Author: Badalian Vardan

U.S. Representatives Press Obama to Recognize Armenian Genocide

By Contributor on April 4, 2015 in News

Representatives Join Senators in Sending Bipartisan Letters to the White House

WASHINGTON–Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have sent a
bipartisan letter to President Barack Obama, encouraging him, this
April, to properly affirm the Armenian Genocide as a clear case of
genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“We thank members of both the U.S. House and Senate for their
bipartisan efforts to encourage President Obama to speak openly and
honestly about the Armenian Genocide during this April’s Centennial
observance,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Special
thanks to Congressman Pallone and Dold for leading this effort, and to
each signatory of this Armenian Caucus letter.”

Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chairs Robert Dold (R-Ill.) and Frank
Pallone (D-N.J.)

The House letter, spearheaded by Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Robert
Dold (R-Ill.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), echoed language from Obama’s
campaign promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide: “A clear
recognition of the Armenian Genocide, particularly in this centennial
year, would affirm that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a
personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” They
added, “A principled presidential statement clearly citing the
Armenian Genocide would help strengthen condemnations of the past, and
recognize the important relationship the United States shares with
Armenia today.”

Joining the Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chairs in signing the
letter are Representatives Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Gus Bilirakis
(R-Fla.), Dave Brat (R-Va.), Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), Judy Chu
(D-Calif.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Mike
Coffman (R-Colo.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Jeff
Denham (R-Calif.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Steve
Israel (D-N.Y.), Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), James Langevin (D-R.I.),
Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Sander Levin (D-Mich.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.),
Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Carolyn Maloney
(D-N.Y.), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.),
James McGovern (D-Mass.), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Grace Napolitano
(D-Calif.), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), Collin
Peterson (D-Minn.), Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Lucille Roybal-Allard
(D-Calif.), Edward Royce (R-Calif.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Loretta
Sanchez (D-Calif.), John Sarbanes (D-Md.), Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.),
Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Christopher Smith
(R-N.J.), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Paul Tonko
(D-N.Y.), David Trott (R-Mich.), Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), David Valadao
(R-Calif.), and Christopher Van Hollen (D-Md.).

A U.S. House resolution, H.Res.154.–the Armenian Genocide Truth and
Justice Resolution seeking improved Armenian-Turkish relations based
on justice for this crime–has 50 cosponsors.

A similar Senate letter, led by Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and
Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), noted that: “While the United States Congress
has a long history of support for the victims and the memory of the
Armenian Genocide, the Administration has not formally recognized the
atrocities that were perpetrated against the Armenians as ‘genocide.'”
The Senate signatories stressed that a principled stand by the
president would “send a powerful signal to the international community
that this Administration is committed to recognizing the Armenian
Genocide, to upholding the ideals of tolerance and universal human
rights upon which our country was founded, and to preventing similar
atrocities from ever happening again.”

The text of the Congressional Armenian Genocide Centennial Letter to
Obama is available here:

World Bulletin, Turkey
April 5 2015

American Turks launch new campaign over 1915 events

The “Let History Decide” campaign in the U.S. will counter Armenian
allegations over the events of 1915 involving the Ottoman Empire
during World War I.

World Bulletin / News Desk

American Turks have launched the “Let History Decide” campaign in the
U.S. to counter Armenian allegations over the events of 1915 involving
the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The campaign has been organized by the Turkish American Steering
Committee, which consists of 145 Turkish American organizations.
Several events have been planned under the campaign that will take
place in different parts of the U.S., including Washington DC, New
York and Texas.

The main slogan of the campaign is: “Unite us, not divide us.”
According to the Turkish American Steering Committee’s website, a
peace and solidarity walk is being organized on April 24 in Washington
DC, which will begin in front of the White House and end at the
Turkish Embassy.

After the walk, American Turks and their campaign supporters will
remain in front of the embassy in response to the Armenian groups, who
too gather there on April 24 each year to “occupy the sidewalk,” a
committee representative says.

The committee has said it will also launch a Twitter hashtag
#lethistorydecide on April 18.

Turkish citizens at home and abroad feel that smear campaigns
involving the 1915 events have turned into attacks against Turkey.

In early March when a group of Congressmen introduced the “Armenian
Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution”, Republican Congressman Curt
Clawson called President Barack Obama to form a committee to reconcile
Turkish-Armenian relations and seek support for his resolution in
Congress.

“Turkey and Armenia are very important to the American interests,”
Clawson wrote in a letter to House colleagues. “U.S interests (in the
region) can be advanced by both countries acting to cultivate peace
and understanding.”

– 1915 events

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of the
Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the
invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

A decision by the Ottoman Empire to relocate Armenians in eastern
Anatolia followed the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties
during the relocation process.

Armenia has demanded an apology and compensation, while Turkey
officially refutes Armenian allegations over the incidents, saying
that, although Armenians died during relocations, many Turks also lost
their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.

The debate and differing opinions between present day Turkish
government and the Armenian diaspora, along with the current
administration in Yerevan, still generates political tension between
Turks and Armenians.

– Turkey’s position

Ankara acknowledges that past experiences were a great tragedy and
that both parties suffered heavy casualties, including hundreds of
Muslim Turks.

Turkey also agrees that there were certainly Armenian casualties
during World War I.

In January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent invitation
letters to more than 100 leaders, including Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, to participate in the commemoration of the Battle of
Canakkale on April 24.

Sargsyan reportedly denounced Erdogan’s invitation as a
“short-sighted” attempt to overshadow the 100th anniversary of the
1915 events, according to armenianow.com.

Le Monde, France
3 avril 2015

Génocide des Arméniens : le travail salutaire des historiens

LE MONDE | 03.04.2015 à 11h45 | Par Gaïdz Minassian

Au moment où l’Arménie s’apprête à célébrer le centenaire du génocide
des Arméniens, et alors que la Turquie nie toute responsabilité dans
cette tragédie, l’événement est inédit. Pour la première fois, un
colloque a réuni des historiens turcs, arméniens, européens et
américains, du 25 au 28 mars à Paris, à l’initiative du conseil
scientifique international pour l’étude de ce génocide. ” Nous avons
répondu à l’injonction du président turc, M. Erdogan. Nous avons créé
une commission d’historiens sur le génocide des Arméniens “, a
ironiquement lancé le chercheur français Raymond Kevorkian.

La soixantaine d’experts présents, dont seize originaires de Turquie,
ont mis au jour plusieurs angles morts de la recherche scientifique.
Ils ont établi la forte parenté entre les idéologies au pouvoir en
Turquie lors de la première guerre mondiale et dans l’Allemagne nazie
lors de la seconde. Dans les deux cas, la logique meurtrière du
darwinisme social, ce processus de sélection de l’espèce humaine en
vue de forger des identités nationales débarrassées des ” microbes
arméniens et juifs “, selon l’expression des théoriciens du crime, a
servi de justification à l’entreprise génocidaire. D’autre part, il
existe aux deux extrémités du XXe siècle une forte similitude dans le
mode opératoire utilisé par les bourreaux des Arméniens et ceux des
Tutsi au Rwanda. Ces deux crimes contre l’humanité ont été perpétrés
hors d’Europe, à l’intérieur d’espaces ruraux où vivaient des
populations paysannes, massacrées dans un temps record à l’aide
d’instruments rudimentaires.

Les spécialistes des genocide studies, comme le sociologue Hamit
Bozarslan ou l’anthropologue Ayse Gül Altinay, ont aussi souligné la
place que la femme arménienne a occupée dans le plan d’extermination
conçu par le régime jeune-turc. Il ne suffisait pas de séparer les
hommes, voués aux massacres instantanés, des femmes et des enfants
destinés aux ravages des déportations dans le désert. Il ne suffisait
pas d’annihiler une vieille civilisation installée depuis la Haute
Antiquité. Il fallait aussi détruire le pivot de son modèle matriarcal
: la femme. En détruisant ou en déshumanisant celle-ci par tous les
moyens : conversions forcées, enlèvements, prostitution…, c’est toute
la structure familiale arménienne que l’on a cherché à effacer.

