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U.S. Senate Unanimously Recognizes Armenian Genocide

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Yervant1 Mentor

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http://www.anca.org/assets/graphics/2015/anca_header_700x75.jpg

December 12, 2019

U.S. Senate Unanimously Recognizes Armenian Genocide

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ANCA-Backed Bipartisan Measure (S.Res.150) Completes Congressional Over-Ride of Ankara's Longstanding Veto, Increasing Pressure on the White House

 

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Senate struck a historic blow today against Turkey's century-long obstruction of justice for the Armenian Genocide, unanimously adopting S.Res.150, an Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)-backed measure that locks in ongoing U.S. recognition of this crime.

 

The resolution, identical to a measure (H.Res.296) adopted 405 to 11 in the U.S. House in October, officially rejects Turkey's denials of its genocide against Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christian nations. Passage of the resolution - spearheaded by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) - marks the first time that the Senate has recognized the Armenian Genocide.

 

"The Senate today joined the House in rejecting Ankara's gag-rule against honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide - overriding the largest, longest foreign veto over the U.S. Congress in American history," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Today's unanimous Senate action shines a spotlight on the President, who continues - against all reason - to enforce Erdogan's veto against honest American remembrance of Turkey's extermination and exile of millions of Christians. It's time for the Executive Branch to join Congress in ending any and all American complicity in Ankara's lies. Together, the President and Congress should put in place a sustained and pro-active policy that rejects Turkey's lies, challenges Ankara's obstruction of justice, and works with Armenian and Turkish stakeholders toward the international reparations and other remedies required of this crime."

 

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Axios.com

Dec 12 2019



Senate passes Armenian genocide bill in move likely to infuriate Turkey


1576174713826.jpg

Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images


The Senate passed a resolution via unanimous consent Thursday formally recognizing Turkey's genocide of the Armenian people.


Why it matters: The previous three attempts by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to pass the resolution were blocked by Republican senators at the request of the White House, which feared that its passage would infuriate the Turkish government during a tense period of U.S.-Turkey relations.


Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) previously objected to the resolution, but indicated that they were not willing to do so again.

Mendendez, who has championed the cause since arriving in the Senate in 2006, became emotional on the Senate floor as he spoke following the passage of the resolution.


“By passing my Armenian Genocide resolution, the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened from 1915 to 1923 was – most assuredly – genocide. There is no other word for it. There is no euphemism. There is no avoiding it. To overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation. We are better than that, and our foreign policy should always reflect this."


— Sen. Bob Menendez


The big picture: Turkey and its NATO allies, including the U.S., have clashed recently over Turkey's purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system, as well as its military assault against U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Bipartisan senators have introduced a bill to implement sanctions against Turkey for its S-400 purchase.


What to watch: A similar Armenian genocide bill has already been passed by the House. It's unclear if President Trump will sign the resolution into law.




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The Hill, DC

Dec 12 2019



Senate passes Armenian genocide resolution


By Jordain Carney - 12/12/19 01:05 PM EST



The Senate passed a resolution on Thursday formally recognizing the Ottoman Empire's genocide against the Armenian people, a move strongly opposed by the Turkish government.


Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) passed the resolution, which provides "official recognition and remembrance" of the Armenian genocide, by consent.


"We have just passed the Armenian genocide resolution ... and it is fitting and appropriate that the Senate stands on the right side of history in doing so. It commemorates the truth of the Armenian genocide," Menendez said from the Senate floor.


Under the Senate's rules any senator can ask to pass a resolution. As long as another senator doesn't object, the measure will clear the chamber. The Armenian genocide resolution passed the House in a 405-11 vote.


The move comes after three GOP senators previously blocked passage of the resolution amid pressure from the White House, which argued that it would undercut negotiations between Washington and Ankara, which vehemently opposes recognizing the killing of 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) noted that it was the fourth time that supporters have tried to pass the resolution.


