Congressman Engel: Turkey must acknowledge crimes of its forefathers

Congressman Engel: Turkey must acknowledge crimes of its forefathers

May 2, 2014 – 13:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Upon his return from Armenia which marked the 99th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel
wrote a letter to The Riverdale Press.

The letter said, `I just returned from Armenia as part of a bipartisan
congressional delegation and had the opportunity to mark the 99th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan. This horrific chapter
in the bloodiest century in history, which began in 1915, resulted in
the slaughter of 1.5 million innocent Armenians.

These murders were a terrible tragedy for the Armenian people. They
still bear the scars today, and the barbarity inflicted on the
Armenians also led to a century of genocide and ethnic-cleansing.

When Hitler sneered, `Who after all speaks today of the annihilation
of the Armenians?,’ we see the link between indifference to the
Armenians and the murder of six million Jews. This same mindset has
influenced too many thuggish leaders over the past century ‘leaders
convinced that they can kill and brutalize their peoples with
impunity.

`We owe it to history and to humanity to remember the victims of the
Armenian Genocide – for their sake, and for the sake of all of us.’

Turkey needs to, at a minimum, apologize to Armenians and acknowledge
the crimes of its forefathers. By offering his condolences for those
who died, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken a
welcome step forward ‘ but his words fall far short of an official
apology.

Turkey owes that to itself, too, for Turkish society will be stronger
for having acknowledged the truth.

I want to express to the Armenian people my great sorrow and deepest
condolences. And I say to them, as we say regarding the Holocaust,
`Never again’,’ the Congressmen stressed in his letter.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress