Armenian Assembly of America
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PRESS RELEASE
May 8, 2007
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
AMBASSADOR JOHN M. EVANS HONORED WITH HENRY MORGENTHAU AWARD FOR MERITORIOUS
PUBLIC SERVICE
Cambridge, MA – The Armenian Assembly of America honored former U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans for his leadership in raising global
awareness of the Armenian Genocide during an award ceremony held at the
Hyatt Regency Cambridge on May 3.
The Assembly, joined by members of the Armenian-American community, media,
and special guests, presented Evans with the distinguished Henry Morgenthau
Award for Meritorious Public Service. The Award, established in 1996,
recognizes those individuals who exemplify the courage by U.S. Ambassador to
the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau – the first American to alert the world
of the Armenian Genocide.
`Ambassador Evans is a true profile in courage,’ said Assembly Board of
Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. `By properly characterizing the
attempted annihilation of Armenians as genocide, Ambassador Evans spoke the
truth and, as a result, was forced to retract his comments. Rather than
encouraging our Ambassadors to speak candidly about these events, Evans,
under substantial pressure was forced to vacate his post.’
In accepting the award – a first edition of Ambassador Morgenthau’s book,
Evans praised Morgenthau as `a giant of American diplomacy’ and called him
his `personal hero.’
`What I have done to receive this honor tonight is nothing compared to what
Ambassador Morgenthau did in his time, to help the victims of the Genocide,’
Evans said. `Had I not read his account [Henry Morgenthau’s Story]…I would
not have understood, from a diplomat’s point of view, the reality of what
happened in 1915.’
Evans also credited author Samantha Power, who was a featured speaker, for
shedding light on America’s response to genocide in her Pulitzer
Prize-winning book `A Problem from Hell.’ Significantly, Evans said that
the two books, coupled with historic legal findings of the Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC), which found that the events of 1915 were
genocide as defined by the 1948 Genocide Convention, were major factors in
his intellectual journey to discovering the truth about the Armenian
Genocide.
He described the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) study
as a `huge breakthrough.’ The study concluded that `the Events, viewed
collectively, can thus be said to include all the elements of the crime of
genocide as described in the Convention, and the legal scholars, as well as
historians, politicians, journalists and other people would be justified in
continuing to so describe them.’ Power participated in a hearing before the
ICTJ prior to the issuance of the legal opinion.
Henry Morgenthau III, a prominent Boston area resident and grandson of the
Ambassador, was also on hand to honor the career diplomat. He said Evans
exhibited `tremendous courage’ by publicly reaffirming the Armenian Genocide
while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia in 2005. Evans was forced to
prematurely end his service to the United States and the Republic of Armenia
as a result of his public declarations on the Armenian Genocide.
`I think it is uniquely appropriate that Ambassador Evans has been chosen to
receive the Ambassador Morgenthau Award,’ he said. `Both of these
distinguished men chose to speak out on behalf of Armenia, and to recall the
horrors of the Genocide at great personal risk and sacrifice.’ He decried
the withdrawal of the `Christian Herter Award for Constructive Dissent’ to
Evans, and labeled the act as `destructive’ dissent.
Morgenthau also recounted his grandfather’s efforts to stop the killings,
saying `in a very undiplomatic fashion, he chose to intervene, pleading with
Talaat [Pasha] to desist from the horrors of murder and deportation. Of
course, he was not successful, and this was tremendously distressing for
him.’
`I’m sure that my grandfather would be particularly delighted and pleased
that Ambassador Evans has been designated the heir to his legacy,’
Morgenthau added.
Power, who is a professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University, provided historical context to what happened to
Ambassador Evans.
She explained the origins of her book and said that the culture of genocide
denial is `part of a pattern that we have to deal with, because the
consequences of denial, as you can hear, are real.’ Power expressed
frustration over the double-talk that is prevalent in Washington.