"This is the third week in a row we have come to the Senate floor seeking to pass this resolution, and I'm grateful that today we have succeeded," Cruz said. "This is a moment of truth that was far too long coming."


Congress's passage of the resolution comes as relations between the U.S. and Turkey have been tested in recent months over Turkey's purchase of a Russian weapons system and its incursion into Syria.


It comes a day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed Turkey sanctions legislation, underscoring the rocky relationship between Capitol Hill and Ankara.


In addition to giving "recognition and remembrance" to the Armenian genocide, the resolution also rejects attempts to "enlist, engage, or otherwise associate" the U.S. government with denial of genocide and "encourage education and public understanding" of it.



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Politico

Dec 12 2019



Senate defies earlier White House block to unanimously recognize Armenian genocide


"America's non-response to the Turkish horrors established patterns that would be repeated," Sen. Bob Menendez said.


By BURGESS EVERETT



The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide in Turkey more than 100 years ago, over earlier objections from President Donald Trump.


The move amounted to a stern condemnation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has grown close to Russia in recent months and who criticized a similar resolution passed by the House. Moreover, the Senate advanced Turkish sanctions legislation on Wednesday, threatening to disrupt Trump's alliance with Erdoğan.


The White House had directed several senators to block the bill in recent weeks. But when Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) took the floor on Thursday, the opposition melted away.


"America's non-response to the Turkish horrors established patterns that would be repeated ... we know all too well the horrors that would be repeated later in the 20th century with the Holocaust and other genocides around the world," Menendez said. "Here in the Senate today, we break those patterns. We join the House who voted to do so ... 405-11. Today the Senate shows the same resolve."


Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who worked closely with Menendez on the proposal, called its passage "an achievement for truth, an achievement for speaking the truth to darkness, for speaking the truth to evil."


The bipartisan denunciation of Turkey could be the first step in pushback at Erdoğan for buying Russian weapons. Senators have been pushing for enforcement of existing sanctions, and Menendez is among several senators in both parties aiming to tack on more economic pain for Turkey.


Erdoğan visited the White House this fall and held an unusual meeting alongside Trump with Republican senators, temporarily delaying the Senate's actions against Turkey. But it appears the chamber is getting sick of staying on the sidelines.


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USA Today

Dec 12 2019





Senate recognizes Armenian genocide over objections of Trump and Turkish government



WASHINGTON – In a stinging rebuke to Turkey, the Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide – marking a shift in U.S. policy despite repeated objections from the Trump administration.


The Senate's action is historic, and it will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions. The genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.


For decades, Turkey had deployed an army of lobbyists to stop the measure. But that effort fell short on Thursday, when Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., pressed for its adoption and no senator objected.


Menendez broke down in tears afterward, when he began recounting the horrors of the genocide.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/12/12/senate-senate-recognizes-arrecognizes-armenian-genocide-over-objections-trump-and-turkish-government/4410046002/








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News.am, Armenia
Dec 12 2019
Full text of US Senate’s resolution recognizing Armenian Genocide
22:58, 12.12.2019
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The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted resolution calling to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance and to reject efforts to associate the United States Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide.

The full text of the resolution is as follows:

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate that it is the policy of the United States to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance.

Whereas the United States has a proud history of recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide, the killing of an estimated 1,500,000 Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, and providing relief to the survivors of the campaign of genocide against Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians;

Whereas the Honorable Henry Morgenthau, Sr., United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916, organized and led protests by officials of many countries against what he described as “a campaign of race extermination,” and, on July 16, 1915, was instructed by United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing that the “Department approves your procedure … to stop Armenian persecution”;

Whereas President Woodrow Wilson encouraged the formation of Near East Relief, chartered by an Act of Congress, which raised approximately $116,000,000 (more than $2,500,000,000 in 2019 dollars) between 1915 and 1930, and the Senate adopted resolutions condemning the massacres;