M. Bozarslan va plus loin lorsqu’il affirme que ” la coexistence
entre les communautés ottomanes exigeait d’une part que les
non-musulmans acceptent leurs conditions de soumis et ne cherchent pas
à obtenir l’égalité avec les musulmans, et que d’autre part soient
respectées trois frontières séparant les communautés entre elles : le
“corps de la femme” en tant qu’il est garant de la reproduction du
groupe dans la durée, le lieu du culte en tant qu’il garantit son
existence par la caution de l’au-delà, et les cimetières en ce qu’ils
l’ancrent dans la terre, lui apportant une profondeur historique. Or,
durant les massacres hamidiens, et plus encore pendant le génocide,
ces trois frontières ont été délibérément violées “.

Une triple extinction

Les récents travaux du chercheur turc Taner Akçam explorent le lien
entre le génocide de 1915 et les massacres préalables de 250 000
Arméniens entre 1894-1896. ” Le génocide n’est pas un fait,
martèle-t-il, c’est un processus. ” Son origine remonte à l’issue de
la guerre russo-ottomane de 1877-1878, lorsque, vaincu par les armées
russes, le pouvoir d’Abdul Hamid II a tout fait pour réduire la
population arménienne des provinces orientales de l’Empire, afin d’en
changer la carte démographique et repousser la menace d’un
démembrement par les puissances européennes. Cette ingénierie
démographique constitue le fil conducteur des régimes hamidien et
unioniste dans cet Empire ottoman en déclin.

Les chercheurs ont aussi fait ressortir, durant les débats, la
continuité entre la Turquie impériale et la Turquie républicaine ainsi
que les ressorts religieux dans l’organisation du crime. D’un régime à
l’autre, les mêmes fonctionnaires-bourreaux sont restés en place,
occupant souvent des postes-clés dans l’appareil d’Etat jusqu’aux
années 1950.

Connu pour ses travaux sur la transition du pouvoir à Ankara,
l’historien Erik-Jan Zürcher a décrypté le processus de décision en
vue d’exterminer à partir de mars 1915 ceux que les Jeunes-Turcs
considéraient comme une ” cinquième colonne “. Par ailleurs, a rappelé
ce turcologue néerlandais, ” c’est au nom du djihad que l’Empire
ottoman est entré en guerre le 1er novembre 1914 contre les
puissances de l’Entente. Et c’est aussi au nom de la guerre sainte que
les massacres des Arméniens chrétiens ont eu lieu “.

Les spécialistes ont pointé avec insistance la responsabilité du
système international et la passivité des grandes puissances à
prévenir ce drame. En huit ans, un peuple a ainsi été l’objet d’une
triple extinction. Extinction physique en 1915 : 1 500 000 Arméniens
ont été massacrés jusqu’en 1918. Extinction politique en 1920 : la
République d’Arménie indépendante a été dévorée par l’alliance entre
Kémal et Lénine. Enfin, extinction diplomatique en 1923 : le traité
de Lausanne signé par les Européens et la Turquie a effacé le mot ”
Arménie ” du droit international. En huit ans, un peuple a disparu des
radars de l’Histoire pour basculer dans la mémoire. Cent ans après les
faits, universitaires turcs, arméniens et internationaux l’ont remis
sur les rails de l’Histoire. Salutaire entreprise.

ZHOGHOVURD: US DECIDES TO ALTER TACTIC IN ARMENIA

10:29 * 03.04.15

US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills stated on Thursday that the
United States intends to deepen its involvement in Armenia’s economy.

The USA is the fifth largest trade partner of Armenia, and this fact
can be welcomed. However, the USA likes being leader, and it must do
it if it can, Mr Mills said at a business forum organized by the HSBC
Bank Armenia.

The newspaper has repeatedly raised the issue of the USA’s intention
to alter its tactic in Armenia. The USA had provided financial aid
to Armenia to strengthen its influence on the region.

After Armenia decided in favor of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU),
the USA realized that after investing dozens of millions in Armenia
it did not actually get any means of business influence. Russia,
however, has control of considerable part of Armenia’s economy along
with dozens of millions taken out of the country.

So the USA decided to stop allocating money for ineffective projects.

Rather, it will make investments. The US ambassador’s statement is
actually an official notification of the new tactic.

The “first swallow” was the purchase of the Vorotan coordinated
hydroelectric system by a US company.

