This makes even more sense if you consider how much
Obama said in his message on April 24.
No Genocide, but 1.5 Million Massacred
Historians and political observers in Turkey had been so much focused
on if Obama would use the term genocide or no that they missed what
the president really said and how much more he said compared to last
year. Both this year and last year the U.S. president said his views
are known and he has not changed them. His previously known view on
the issue is that he has publicly called the events of 1915 as the
Armenian Genocide committed by Turks in the beginning of the 20th
century. Both last year and this year he used the Armenian term "Mets
Yeghern," which in Armenian context refers to the Armenian Genocide
and means a great calamity.
However, there is a little more that the president Obama said this
year that over the beginning neither the observers in Armenia, nor
in Turkey paid attention. The president said "in that dark moment
of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their
death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire."
Indeed, this is the first time that the U.S. president refers to the
killings with a concert number of 1.5 million victims, which Armenia
says is the correct number of those who were massacred. Turkey denies
the genocide claim and says only 300,000 Armenians were killed. As
if that is a small number. As Hurriyet puts it in the above mentioned
story "his remarks and the concrete number he used for Armenian losses
in 1915 were sufficient to show what he believes happened then."
Another point the president mentioned was thanking those people in
Turkey who have endangered their lives to save fellow Armenians. This
is an important dimension of the entire picture and after Turkey
recognizes the Armenian Genocide this precise aspect that many Turks
saved Armenian lives may serve as a base for a historic reconciliation
between the Turkish and Armenian people.
All of these developments point to Obama’s slowly preparing Turkey
and Armenia for reconciliation and preparing a ground for calling the
events of 1915 as the Armenian Genocide. When will it be depends on
Turkey. But one should not discount how much the Armenian vote may
be need for both the Democrats and the Republicans in this midterm
elections of 2010.