`Armenian Genocide denial is an absurdity,’ she stated flatly, explaining
that policymakers in Washington are well aware that the events of 1915
constitute genocide.
She was optimistic, however, about proper recognition of the crimes, saying
`You are winning, and you will win.’
`I urge you to continue to make just as many efforts penetrating American
history books as you do penetrating the U.S. Congress and the Executive
Branch,’ she concluded.
Assembly Board Chairman Hirair Hovnanian, President Carolyn Mugar and
Executive Committee Member Anthony Barsamian, in their personal remarks,
described Evans as a `man of courage,’ `a man of character’ and `a man of
truth.’
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny served as master of ceremonies. The evening
was part of the Assembly’s observance of its 35th anniversary as the leading
Armenian-American advocacy organization in Washington. This milestone
occasion will be celebrated at a Gala dinner in Los Angeles, California in
November.
Special guests included Sifi Nsengimana, co-chairman of the Massachusetts
Coalition to Save Darfur; Laura Everett, Massachusetts Council of Churches;
Nancy Kaufman, Jewish Community Relations Council; Jim Kaufman and Herbert
Turney, American Jewish Committee; Alexis Berthier, press attaché, French
Consulate; Arnold Rosenfeld, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP, representing the
Assembly in the `Genocide Denial Case’; Judge Richard Stearns, U. S.
District Court; George Keverian, former Massachusetts House Speaker; Rachel
Kaprielian, Massachusetts State Representative (D-Watertown); Rev. Fr.
Antranig Baljian; Rev. Greg Haratunian; Rev. Avedis Boynarian; Alan K.
Henrikson, Fletcher School of Diplomacy, Tufts University; and Pam Hurd and
Sofia Balakian of Facing History Foundation.
The Armenian Assembly is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
###
NR#2007-059
Editor’s Note: Below is the full text of Ambassador Evans’ remarks at the
award ceremony on May 3, 2007.
Remarks by
Ambassador John Marshal Evans
Cambridge, MA
May 3, 2007
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Mr. Morgenthau,
Hirair and Carolyn,
Professor Power,
Judge [Richard] Sterns
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an enormous honor for me to receive the Morgenthau award this evening.
I don’t believe I deserve it. I don’t believe I deserve any thanks for what
I did. But let me say a couple of words about the Morgenthaus. Like the
Darwins in Britain, the Morgenthaus in America have been eminent for over a
century. It’s a great honor to have Mr. Henry Morgenthau III here with us
tonight. Thank you for being here.
Ambassador Henry Morgenthau was indeed a giant of American diplomacy, and
indeed of American history. And he is a personal hero of mine and of many of
ours. I am so thrilled to have this early edition of his book.
What I have done to receive this honor tonight is nothing as compared to
what Ambassador Morgenthau did in his time, to help the victims of Genocide.
Had I not read his account, his story there in that book, I would not have
understood, from a diplomat’s point of view, the reality of what happened in
1915. That’s the first point.
The second point: had I not read Samantha Power’s book, `A Problem from
Hell,’ which is right here, I would not have understood America’s response
to genocide over these many decades.
And third, had I not become familiar with the legal analysis that was
created through the efforts of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation
Commission, I might not have seen a way forward, to do what I did.
And what I did was very simple. It was not simply blurting out the word
`genocide’ though, and you have to read my book, hopefully forthcoming, to
understand the voyage – the intellectual voyage, the voyage of discovery –
that took me, with those three important stops and several others:
Ambassador Morgenthau’s book, [Samantha] Power’s book, and the TARC study.
Those are important milestones for me.
Ambassador Morgenthau represented our country in another age – when the
United States was just beginning to mount the world stage. Today, we are the
major player. But that part of the stage, on which Morgenthau acted, with
different props and different labels, has become the central stage in world
affairs. Just think about it. How many of the problems we are dealing with
today – I have in mind Mesopotamia, which we now call Iraq, Cyprus, parts of
the Balkans, Israel and Palestine, much of the Middle East, in fact – how
much of that is left over from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire? Many of
those problems show up clearly on the map: the division of Cyprus, the
artificiality of post-Ottoman borders, and of course the European powers had
their role in all of that, as they selfishly carved up the remains of the
Empire, at Versailles. But one of the problems left by the Ottomans is
almost untraceable on today’s maps, unless one can detect that the land
border between the Republic of Turkey and Armenia is closed.
