ANCA: TEN QUESTIONS FOR HILLARY CLINTON
asbarez
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Hillary Clinton
Ken Hachikian
WASHINGTON-Armenian National Committee of America Chairman Ken
Hachikian posed ten questions to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
regarding U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, in his February 9
letter to the Department of State expressing the Armenian American
community’s outrage over her recent dismissal of this crime as “a
matter of historical debate.”
The Secretary’s factually inaccurate description was made during a
January 26 publicly broadcast town hall meeting for State Department
employees. At this event, in response to questions regarding the
Administration’s refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide, she
stated: “this has always been viewed, and I think properly so, as
a matter of historical debate.” Her remarks, which sparked outrage
among Armenians worldwide, was described, in a recent Congressional
letter circulated by Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Robert Dold
(R-IL) as “a position much closer to that of the Turkish government
than that of any other senior U.S. diplomat in recent memory.”
These two legislators, the lead authors of H.Res.304, the Armenian
Genocide Resolution, are currently collecting signatures on a letter
formally calling upon the Secretary to disavow her remarks. Interested
constituents can contact their U.S. Representative to cosign that
letter by sending a free ANCA Webmail.
The ANCA’s six-page letter features ten direct questions to the
Secretary from ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian about this and prior
Administrations’ century long failed policy of attempting to appease
Ankara by compromising America’s stand on a fundamental issue of
human rights. Hachikian explained that: “Honest and open responses
to these questions, in addition to bringing a badly needed measure
of transparency to American policy on the Armenian Genocide, would
also serve as a meaningful foundation for a reasoned discourse among
government and civil society stakeholders about ending the era of the
United States’ complicity in Turkey’s denials.” He added that: “More
broadly, full and formal recognition of this crime – representing,
as it would, a very public rejection of Ankara’s efforts to impose a
gag-rule on America – would represent a meaningful step toward stopping
the worldwide cycle of genocide that continues to plague humanity.”
The complete text of the ANCA letter, including all ten questions
for Secretary Clinton, is provided below.
February 9, 2012
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State U.S. Department
of State 2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Clinton:
I am writing, on behalf of Armenian Americans and human rights
and genocide prevention advocates from across the United States to
register our most serious protest against your inaccurate and deeply
offensive recent statement mischaracterizing the Armenian Genocide as
a “historical debate.” I refer specifically to your appearance at the
State Department’s Town Hall meeting on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and
Development Review, on January 26, 2012, during which, in response
to a question about the State Department’s refusal to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, you stated, “this has always been viewed, and I
think properly so, as a matter of historical debate.”
We are outraged that you have called into question the veracity of
the Armenian Genocide, all the more so given your record in the U.S.
Senate of having formally encouraged President George W. Bush on
numerous occasions to recognize the Armenian Genocide, a crime that you
have described, in writing, as “a clear case of genocide.” Your recent
claim is both factually inaccurate and morally offensive. It is, quite
simply, disingenuous of you to attempt to hide this Administration’s
surrender to Turkey’s denials behind a hollow appeal to historians. As
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, and you stated
multiple times before the start of this Administration, and as
the International Association of Genocide Scholars has unanimously
affirmed, the Armenian Genocide is a matter of settled history. Your
shameful suggestion, that further study is needed to determine whether
the Armenian Genocide was in fact a genocide, only emboldens Ankara’s
efforts to derail the civil society movement toward a truthful and
just resolution of this crime.
The Obama-Biden Administration – which came into office led by a
President, a Vice President and a Secretary of State, all with both
long records and public promises in support of American recognition of
the Armenian Genocide – saw the President, within months, prominently
breaking his solemn covenant with American voters, a clear and willful
breach of trust, followed shortly thereafter by the Administration’s
pressure to block even Congressional commemoration of this crime.
Today, after having helped Turkey enforce its Armenian Genocide
gag-rule on America, largely through our State Department’s ill-advised
support for the Ankara-inspired Protocols, this Administration,
as regrettably illustrated by your recent comments, has gone beyond
simple complicity in Ankara’s campaign to erase the memory of this
atrocity. Your statement is intellectually dishonest and, all too
clearly, echoes the Turkish government’s outright denials, a shameful
position that represents a grave offense to the moral values of the
American people.
Having addressed a broad range of concerns on this matter in
considerable detail in our previous correspondence to you, I will,
today, simply submit a formal request that you immediately lead a
fundamental review of this and prior Administrations’ century long
failed policy of attempting to appease Ankara by compromising America’s
stand on a fundamental issue of human rights. I would respectfully
offer the following questions as a starting point for such a review:
1. President Obama has repeatedly stated that, “I have consistently
stated my own view of what occurred in 1915.” These views include an
extensive public record of statements, videos, and written documents.
Does the Department of State consider any of these past statements by
the current President to be “a matter of historical debate”? If so,
which statements, and why?
– “The occurrence of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 is not an
‘allegation,’ a ‘personal opinion,’ or a ‘point of view.’ Supported
by an overwhelming amount of historical evidence, it is a widely
documented fact.” (Senator Barack Obama’s letter to Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice on July 28, 2006 to express dismay over
the recall of Ambassador to Armenia John Evans for recognizing the
Armenian Genocide.)
– “[T]he 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. . . . America deserves a
leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds
forcefully to all genocides. ” (Barack Obama on the Importance of
U.S.-Armenia Relations, January 19, 2008.)
– “For those who aren’t aware, there was a genocide that did take
place against the Armenian people. It is one of these situations where
we have seen a constant denial on part of the Turkish Government and
others that this occurred.” (Video of Senator Obama during a public
constituent meeting on April 12, 2007.)
– “Nearly 2 million Armenians were deported during the Armenian
Genocide, which was carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to
1923, and approximately 1.5 million of those deported were killed.”
(Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European
Affairs, Senator Obama, Question for the Record to Ambassador-designate
Yovanovitch, June 19, 2008.)
– “The occurrence of the Armenian genocide is a widely documented
fact supported by an overwhelming collection of historical evidence.”
(Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European
Affairs, Senator Obama, statement commemorating the Armenian Genocide,
April 28, 2008.)
– “[T]he United States must recognize the events of 1915 to 1923,
carried out by the Ottoman Empire, as genocide. . . The Bush
Administration’s refusal to do so is inexcusable.” (Senator Obama,
constituent email response, dated June 16, 2008.)
2. In 2008 you stated that “[T]he horrible events perpetrated
by the Ottoman Empire against Armenians constitute a clear case
of genocide,” and that, “[o]ur common morality and our nation’s
credibility as a voice for human rights challenge us to ensure that
the Armenian Genocide be recognized and remembered by the Congress
and the President of the United States.” What has changed in your
understanding of the history, facts, and evidence of the Armenian
Genocide since this statement that has led you to downgrade this
“clear case of genocide” to “a matter of historical debate?”
3. Both you and President Obama, during your service in the U.S.
Senate, formally called upon President George W. Bush to recognize
the Armenian Genocide in a letters dated April 20, 2006 and April 18,
2005, both of which stated the Armenian Genocide was a “systematic
and deliberate campaign of genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire
in 1915. . . The victims of the Genocide deserve our remembrance
and their rightful place in history… It is in the best interests
of our nation and the entire global community to remember the past
and learn from these crimes against humanity to ensure that they are
never repeated.” Do you today regret or in any way seek to disavow
or distance yourself or the Department of State from the principled
position that you expressed in these letters?
4. In light of the priority that the President has attached to
moving Turkey towards an honest reckoning with its past and your own
statement that the U.S. “will stand with those who seek to advance the
cause of democracy and human rights wherever they may live,” why have
U.S. diplomats in Turkey not prominently participated in programs led
by Turkish citizens in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, or openly
condemned the continued official prosecution and public demonization
of writers and others who speak honestly about the Armenian Genocide?
5. You have said that, “The struggle for human rights begins with
telling the truth over and over again.” Would the Department of State –
as it did in the case of Ambassador John Evans – discipline, penalize,
or otherwise take any action against U.S. diplomats or other employees
for speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide?
6. Vice President Biden – who cosponsored every resolution to
commemorate the Armenian Genocide introduced in the Senate dating
back to 1984 – entered the White House with a long record of working
for full and formal U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Does
the Department of State disagree with, disavow, or in any way seek
to distance itself from the following past statements by the current
Vice President?
– In 2006, while serving as the Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, Senator Biden wrote, in a letter to Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, that, “The State Department’s own historical
records provide ample evidence that the Ottoman Empire’s slaughter of
1.5 million ethnic Armenians constituted genocide. Henry Morgenthau,
who served as the United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from
1913 to 1916, describes a brutal ‘campaign of race extermination’
perpetrated by Ottoman forces… To punish an American official for
correctly describing any historical event raises serious questions
about the United States’ commitment to the values of transparency and
honesty.” (Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Senator Joseph Biden’s letter, dated June 23, 2006, to Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice to express concern over reports that Ambassador
to Armenia, John Evans, was recalled for accurately describing the
Armenian Genocide as a genocide.)
– In 2007, Senator Biden publicly stated that he supported the Armenian
Genocide Resolution because as a legislative champion working for
its adoption, “I have found in my experience that you cannot have a
solid relationship with a country based on fiction. It occurred. It
occurred… If you want to be a member of the international community
in good standing, it’s got to be based upon historical fact.” (Senator
Biden interview with the Los Angeles Times, May 14, 2007.)
7. Does the Department of State have any reason to disbelieve
or dispute any of the following official reports, findings, and
conclusions by State Department officials during the Armenian
Genocide? If so, which statements and why?
– In June 5, 1915, U.S. Consul in Aleppo, Jesse Jackson, wrote to
Ambassador Morgenthau: “There is a living stream of Armenians pouring
into Aleppo from the surrounding towns and villages, the principal
ones being Marash, Zeitoun, Hassanbeyli, Osmania, Baghtche, Adana,
Dortyol, Hadjin, etc. . . The [Ottoman] Government has been appealed
to by various prominent people and even by those in authority to put
an end to these conditions, under the representations that it can
only lead to the greatest blame and reproach, but all to no avail. It
is without doubt a carefully planned scheme to thoroughly extinguish
the Armenian race.” NA/RG59/867.4016/177.
– On July 24, 1915, in a report to Ambassador Morgenthau, U.S. Consul
in Harput, Leslie Davis, reported: “Any doubt that may have been
expressed in previous reports as to the Government’s intention in
sending away the Armenians have been removed . . . It has been no
secret that the plan was to destroy the Armenian race as a race . . .
Everything was apparently planned months ago.” NA/RG59/867.4016/269.
– In a telegram to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, U.S. Charge
d’Affaires, Hoffman Philip, wrote on October 1, 1916: “The Department
is in receipt of ample details demonstrating the horrors of the
anti-Armenian campaign. For many months past I have felt that the most
efficacious method of dealing with the situation from an international
standpoint would be to flatly threaten to withdraw our Diplomatic
Representative from a country where such barbarous methods are not
only tolerated but actually carried out by order of the existing
government.” NA/RG59/867.4016/297.
– The Honorable Abram I. Elkus, who served as the United States
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1916 through 1917, telegrammed
the Secretary of State on October 17, 1916, stating: “In order to
avoid opprobrium of the civilized world, which the continuation of
massacres [of the Armenians] would arouse, Turkish officials have
now adopted and are executing the unchecked policy of extermination
through starvation, exhaustion, and brutality of treatment hardly
surpassed even in Turkish history.” NA/RG59/867.4016/299.
8. Would the Department of State describe the Holocaust or the
genocides in Cambodia or Rwanda as a “historical debate,” or call
for the creation of a historical “commission” to ascertain whether
these crimes in fact took place?
9. Is the U.S. government’s decision-making process regarding the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide influenced in any way by the
Turkish government’s public threats to retaliate against such an
acknowledgment?
10. If Turkey were to finally recognize the Armenian Genocide, would
the U.S. government then follow Ankara’s lead and also formally
acknowledge this crime?
Honest and open responses to these questions, in addition to bringing a
badly needed measure of transparency to American policy on the Armenian
Genocide, would also serve as a meaningful foundation for a reasoned
discourse among government and civil society stakeholders about ending
the era of the United States’ complicity in Turkey’s denials. More
broadly, full and formal recognition of this crime – representing,
as it would, a very public rejection of Ankara’s efforts to impose a
gag-rule on America – would represent a meaningful step toward stopping
the worldwide cycle of genocide that continues to plague humanity.
Thank you for your consideration of our concerns. We look forward to
hearing from you on these important matters. We are also interested
in learning of any actions you have taken in response to the
recent adoption by the U.S. House of H.Res.306, which, as you know,
specifically calls the Secretary of State, in all official contacts
with Turkish officials, to emphasize, among other religious freedom
considerations, that Turkey should return all Christian churches and
religious properties to their rightful owners.
As we have several times over the past three years – we again request
the opportunity to discuss the full range of our concerns with you
personally during a meeting with the broad-based leadership of the
Armenian American community.
Sincerely, [signed] Kenneth V. Hachikian Chairman
From: Baghdasarian