Whereas Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide” in 1944 and who was the earliest proponent of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, invoked the Armenian case as a definitive example of genocide in the 20th century;

Whereas, as displayed in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Adolf Hitler, on ordering his military commanders to attack Poland without provocation in 1939, dismissed objections by saying, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”, setting the stage for the Holocaust;

Whereas the United States has officially recognized the Armenian Genocide—

(1) through the May 28, 1951, written statement of the United States Government to the International Court of Justice regarding the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Proclamation No. 4838 issued by President Ronald Reagan on April 22, 1981; and

(2) by House Joint Resolution 148, 94th Congress, agreed to April 8, 1975, and House Joint Resolution 247, 98th Congress, agreed to September 10, 1984; and

Whereas the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–441) establishes that the prevention of atrocities is a national interest of the United States and affirms that it is the policy of the United States to pursue a United States Government-wide strategy to identify, prevent, and respond to the risk of atrocities by “strengthening diplomatic response and the effective use of foreign assistance to support appropriate transitional justice measures, including criminal accountability, for past atrocities”: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that it is the policy of the United States—

(1) to commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance;

(2) to reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States Government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide; and

(3) to encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide, including the role of the United States in humanitarian relief efforts, and the relevance of the Armenian Genocide to modern-day crimes against humanity.

https://news.am/eng/news/549560.html

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RT - Russia Today
Dec 12 2019
US Senate passes resolution recognizing Armenian genocide, ignoring Trump & Turkey’s objections
12 Dec, 2019 18:48 /
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File photo © REUTERS/Loren Elliott
The US Senate has unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Ottoman Empire-era massacre of Armenians as genocide. The move is likely to further strain US ties with Ankara, which has opposed such a designation for decades.

The landmark resolution was passed by the Senate on Thursday. It was the fourth attempt to adopt it, as the previous efforts were blocked by three GOP senators.

“We have just passed the Armenian genocide resolution...and it is fitting and appropriate that the Senate stands on the right side of history in doing so. It commemorates the truth of the Armenian genocide,” the resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), said.

The United States Senate just passed the Armenian Genocide resolution with no objection through unanimous consent! Thank you, @SenatorMenendez and @SenTedCruz, for your relentless commitment to passing this resolution. pic.twitter.com/2IBfjZZwIk

— Armenian Assembly (@ARAMAC_DC) December 12, 2019

Recognizing the mass-killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians during WWI as a “genocide” has been vehemently opposed by the Trump administration, which argued such a move would further spoil already-tense relations with Turkey. Ankara, for its part, has long denied any mass killings took place, insisting that tens of thousands of both Turks and Armenians were killed as a result of the war.

A similar resolution was passed by the House of Representatives back in October by an overwhelming majority. The move sent Turkey into frenzy, with the country’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu branding the “null and void” decision a “shameful” and petty “revenge” for Turkey’s independent foreign policy.

https://www.rt.com/usa/475725-us-senate-armenian-genocide-resolution/

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Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Dec 12 2019
US Senate passes Armenia resolution Chamber votes unanimously in favor of resolution to recognize alleged killings of Armenians in 1915
Servet Günerigök |12.12.2019

WASHINGTON

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed Thursday a resolution that recognizes the so-called Armenian genocide.

"Our resolution to recognize and commemorate the #ArmenianGenocide just passed the United States Senate," Senator Bob Menendez announced on Twitter.

The resolution asserts that "it is the policy" of the U.S. to commemorate the alleged genocide "through official recognition and remembrance."

Last week, the White House asked Republican Senator Kevin Cramer to block voting on the resolution, according to the Axios news site. That marked the third time a Republican senator blocked the measure at the White House's request.

Last month, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham objected to passing the resolution after Menendez sought consent to pass it. Republican Senator David Perdue was also asked to block the resolution.

Cramer said he does not think it is "the right time" to pass the resolution, according to Axios.

The senator reportedly cited U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at this month's NATO summit in London, saying the resolution could harm the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts.

In mid-November during his visit in Washington, Erdogan reiterated his call for historians to investigate the issue.

"If the U.S. side really wants to act fairly, it should refrain from taking a political stand on a matter that historians should decide," said Erdogan.

The president warned that listening to one side would lead to irreparable harms in Turkey-U.S. relations.

On Oct. 29, the anniversary of the Turkish Republic, the House voted 405-11 in favor of the resolution to recognize alleged killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-senate-passes-armenia-resolution-/1672162

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Daily Sabah, Turkey
Dec 12 2019
US Senate passes resolution recognizing 1915 events as 'Armenian genocide'
DAILY SABAH
US. Senate passed Thursday a resolution recognizing the 1915 events as "Armenian genocide," in a move that is sure to anger Turkey.

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez shared the news on his Twitter account. "Our resolution to recognize and commemorate the Armenian Genocide just passed the U.S. Senate," he wrote.

The resolution had been blocked several times in the Senate, even though the Democratic-led House of Representatives passed the resolution by an overwhelming 405-11 late October.

The resolution asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate the 1915 events as "genocide."

Turkey objects to presenting the 1915 incidents as "genocide," rather calling them a tragedy in which both Turks and Armenians suffered casualties in the heat of World War I.

Ankara immediately denounced the House vote. It views foreign involvement in the issue as a threat to its sovereignty.

It has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia under the supervision of international experts to examine the issue.

Recognition of the 1915 events as "genocide" had for decades stalled in the Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey.

https://www.dailysabah.com/americas/2019/12/12/us-senate-passes-resolution-recognizing-1915-events-as-armenian-genocide

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The National Herald, Greece
Dec 12 2019
U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Recognizing Armenian Genocide (Video)
By TNH Staff December 12, 2019
AP19316733534980-760x507.jpg

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States Senate on December 12 unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, “in a stinging rebuke to Turkey,” USA Today reported.

Today, by passing my #ArmenianGenocide resolution, the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened in Armenia was – most assuredly – genocide.

There is no other word for it.

There is no euphemism.

There is no avoiding it. pic.twitter.com/Kna92CZDcV

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) December 12, 2019

 

The passage also marks “a shift in U.S. policy despite repeated objections from the Trump administration,” USA Today reported, adding that “the Senate’s action is historic, and it will almost certainly exacerbate U.S.-Turkey tensions” and “the genocide measure officially recognizes the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.”

BREAKING: Our resolution to recognize and commemorate the #ArmenianGenocide just passed the United States Senate. pic.twitter.com/TVbaneuOaq

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) December 12, 2019

 

The report in USA Today also noted that “for decades, Turkey had deployed an army of lobbyists to stop the measure. But that effort fell short on Thursday, when Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, pressed for its adoption and no senator objected.”

Sen. Menendez, according to the USA Today report, “broke down in tears afterward, when he began recounting the horrors of the genocide.”

https://www.thenationalherald.com/273689/u-s-senate-passes-resolution-recognizing-armenian-genocide/

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Bloomberg

Dec 12 2019




Congress Recognizes Armenian Genocide Amid Tensions with Turkey



The Senate adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, following House approval of a similar measure, despite opposition from President Donald Trump’s State Department on concerns that it would further complicate ties with Turkey.


The Republican-led chamber cleared the measure Thursday without objection -- the fourth attempt by Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, to seek unanimous consent for the resolution. At the request of the White House, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham, David Perdue and Kevin Cramer blocked previous attempts, saying they didn’t want to anger a NATO ally during a time of high tensions.


U.S. lawmakers were outraged by Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria after Trump abruptly withdrew troops from the Kurdish-held region in October. They have also been highly critical of Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system, which should trigger sanctions under existing law.


Republican senators personally expressed their concerns to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when Trump hosted him in the White House last month. Their complaints weren’t heeded, and Turkey began testing the S-400 shortly thereafter.


