Transcript [PDF] - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

13
In a letter to Members of Congress 2 years ago, the International
Association of Genocide Scholars stated the following, and I quote:
‘‘The historical record on the Armenian Genocide is unambiguous
and documented by overwhelming evidence. It is proven
by foreign office records of the United States, France, Great
Britain, Russia, and perhaps most importantly, of Turkey’s
World War I allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, as well as
by the records of the Ottoman Court-Martial of 1918–1920, and
by decades of scholarship.
‘‘As crimes of genocide continue to plague the world, Turkey’s
policy of denying the Armenian Genocide gives license to those
who perpetrate genocide everywhere.’’
The Genocide Scholars urged the House to pass a resolution acknowledging
the Armenian Genocide because, they said, it would
constitute—and I quote again—‘‘recognition of a historical turning
point in the twentieth century, the event that inaugurated the era
of modern genocide. In spite of its importance, the Armenian Genocide
has gone unrecognized until recently, and warrants a symbolic
act of moral commemoration.’’
Professor Yehuda Bauer, a highly respected scholar at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, has written that the Armenian
Genocide, is in his words, ‘‘the closest parallel to the Holocaust.’’
In a 1985 report, a subcommission of the U.N. Commission on
Human Rights found that the massacres of the Armenians qualified
as genocide. And Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer who
coined the word ‘‘genocide’’ and drafted the international genocide
convention, told an interviewer that ‘‘I became interested in genocide
because it happened to the Armenians.’’
Nearly two dozen other countries—including France, Canada,
Russia, Switzerland and Chile—have formally recognized the Armenian
Genocide. So has the European Parliament. As the world
leader in promoting human rights, the United States has a moral
responsibility to join them.
The Turks say passing this resolution could have terrible consequences
for our bilateral relationship, and indeed perhaps there
will be some consequences. But I believe that Turkey values its relationship
with the United States at least as much as we value our
relations with Turkey. And I believe the Turks, however deep their
dismay today, fundamentally agree that the United States-Turkish
alliance is simply too important to get sidetracked by a non-binding
resolution passed by the House of Representatives.
At some point every nation must come to terms with its own history,
and that is all we ask of Turkey. Germany has accepted responsibility
for the Holocaust. South Africa has set up a Truth
Commission to look at apartheid. And here at home, we continue
to grapple with the legacies of slavery and our horrendous treatment
of Native Americans.
It is now time for Turkey to accept the reality of the Armenian
Genocide. This will most likely be a difficult and painful process for
the Turkish people, but at the end of the day, it will strengthen
Turkish democracy and put the United States-Turkey relationship
on a better footing.
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