Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Yesterday was Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (April 24). The word ‘genocide’ is a recent word that means destroying, either in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. This can be done by killing them all off, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life that are calculated to kill them off, imposing measures on the group intended to prevent births by the group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, and trying to breed the group out of existence by raping the women of the group.

The 20th Century has a brutal legacy of genocide, and it all started with the Armenian Genocide from 1915-1923. Before Darfur (current day), before Bosnia (1995), before Rwanda (1994), before Cambodia (1975-1979), before the Nazi Holocaust of Jews and Poles and Gypsies (1938-1945), and before the Ukrainian Famine, there was the Armenian Genocide. Hitler once justified his Holocaust by asking “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

In the Armenian Genocide, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed out of 2 million. The main reason for this was a desire to ‘Turkify’ the Ottoman Empire and kill off all non-Muslims (Armenians were largely Christian). Armenian men were drafted into the army to fight WWI- and then were disarmed and put into labor camps, where they were soon starved or killed. Groups of government officials spread rumors of the Armenians betraying Turkey, blamed them for the losses Turkey was suffering during WWI, and demanded ‘justice.’ In April 24, 1915, all community leaders were systematically rounded up and put to death. After that, as WWI spread and became more confusing and disorganized, armed groups would come into Armenian villages and kill off the rest of the men or make them go on death marches, rape or carry off the women to use as slaves, kidnap or enslave the children, loot the village of all valuables, and then chase off remaining Armenians (who then later died of starvation, exposure, or brutality). By 1923, Armenian was simply a memory- 4000+ years of history wiped away like it never existed- churches, monasteries, schools, people, possessions were all destroyed or gone. Even the Armenian names of cities, villages, and rivers were changed.

The official line in Turkey is that the number of people that died has been grossly inflated, and the evidence of this genocide comes from dubious and prejudicial sources. Turkey claims that more Muslims than Christians died during the same period in the chaos that engulfed Turkey during and after WWI. Turkey says that Ottoman officials were tried for crimes against the Armenians and were acquitted, and that the word ‘genocide’ wasn’t even around until after WWII, and that the Holocaust isn’t anything like what happened in Turkey to the Armenians. In 2004, Turkey passed Article 301, which makes it a crime to even talk about the Armenian Genocide, and Turkey today spends millions lobbying the US to try to defeat efforts here in the US to recognize the genocide. Turkey even gives millions to prestigious universities to fund studies of the ‘Turkish view’ of the genocide and offers scholarships to people who will write books or articles denying that the genocide ever took place.

Typical for the waffling spineless President that he is, Barack Obama refused to call what happened in Armenia from 1915-1923 a genocide, instead 'artfully' finding a middle ground on the issue, much like Chamberlain did when confronted by a similar display of evil. "On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began," Obama said in a statement.... " It is in all of our interest to see the achievement a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts." He then refused to call what took place in Armenia a 'genocide' and mouthed vague words of nothingness to mark the occasion.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) rapped Obama for "disgraceful capitulation to Turkey's threats" and of "offering euphemisms and evasive terminology to characterize this crime against humanity," in a press release Saturday. I agree.

While it is important to maintain relations with Turkey, and while we badly need their support on a bunch of important subjects, the truth is the truth, and it is black and white. Obama should recognize the truth and quit trying to make everything so grey.