Menendez said during a Foreign Relations Committee meeting Wednesday that he was worried the U.S. was being held “hostage to Turkey.” Senator Ted Cruz, the co-sponsor of the legislation, said the administration has given “no good reason” to block the resolution. The Republican-led panel in Wednesday’s session also voted to advance additional sanctions against Turkey.


The House voted in October 405-11 to condemn the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of 1.5 million Armenians early in the last century, ignoring Turkey’s longstanding opposition to the measure. The House and Senate votes on these resolutions amount to the official U.S. government recognition of the massacre and do not require Trump’s signature.



— With assistance by Nick Wadhams, and Firat Kozok



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Cyprus Mail
Dec 12 2019
US Senate passes resolution recognising Armenian genocide
By Reuters News ServiceDecember 12, 2019
download-960x675.jpg

The US Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that recognises as a genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a move likely to infuriate Turkey and further strain ties between Ankara and Washington.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives passed the resolution by an overwhelming 405-11 in late October. But a vote in the Senate, where President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans hold a majority of seats, had been blocked several times by Republican senators.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2019/12/12/us-senate-passes-resolution-recognising-armenian-genocide/

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AHVAL News
Dec 12 2019
Turkey’s historical bias boosts Armenian Genocide research
  • David Lepeska
  • Dec 12 2019 10:20 Gmt+3
  • Last Updated On: Dec 12 2019 10:29 Gmt+3

The Turkish government launched an English-language Armenian genocide denial website this week, underscoring the extent to which history in Turkey is less about facts and scholarly analysis than a favourable portrayal of past events.

“This website will respond to Armenian genocide slander used against our country at every possible opportunity in the international area, by putting historical information and data to the fore," Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said, referring to the new site.

For years, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) has proposed the establishment of a commission to analyse Ottoman and Armenian archives to determine whether the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Armenians from 1915. But the government already appears to have its answer.

“The main voice that counters research on the Armenian genocide is the Turkish government, that is the base truth,” Ryan Gingeras, associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and one of the more widely respected historians of the late Ottoman era and early Republican period.

Yektan Türkyılmaz, a Kurdish-origin historian who has worked in the Turkish and Armenian archives, took a similar view. “Genocide is not an event, it is a process,” he said. “Denialism is a part of this process.”

Erdoğan’s government makes three assertions in regards to the label of genocide. The first is that historians have yet to review an immense repository of documents in the Armenian and Ottoman archives.

Gingeras points out that Turkey’s Interior Ministry keeps some of its archives off-limits, but acknowledged that there were likely records within the archives that could better illuminate the events of 1915-1919.

“There is still a lot to learn about the period, about not simply what happened to Armenians, but how the government thought about it, how they went about prosecuting the genocide, how they went about making sure that the effect of the Armenian genocide wasn’t reversed, meaning that Armenians don’t come back,” he said.

Türkyılmaz pointed out that Turkey’s military archives were only partially open, and that the land registry archives, which are crucial because they reveal demographic change through home ownership, remained closed.

Even if these archives were open, he said they might not reveal much. “Archives function as a display window of a state,” he told Ahval in a podcast. “They form an exhibition where a state creates itself.”

Turkey’s second argument is that mostly amateurs and non-historians have analysed the issue, but at least a dozen respected historians have written at length about the Armenian genocide, and in the past decade many strongly researched books on the issue have been published.

Turkey’s third assertion - that the label of genocide is not supported by the available evidence - is likely the most dubious. “There is almost unanimous agreement in academia about what happened to Armenians in 1915,” said Türkyılmaz.

There is also a growing global consensus, as government bodies in 32 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Brazil have recognised the genocide.

Last week, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer blocked a resolution that would have officially recognised the Armenian Genocide in the Senate, following its passage in the House in October. It was the third time in a month that a Republican prevented the Senate from voting on the resolution.

