Armenian Genocide Vote....why now?

Question

Do you think that the Democrats are pushing for the Armenian genocide resolution right now so they can make things harder for us in Iraq. Turkey is threatening to close the U.S. base and not allow us to supply our troops through Turkey if this resolution passes. Is this a good faith resolution, or a chance for Democrats to make things even tougher for us in Iraq?

P.S. Lets get this part out of the way so we can really discuss the merits of this vote. Bush is an idiot, and the Iraq war is doomed to fail. Now, why are Dems pushing for this vote right now.

Answer 1

ok here's the thing. this resolution has been on the table for YEARS and everyone always pushes it to the side because they don't want to be a part of the administration or congress that votes against turkey. i think it's high time they put on their big-girl undies and faced the facts. the fact is that most in the government agree that it should be called genocide but don't want to be the one who has to say it. so if the democrats want to be those people, then kudos to them.

Answer 2

Leave it to the Dems to screw things up and piss off an allie. This happened over 100 years ago when the ruling party had the chance to settle the score from lets say the 1400s. These people in the middle east hold a grudge forever.
I believe by doing this is treason to the troops on the ground if Turkey decides to invade Iraq, but it might just be the right thing for the country to come together.

Answer 3

I think you are right. The Dems found Turkey's moral weak spot, its unwillingness to acknowledge history. I agree that denying the Armenian genocide is reprehensible, similar to denying the Holocaust. However, nobody who perpetrated it is alive now; and it really isn't Congress's job to write the history books. The only reason I can think that they have taken up this cause right now, is to put a wedge between Turkey, a Muslim ally and more or less secular democracy, and the US. It puts people like me in an awkward spot; I want Turkey, and all of us, to face the truth. I just can't see the benefit of this tactic at this time.

Answer 4

Because American politics are corrupt. It's not about right or wrong it's about getting elected by any means. The Dems know the Iraq war is a black mark on the republicans and any way they can make it worse benefits them. It's not just Bush who is an idiot it's all of them.

Answer 5

As buffalove and Taylor point out, the resolution has come up periodically for the past 25 years. It's not a partisan issue--Ronald Reagan is so far the only President to recognize the Genocide. The vote this year in the committee was 27-21, of the Republicans 8 voted for it; of the Democrats 8 voted against. In 2005 the vote was 40-7 in favor--obviously bipartisan. In 2000 Clinton blocked the resolution. The only difference this year is that events have come together to make passage more likely, while Bush has been putting pressure on Republicans and polarizing the vote somewhat.

So there's no special timing, and Bush's pressure is what has made it look like a partisan situation. The Democrats aren't out to get anyone.

Taylor--great post.

By the way, we shouldn't forget the Assyrians and the Greeks who also suffered a genocide at the hands of the Turks at the same time. Estimates run as high as 750,000 Assyrians killed, on top of the 1.5 million Armenians. They're usually forgotten, and I hate to say it, but in the U.S. it would probably mostly confuse people to bring it up. From what I remember, Turkey was about 30 percent Christian before these genocides; afterward very few.


Edit/Add: you know, this shouldn't be necessary, but apparently it is. Sorry for the length:

Here's a 2005 statement approved UNANIMOUSLY by The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS). An excerpt--the whole letter is worth reading:

http://www.genocidewatch.org/TurkishPMIA...

"The Armenian Genocide was the most well-known human rights issue of its time and was reported regularly in newspapers across the United States and Europe. The Armenian Genocide is abundantly documented by thousands of official records of the United States and nations around the world including Turkey’s wartime allies Germany, Austria and Hungary, by Ottoman court-martial records, by eyewitness accounts of missionaries and diplomats, by the testimony of survivors, and by decades of historical scholarship.


The Armenian Genocide is corroborated by the international scholarly, legal, and human rights community:

1) Polish jurist Raphael Lemkin, when he coined the term genocide in 1944, cited the Turkish extermination of the Armenians and the Nazi extermination of the Jews as defining examples of what he meant by genocide.

2) The killings of the Armenians is genocide as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

3) In 1997 the International Association of Genocide Scholars, an organization of the world’s foremost experts on genocide, unanimously passed a formal resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide.

4) 126 leading scholars of the Holocaust including Elie Wiesel and Yehuda Bauer placed a statement in the New York Times in June 2000 declaring the “incontestable fact of the Armenian Genocide” and urging western democracies to acknowledge it.

5) The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide (Jerusalem), and the Institute for the Study of Genocide (NYC) have affirmed the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide.

6) Leading texts in the international law of genocide such as William A. Schabas’s Genocide in International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2000) cite the Armenian Genocide as a precursor to the Holocaust and as a precedent for the law on crimes against humanity.