TEXT OF FRENCH LAW WAS COPIED FROM WIKIPEDIA

The Times (London)
April 2, 2015 Thursday

by Charles Bremner

A French MP has admitted that she tabled a parliamentary bill with a
preamble largely pasted from Wikipedia. Valerie Boyer, 52, copied text
from the free internet encyclopedia setting out reasons why France
should officially recognise the 1915 Assyrian genocide. Wikipedia
describes it as “the mass slaughter of the Assyrian population of the
Ottoman Empire during the First World War” and blames it on the Turks.

The text, published in the official parliamentary journal, retained
Wikipedia’s index numbers and hyperlinks, although these were later
removed.

Ms Boyer, the Union for a Popular Movement MP for Marseilles,
acknowledged using copied text but insisted on BFM TV, a news channel,
that she “had the extract verified by specialised teachers”.

She was the author of a 2011 bill making denial of the Armenian
genocide by Turkey a criminal offence. The Assyrian massacres were
bound up with the genocide. Turkey denies responsibility.

The new bill is to be debated later this year. Discovery of the
plagiarism was mocked on social networks under the hashtag #epicfail.

ARMENIA CONDEMNS THE ILLEGAL, BARBARIC AND PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS OF TURKEY IN CYPRUS’ EEZ

CYPRUS – FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE*
Friday, 03 April, 2015

Armenia condemns the illegal, barbaric and provocative actions of
Turkey within Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone and will never accept any
effort for the division of the island, Chairman of National Assembly of
the Republic of Armenia Galoust Sahakyan said on Thursday, addressing
the Cyprus House plenary.

Sahakyan noted that Armenia appreciates the constructive approach of
the Republic of Cyprus for the settlement of the Cyprus problem and
expressed regret for the fact that Turkey responds to the sensible
policy of the leadership of the Republic of Cyprus by adopting a
non constructive approach, and “undermining the latest stage of the
process for a Cyprus settlement with its provocative actions.”

REMOVING SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN TO HAVE UNFAVORABLE INFLUENCE ON TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN

18:48 03/04/2015 >> MISCELLANEOUS

“Geopolitically, the success of Lausanne agreements may lead to
further rapprochement of Iran with the West and an increase of its
geopolitical role in the region. Moreover, the strengthening of the
geopolitical role of Iran may significantly undermine the geo-economic
importance of Azerbaijan,” an article published on Azerbaijani media
outlet Haqqin.az reads.

With the global standoff between Russia and the West, Azerbaijan
was viewed as an alternative transit country for energy resources,
particularly, for exporting gas from Turkmenistan to Europe. However,
that was only in the format of realizing the project TAP. The global
players hurried to give up Azerbaijan’s supply last year because of the
fantastical undertaking of constructing Nabucco. Everyone understood
that there was nothing to fill the pipe with, the article reads.

Still, now, as the article reads, Iran takes the floor with
inexhaustible oil and gas reserves and as a key transit country. Iran
disposes of the 10% of the reported global oil reserves and is the
second country in the world after Russia with its natural gas reserves
(15%).

The official representatives of Iran do not hide that they strive to
enter the European market of oil and gas, as in the olden days. Let’s
remember that the deputy Minister of Oil in Iran, Ali Majedi, offered
to revive project of Nabucco pipeline during his European tour and
said that his country is ready to supply gas to Europe through it,
the publication reads.

“According to the project Nabucco, that pipeline will transfer around
31 billion cubic meters of gas. We repeat, Azerbaijani gas alone
cannot fill that pipe. The main problem is that the potential of
the Azerbaijani gas field Shah Deniz II is assessed no more than 8
billion cubic meters a year. That is why even if the Azerbaijani gas
eventually comes to be supplied via Nabucco, there will be a deficit
of 23 billion cubic meters a year,” the authors stress.

It is also noted that the West quite materially reacted to the
possibility of the Iranian gas to join Nabucco.

“Some months earlier the same Ali Majedi reported sensational news:
‘two invited European delegations’ discussed the potential routes of
Iranian gas supply to Europe,” the article reads.

The country that was the closest to sign an agreement on Nabucco,
Azerbaijan, has not got enough gas reserves to fill the pipeline, the
authors of the article write pointing to Iran’s possible participation
in the project.