Cramer said the move would anger Turkey during a time of sensitive negotiations on Turkey’s offensive in northeast Syria and its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile systems.

“I’m not sure the U.S. government is an appropriate agent to make these kinds of decisions,” said Gingeras, who understands the Armenian diaspora movement to bring pressure on Turkey. “Is this something that Congress should be busying itself with, and to what end?”

This echoes Turkey’s new website, which warns foreign governments against making formal pronouncements about the genocide that could hurt Turkish-Armenian relations. The site also calls for “leaving history to historians” and points to “fatalities on both sides” - common rallying cries from the Turkish perspective.

Türkyılmaz offered a rejoinder to those who say the Turkish and U.S. governments are only politicising the issue. “Nothing about the Armenian genocide is politically neutral, including the definition of genocide itself,” he said.

More than any other period or issue, Turks are taught about the era before, during, and after the country’s birth, according to Gingeras. But the role of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, an Ottoman general who founded the Republic of Turkey after the collapse of the empire in 1923, tends to be over-glorified, while the suffering of Armenians is significantly under-played.

In March 1916, Atatürk became a field commander in eastern Anatolia, the scene of many of the massacres and mass deportation of Armenians the year before. As such, Atatürk was surely aware of what had happened, but we have no record of his thoughts on the issue, Gingeras said, only that in an interview after the war, Turkey’s founder described the massacres as “villainy that belongs in the past”.

Atatürk nevertheless appointed former Ottoman officials, such as Şukru Kaya and Abdülhalik Renda, who had helped facilitate the genocide to ministerial posts in the new republic.

Though legal cases against those who describe the events as genocide are now rare, the ferocity with which Turkey’s government pushes its perspective means most Turkish citizens remain reluctant to discuss the issue from any other angle.

“In Turkey itself, history is taught as doctrine,” he added. “History is taught from the top down. It represents, essentially, state ideology.”

Yet in an ironic twist, scholarly research on the Armenian genocide has become so strong over the years largely thanks to the doubts of the Turkish government.

“It’s certainly helped shape the field, helped shape the sensitivity with which historians go about it,” said Gingeras. “They have to know what they’re talking about, they have to be somewhat conscientious about sources and where their research fits within the broader framework of the study of the Ottoman Empire and especially this period of time. There’s a really high standard.”

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Al-Jazeera, Qatar

Dec 12 2019






US Senate adopts resolution recognising 'Armenian genocide'

Senate approves resolution recognising early 20th century killings of Armenians as 'genocide', a label Turkey rejects.





1 hour ago







The Republican-led United States Senate on Friday adopted a resolution recognising the early 20th century killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide", a label Turkey rejects.




The move comes after the House of Representatives in October approved a similar resolution.


Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.


They say the mass killings amounted to "genocide", a claim recognised by about 30 countries.


Turkey strongly denies the accusation of "genocide" and says Armenians and Turks died as a result of World War I. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands from both sides.


After the House move in October, Ankara warned US-Turkey relations would be harmed.


"The resolution which has apparently been drafted and issued for domestic consumption is devoid of any historical or legal basis," Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement at the time.



More soon...






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Thank God and Congress ~ Now the President should sign this bill and America will join the countries and the world in recognizing the Armenian Genocide ~ and no longer be silent on murder to please anyone ```

 

Thank you to Senator Robert Menendez and Senator Ted Cruz ~ they spoke well before the vote ```

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The barking is intensified, you idiots keep denying it will not work. Actually you are helping it.

Anadolu Agency, Turkey

Dec 12 2019
Turkey lashes at US resolution on 1915 Armenian events 'Sanctions, threats to not deter us from protecting our national security interests,' says communications director
Burak Bir |12.12.2019

ANKARA

The latest U.S. moves, the sanctions bill and the resolution recognizing Armenian claims of 1915 events, jeopardize the bilateral relations with Turkey, a top Turkish official said on Thursday.