We note that there may be differing interpretations of genocide—how and why the Armenian Genocide happened, but to deny its factual and moral reality as genocide is not to engage in scholarship but in propaganda and efforts to absolve the perpetrator, blame the victims, and erase the ethical meaning of this history. "


Yes just as you can find "scholars" that object to the Holocaust--historian David Irving, psychologist Richard Lynn, etc., you can also find people who deny the Armenian Genocide. You can find scientists who believe HIV doesn't cause AIDS, including a famous Berkeley professor and so on. Any scholar in any field can tell you that there are people with "unusual" views. That doesn't mean they're right. I would trust the unanimous votes of organizations like The International Association of Genocide Scholars and individuals like Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel over rogue scholars and Turks who will be arrested if they say the wrong thing.

Answer 6

First of all, There was not a Country called Turkey at that time. It was an ottoman empire which was last 700 years. Many people lived under the empire within good conditions. They were happy. When war began Armenians take a part with Russian and be their spies in Turkey. They were against to Turks and killed many Turks too.I think Russia promised them their own land after the war therefore they did it to Turks. And Turks first started to fight with their enemies inside in their country. Turks accept people killed in both part. Turks were also killed too. It was a war and Turks killed their "inside" enemies first rather than other countries in the war. It was a war and it is what it spouse to be.






Would you fight against the other enemies when you have some in your country? Of course not. it is like "cleaning your door first". Many people killed and killed. But it was not all Armenians. It was their mistake when being against to country where they have lived. They are treacherous people. They made a big mistake and not accepting results? What would you do to your treacherous enemies? Would you help them after the war to deliver them somewhere else to live? Ottomans lost the war and they had their problems to solve rather that helping Armenians to leave the country in safe condition. Many historians says there were diseases and that’s why many people in both sides died after the war.








There were also other political movements against the Ottoman Empire. I feel sorry for both people but it was A WAR not a normal day. I dont understand how people call it genocide. it was WAR where someone won and someone lost. Turks give their web links Armenian give theirs. Do you think they are impartial websites. We should listen the historian people. The net has all kind of information and you can believe anything you read but there is only one true. Turks are not stupid to accept something that their grandfathers didn’t do. As many people say The Armenians have Russia to stand behind them and Turkish people have us (United States). for now. It is bigger than you think when you search Russia and US history .It is not only Armenia or Turkey. Russia used Armenians against to Ottomans and now uses Armenians against to US? Dont be stupid, This Armenians played o big role on decadence of Ottoman Empire. Be aware people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

I don't believe the Democrats would ever take a position that puts our soldiers at even more risk. I think it's just people frustated and longing for some recognition, but I agree, it couldn't have come at a worse time, but they deserve to be observed

Answer 8

The Armenian genocide is the "death of 1.5 million Christians killed by Muslims in a Jihad"

Did you know Freedom of Speech is outlawed in Turkey? Did you know Turkey is still doing honor killings?

Why does the United States support a country that does that? Just because of misle bases?

the resolution has been coming up for the past 25 years and everytime it has come up the US government says "this is not the right time" just like they are now. During Clintons presidency the same thing was being said that is being said now and there was no war.
So when will it be the right time? Never is the right answer.

Armenian-Americans have been trying for the past 25 years for the US to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Its recognized in countless other countries like Canada, Italy, Greece, France, Poland, etc.

it happened 90 years after the fact, did you know alot of the survivors of that genocide are still alive? They were children when the Turks raped their mothers and fathers, chopped their aunts and uncles into pieces, hung their brothers and sisters on crosses and then burned them alive. Leaving the survivors as orphans who alot wound up in orphanges in America in 1915.
Their still alive, don't you think the USA should recognize what happened to them while their still alive?

Turkey never admitted they did the genocide, they lie and say it never happened, Turks claim Both Armenians and Greeks comitted a Genocide to them in 1915, they hold rallies in streets of America including outside the White House stating this. You can see the videos and photos Here:
http://www.theforgotten.org/denial


http://www.theforgotten.org/denial2005/
Did you know its against the law in turkey for anyone to say the Armenian Genoicde happened. Its Penal Code 301 in Turkey. The punishment is jail. Famous journalist Hrant DInk was sent to jail for saying the Armenian Genocide happened then he was killed, his son has to serve 1 year in jail for saying the Armenian Genocide happened/

In turkey their history books are re-written stating the Armenian Genocide never happened. The country is teaching their people lies which is causing a dangerous situation..

Should the USA deny the Sept 11 attacks happened because Osama Bin Laden makes a good ally?

Don't you think its ironic the USA is allies with a country Turkey who is Muslim and comitted a JIHAD (genocide) to Christians -the Armenians who deny it ever even happened?

If your grandfather was alive and told you how his father was hung on a cross burned alive, his mother was raped and killed, his uncles, aunts, brothers and sisters were all raped, chopped into pieces, tortured in front of him by muslims you want the people who did it to at least say sorry, right? Not re-write history books and say your grandfathers family killed and raped them?

My Grandfather is 95 years old, all he wants in life is to see the USA recognize this before he dies. Hes lived in this country since he was a littly boy. He payed his taxes, is a successful business man who is a good American citizen.
2 days ago - Edit - Delete
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