The problem that Ambassador Morgenthau confronted in his time has a very
long reach into the present. Ambassador Morgenthau’s other grandson, Robert
Morgenthau, the district attorney of New York, was today in the New York
Times reported to have witnessed the disruption of a book reading on the
Upper East Side of Manhattan.
It’s clear that Turks and Armenians badly need to come to terms with the
legacy of their shared history. But this cannot happen without a candid
discussion of that history, without political taboos and barriers.
Turkey and Armenia need to find a way forward, a way from the hatred and
violence, and toward a future of cooperation, commerce, more and better
democracy, more and better human rights.
The legal analysis that was produced under the auspices of the much maligned
Turkish Armenian Reconciliation [Commission], backed by the Armenian
Assembly of America, points the way forward, I believe, to a better place
for Armenians and Turks. The missing ingredient, perhaps, in the TARC
formula, was the truth: it talked about reconciliation, but did not mention,
at least in its title, the truth, however unattainable that concept may seem
at times. But interestingly enough, despite that, a truth did emerge, from
the legal analysis that was commissioned through the International Center
for Transitional Justice in New York. That study concluded, and I am going
to quote it to you, although many of you know it, that: `although no legal,
financial or territorial claim arising out of the events (it means events in
1915, J.E.) could successfully be made against any individual or state under
the Convention, nonetheless, the events, viewed collectively, can be said to
include all the elements of the crime of genocide as described in the
Convention, and the legal scholars, as well as historians, politicians,
journalists and other people would be justified in continuing to so describe
them.’ Now, that sounds legalistic, but it was a huge breakthrough.
Now, I see there are cameras working, but I do want to share with you
something that I – I had a conversation earlier this week with somebody who
was intimately involved with the preparation of that legal study. He assured
me – this will be in my book – assured me that the result that was arrived
at by this group was not preordained by politics, but the result arose from
the law, from the study of the law, from the analysis that was done. So, I
think this is a tremendous breakthrough that has not been adequately
appreciated.
And 53 Nobel Laureates recently, as most of you know, based their appeal to
Ankara and Yerevan on that analysis. The philosophy that inspired the TARC
study will be very close to the center of my book. I also want to make a
plea for looking hard at the re-statement that the Turkish Foreign Minister
has recently made of the old proposal for a commission of historians. Now, I
understand perfectly well why that original proposal made by the Turkish
Prime Minister in 2005 was rejected. Because there — as [Samantha] Power so
rightly said tonight, there is no question about whether this was or wasn’t
a genocide. But what might be useful — would be to try to get some agreed
narratives for future generations to rely on in both countries.
The new ingredient that the Turkish Foreign Minister put out there was the
using or inviting third-country historians to sit in. Now, I don’t know what
Judge Sterns who is here with us tonight would say but when one puts
together an arbitral commission of usually 3 judges, one side picks one, one
side picks the other and then they agree on the third. It’s very important
to have that third party involved and although I don’t we should jump at it,
I don’t think that revised proposal should be dismissed out of hand. Agreed
narratives have been useful, for example, in the case of Germany and France,
with all their many historical misunderstandings and problems, and also in
the case of Germany and Poland. So, I think in the distant future it may be
useful to try to get historians to work on this together.
In closing, let me just say again – thank you. No one needs to thank me, but
I thank you. I am deeply moved by this honor, I am deeply inspired by the
memory of Ambassador Morgenthau, and inasmuch as I feel unworthy of this
honor, the only thing I can do is my very best to live up to it. And I will
do that.
Thank you very much.
-end-
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