"The sanctions bill that passed yesterday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Armenian resolution that passed today in the Senate endanger the future of our bilateral relationship," Fahrettin Altun, Turkish communications director, said on Twitter.

His remarks came after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Thursday a resolution that recognizes the so-called Armenian genocide.

The resolution asserted that "it is the policy" of the U.S. to commemorate the alleged genocide "through official recognition and remembrance."

Turkey informed the U.S. about the reasons and aims of its anti-terror operation in northern Syria, Altun recalled, and added that Turkey refuses to compromise its national security “as some US Congress members are uncomfortable.”

"Sanctions and threats will not deter us from protecting our national security interests," he stressed.

Altun hit back at the U.S. Senate resolutions as “irresponsible and irrational actions.”

"As we stated previously we expect our Armenian brothers to stand up and prevent the U.S. Congress to destroy any attempt to reconcile our differences through scientific and academic channels."

"History will note these resolutions as irresponsible and irrational actions by some members of the U.S. Congress against Turkey. They will go down in history as the responsible party for causing a long lasting damage between two nations," he said.

Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey's presidential spokesman, also lashed out at the fresh U.S. resolution.

“This null and void decision will not affect Turkey’s righteous and resolute stance on political, military or economic areas,” Kalin said on Twitter.

Turkey's position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as "genocide" but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia plus international experts to examine the issue.

 

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Raw Story
Dec 12 2019
White House ‘shamed into submission’: Senate finally passes Armenian genocide bill despite Trump’s objections
December 12, 2019

In a direct refutation of the repeated objections of the Trump administration this Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

As USA Today points out, the historic move will likely complicate US-Turkey relations since it acknowledges that Turkey, then known as the Ottoman Empire, carried out the systematic killings of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923.

“By passing my Armenian Genocide resolution, the Senate finally stood up to confirm history: What happened from 1915 to 1923 was – most assuredly – genocide,” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said. “There is no other word for it. There is no euphemism. There is no avoiding it. To overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people. It is not what we stand for as a nation. We are better than that, and our foreign policy should always reflect this.”
“The killing was done with axes, cleavers, shovels and pitchforks. It was like a slaughterhouse,” Menendez said, quoting a priest who documented the atrocities at time. “Infants were dashed on rocks before the eyes of their mothers.”

Menendez reportedly broke down in tears as he recounted the horrors.

Axios reports that Menendez and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tried to pass the resolution three times before but were blocked by GOP senators at the behest of the Trump White House, which “feared that its passage would infuriate the Turkish government during a tense period of U.S.-Turkey relations.”

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TIME Magazine

Dec 12 2019




Senate Approves Resolution Affirming Turkey Is Responsible for Century-Old Armenian Genocide


BY MATTHEW DALY / AP 4:11 PM EST


(WASHINGTON) — On its fourth try, the Senate has approved a resolution that recognizes the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago as genocide.


The resolution had been blocked three times at the request of the White House, but won unanimous approval Thursday.


Co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the nonbinding resolution affirms that the genocide occurred and that Turkey is responsible.


“I say to my friends and colleagues that genocide is genocide,” Menendez said on the Senate floor. “Senators in this body should have the simple courage to say it plainly, say it clearly, and say it without reservation.”


Menendez and Cruz had tried three times to bring up the resolution using a procedural maneuver that would allow approval on a voice vote, a way to avoid lengthy floor debate. Each time, a Republican senator objected, citing White House disapproval.


North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer, who objected to the measure last week, said he agreed to do so at the White House request because the vote would have occurred around the time of a NATO summit where President Donald Trump and other leaders gathered in London. Turkey is a NATO member.


The House passed an identical resolution overwhelmingly in October in what was widely seen as a rebuke to Turkey in the wake of its invasion of northern Syria. Turkey has lobbied for years against U.S. recognition of the killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that the House vote had “hurt deeply the Turkish nation” and had “a potential of casting a deep shadow over our bilateral relations.”


