JINSA position on Congress and Armenian genocide issue noted in The Washington Diplomat, 4/18/2011
Armenia-Turkey Genocide Battle Rears Its Head Again in U.S. Politics
Written by James Morrison
A new House resolution labeling the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide is sparking a wider backlash than in previous years when Congress considered similar measures.
Armenia-Turkey Genocide Battle Rears Its Head Again in U.S. Politics
Written by James Morrison
A new House resolution labeling the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide is sparking a wider backlash than in previous years when Congress considered similar measures.
Armenian-Americans were delighted when the House Foreign Affairs Committee narrowly adopted the resolution on March 4, but they were equally dismayed when President Obama turned against the measure at the last minute and violated a campaign promise to the small, but political savvy, ethnic community — which is now striking back.
The issue of what happened to hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1915 has today morphed into a modern-day political battle — and a lobbying bonanza for both sides.
The congressional resolution is nonbinding but is fraught with emotion for Armenia, which views it as a moral obligation to condemn this tragic chapter of history, and for Turkey, which hardly appreciates being compared to the likes of Adolf Hitler by the U.S. government.
So why do U.S. lawmakers regularly step into this emotional minefield — about an event that took place nearly 100 years that has little connection to American history?