“If Washington removes energy sanctions on Iran after an ultimate
agreement is signed between Iran and the West, then quite a new
geopolitical and, alongside with it, geo-economic configuration
will emerge in the region. Connecting with Nabucco will be enough
for Iran to fully supply Europe with gas. With the removal of the
sanctions on Iran the economic power, and alongside with that,
Iran’s political influence will grow year by year,” the authors of
the article highlight.

In an interview to the Azerbaijani media outlet Minval.az, orientalist
Aida Gambar noted that Iran is working very actively in the Middle
East region, and its main purpose is to become the leading country
of the region.

“Iran is trying to carry out its ideological programme of creating a
very large and significant Shia union which will be able to influence
all the processes going on in the region,” she said.

The orientalist also noted that with the crisis in Syria, which
affected very strongly the system of international relations, the
center of gravity goes to Iran which enjoys the support of foreign
large powers.

“There are many problems that the US foreign powers, EU leading
countries need to settle down with Iran. They have already been able
to solve and settle down quite a lot of problems, and it is obscure
if a framework agreement is signed, what the strengthening status
of Iran will be like, given the removal of some sanctions, how Iran
will fortify its positions due to that. It is an unfavorable moment
for Turkey and Azerbaijan,” she said.

Anton Yevstratov, an expert on Iran, told Minval.az that Azerbaijan is
in a complicated situation completely backing US’s all the anti-Iran
actions, actively provoking anti-Iran rhetoric inside the country
and often splashing it also into the international relations.

“Azerbaijan could not orient at the latest stage and fell off the
fairway of the US. The West seems to show signs of readiness to make
friends with IRI, yet Baku goes on ‘waving its fists.’ And today no
one supports Azerbaijan in that,” the expert on Iran highlighted.

Related:

Economy of Azerbaijan: increase in external debt, reduction of
production and export of oil and gas

BAKU UNDERTAKES RANGER RAID IN KARABAKH-AZERBAIJAN CONTACT LINE – DEFENSE MINISTRY

STEPANAKERT, April 3. /ARKA/. Azerbaijani troops undertook a ranger
raid in the southern section of Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line
Thursday night with using a mine-clearance devise, the press office
of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s defense ministry reports.

The ministry says that thanks to the professional measures taken by
Karabakh servicemen, the raiders were thrown back with losses. Details
of the incident are being investigated.

The Karabakh side sustained no losses. Karabakh conflict broke out
in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its
independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority
of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result,
Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions
adjacent to it.

Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million
people fled their homes.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the
military operations.

Since 1992, talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over
peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA,
Russia and France. —–0—

CYPRUS AMENDS LAW TO CRIMINALIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIAL

Associated Press International
April 2, 2015 Thursday 1:37 PM GMT

NICOSIA, Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) – Cyprus’ parliament has legislated to criminalize
the denial of the massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by
Ottoman Turks a century ago.

Parliamentary speaker Yiannakis Omirou says that through a unanimous
vote, lawmakers can make denial of any historically proven massacre
a crime.

Omirou said after a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Thursday
that Cyprus was the first country to raise the issue of recognizing
the Armenian genocide at the U.N. General Assembly in 1965. The event
is widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey however, denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying
the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of
civil war and unrest.

Armenians mark the centenary of the killings on April 24.

PROPOSED BILL CALLS FOR RECONCILIATION BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA

Wall Street Journal
April 3 2015

By Byron Tau

WASHINGTON–Bringing a new approach to a long-running Capitol Hill
standoff, a Turkish-American coalition is pushing a new bill in
Congress that will call for reconciliation and dialogue between Turkey
and Armenia while sidestepping the question of whether the 1915 mass
killing of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire was genocide.

Armenian and Armenian-American advocacy groups have long pressed the
U.S. government to officially call the killings genocide, while the
Turks have fought hard against such proposals in the U.S. and abroad.

The issue has been debated in Congress for years, without a resolution,
and the new bill may run into similar difficulties.

The new proposal, to be introduced by Rep. Curt Clawson (R., Fla.),
will call on President Barack Obama to “work toward equitable,
constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations” by
establishing a new presidential task force aimed at rapprochement.

This year marks the 100th year anniversary of the massacres–giving
advocates and lobbyists renewed ammunition in the battle between
the two countries over how the mass killings are remembered and
commemorated by historians and governments.