Activist groups cheered the vote as long overdue. “The president ran out of people he could turn to to enforce Erdogan’s veto,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America.


Turkey’s decades-long opposition to the resolution was “the longest-lasting veto over U.S. foreign policy” by a foreign power in American history, Hamparian said.


Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed around World War I, and many scholars see it as the 20th century’s first genocide. Turkey disputes the description, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of a civil war.


Instead of a resolution affirming the genocide, Turkey has called for a joint committee of historians to investigate the slayings. “The decision makers in an incident that took place about 104 years ago should not be politicians, but historians,” Erdogan said during a White House meeting with Trump on Nov. 13.


Senate supporters got a big boost Thursday when reality TV star Kim Kardashian West took to social media to urge approval. “Please call your Senators NOW and urge them to vote YES on the #ArmenianGenocide resolution,” she told her 153 million followers on Instagram. “Denial is the final stage of genocide,” she added.







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Deutsche Welle, Germany

Dec 12 2019



Turkey summons US ambassador over resolution on Armenia genocide




The US ambassador to Turkey has been summoned over a US Senate resolution calling the killing of Armenians during WWI a "genocide." Turkey has warned that the resolution would negatively impact relations with the US.


Turkey's Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador to Ankara on Friday, a day after US lawmakers passed a resolution recognizing the mass killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians during World War I as genocide.


The US Senate's unanimous decision on Thursday followed the lower House of Representatives' move to back the resolution in October. The historic US policy will "commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance."


The policy, which is not legally binding, will also "reject efforts to enlist, engage, or otherwise associate the United States government with denial of the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide."


Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million people from the Armenian Christian minority were killed between 1915 and 1917


'Victory of justice'


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hailed US lawmakers' decision on Thursday as a "victory of justice and truth."


"On behalf of the Armenian people, I express gratitude to the US Congress," he wrote on Twitter, adding that the resolution was a "courageous step towards the prevention of genocides in future."


Legislatures in Germany, France and other European countries have also recognized the massacre of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 as genocide.


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the term genocide to describe the mass killings of Armenians during and in the immediate aftermath of World War I


'Damaging Turkish-American ties'


Turkey has accused the US of politicizing history and warned the decision would affect bilateral relations.


"The behavior of some members of the US Congress is damaging the Turkish-American ties," Turkey's presidential communication director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter.


"We condemn and reject this decision of the US Senate," Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay tweeted on Friday.


Denying genocide


Although the Turkish government acknowledges that many Armenians were killed by Ottoman soldiers, it outright rejects the term genocide.


Ankara argues that the Armenian death toll was much lower than reported, and that people on both sides died as a result of wartime unrest.


Historians have contested those assumptions by documenting how Ottoman soldiers committed massacres and forced marches that formed part of the Ottoman Empire's mass deportation of Armenians were instead designed to kill them during the journey.


Modern Turkey emerged in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the events leading up to that point are considered integral to the country's national identity.


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Panorama, Armenia
Dec 13 2019
f5df34fcb8a4ab_5df34fcb8a4e9.thumb.jpg
Society 12:45 13/12/2019Region
Turkish historian hails ‘historic’ Senate vote on Armenian Genocide resolution

Prominent Turkish historian, expert in genocide studies Taner Akcam has lauded the US Senate’s move to pass the Armenian Genocide resolution as ‘historic’.

“This is a historic day not only for Armenians, but also for Turks and all those who fight for truth and justice,” the historian said in a Facebook post on Thursday after the Senate voted unanimously to pass the resolution recognizing the Ottoman Empire’s mass killing of Armenians a century ago as genocide.

He stressed two of the three ‘pillars of the US government’ have already recognized the Armenian Genocide. “Even if Trump does not use the word ‘genocide’, we can now state that the United States has legally recognized the Genocide,” he wrote.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2019/12/13/Turkish-historian-Senate-Armenian-Genocide/2210755

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