The historical consensus is that as many as 1.5 million Armenians
were killed by the Ottoman Empire in what is now Turkey. Turkey says
the issue of whether the killings were genocide isn’t for modern-day
governments to decide, contests the number of deaths and argues those
killed were casualties of a larger armed conflict.

The bill, which is being pushed by a new advocacy group called the
Turkish Institute for Progress, aims to be a counterweight and a
potential alternative to another controversial piece of legislation
that would call the 1915 killings a genocide. The proposal has existed
in some form for years.

The Turkish-American coalition has retained the lobbying firm Levick
Strategic Communications to push the reconciliation proposal as a
possible alternative to the genocide bill.

“What we’ve seen year after year for over a decade is Armenia focused
on a resolution that is divisive and causes rancor,” said Connie Mack,
a former Republican member of Congress and a lobbyist for Levick.

This new effort is “about moving forward. It’s about the next 100
years,” said Mr. Mack. The institute isn’t lobbying for or against the
separate genocide resolution and doesn’t have an official position
on it. The rapprochement bill and the genocide bill aren’t mutually
exclusive and members could, in theory, sponsor both, he said.

The reconciliation proposal is already drawing a furious reaction
from Armenian-American groups, who are a powerful and well-organized
lobbying force across the country.

“Congressman Clawson’s measure is Orwellian. He strips out any
mention of the Armenian genocide from a resolution that deals
with Turkish-Armenian relations — which is both unprincipled and
impractical,” said Aram Hamparian, the executive director Armenian
National Committee of America. “The genocide issue stands at the very
center of Turkish-Armenian relations.”

“U.S. interests can be advanced by both countries acting to cultivate
peace and understanding,” said Mr. Clawson, the bill’s sponsor,
in a letter to fellow members of Congress seeking support.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and one of the most
vocal members of Congress on the issue, likened the proposal for
a reconciliation commission to setting up a presidential panel to
debate whether the Holocaust occurred.

“That might be something that Holocaust deniers would applaud, but it
suggests that there’s a credible case to be made that the Holocaust
didn’t happen. There is no credible case that to be made that the
Holocaust didn’t happen and there’s no credible case to be made that
the Armenian genocide didn’t happen,” Mr. Schiff said.

Mr. Schiff and a bipartisan slate of lawmakers reintroduced their
genocide resolution last month with about 40 sponsors. That is down
sharply from the more than 200 lawmakers who signed on to the bill
in 2007.

In 2007, with Democrats in control of Congress, the genocide
bill cleared the House Foreign Affairs Committee before falling
victim to a lobbying campaign by both Turkey and the George W. Bush
administration. The Bush administration and lawmakers of both parties
at the time feared the diplomatic repercussions of alienating Turkey,
a strategic U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Those concerns persist today about the proposal labeling the massacres
a genocide.

“Undertaking this course of action would not only be morally
shortsighted but it would alienate one of our last allies in the
region who is working hand-in-hand with U.S. soldiers and our allies
to combat ISIS and give refuge to hundreds of thousands of innocent
refugees from the Syrian Civil War,” wrote Rep. Bill Shuster in a
letter to colleagues this year.

The Turkish Institute for Progress was formed earlier this year. The
Institute says it has no connection to the Turkish government and
its lobbyists at Levick aren’t registered under provisions governing
representatives of foreign governments.

“TIP is currently supported by a number of American businesses
and independent donors seeking a more progressive solution to mend
Armenian and Turkish relations,” Derya Taskin, the group’s president,
said in a statement. The group declined to name the business or donors
supporting it, citing fear of retaliation.

The Turkish government–which couldn’t not be reached for comment
through the embassy–has a number of prominent Washington lobbyists
on its payroll. The country has the firms of both former Democratic
House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt and former Republican House Speaker
Dennis Hastert on retainer. Turkey last month re-signed another $1.7
million contract with Mr. Gephardt’s firm.

The White House declined to take a position on legislation that is
still being drafted and has yet to be officially introduced.

As a candidate, Mr. Obama promised to use the word “genocide” as
president to describe the mass killings and said the evidence was
“undeniable.” But since he took office, he’s avoided the term,
calling the events “atrocities.”