Forty-nine members of the US House of Representatives have written a letter to US President Barack Obama urging him to recognize the mass killings of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans in 1915 as genocide, claiming that the move will help improve Turkish-Armenian relations. “We are writing to underscore the importance of a full and just acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide in your annual April 24th statement,” 49 members of the US Congress wrote in the letter obtained by Today's Zaman. The lawmakers said a clear recognition of the 1915 events as genocide, as Armenians mark its centennial this year, would affirm that it is not an allegation but a “widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence.” In the run-up to his presidential victory in 2008, President Obama promised to recognize the 1915 events as the Armenian genocide, only to back down after being elected to the White House. In previous years, Obama's annual April 24 statement, a date on which the Armenians consider the mass killings and forced deportations started, had been the most acute ever, but fell short of satisfying the Armenians. Obama used the original Armenian word to describe the 1915 events in an attempt to avoid using the term “genocide” -- a statement that would undoubtedly enrage Turkey. For decades, Ankara has lobbied against the recognition of the 1915 events as genocide, whose nature and scale remain highly contentious. The Armenians claim up to 1.5 million people were either killed or sent to death in a deliberate attempt to eradicate the Armenian minority in Eastern Turkey. Ankara says the number of Armenians killed is inflated and that the killings were the result of war. Both Turks and Armenians anticipate that Obama will issue a similar, delicate statement this year despite mounting pressure on the White House to finally recognize it with clear words. Members of Congress said a principled presidential statement clearly citing the “Armenian Genocide” would help strengthen condemnations of the past, and recognize the important relationship the United States shares with Armenia today. “Please join with us this April in properly commemorating the Armenian Genocide by citing it as a clear instance of genocide,” the letter told Obama. They claimed that the recognition will honor the Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and other Christian victims of this atrocity, pay well-deserved tribute to American humanitarian relief efforts, pave the way toward improved Armenian-Turkish relations, and meaningfully “reinforce our own resolve to prevent future genocides.” Rep. Robert Dold, who initiated the letter, said on Friday that the US, as the world's greatest advocate for freedom, has an obligation to fully acknowledge one of humanity's “most horrific crimes. “An unequivocal statement of recognition would not only reinforce our own resolve, but it would also help prevent future genocides by reaffirming that we will not tolerate affronts to human dignity,” Dold stated. The letter was sent to the White House on Wednesday. Congressman Dold is also the sponsor of a House resolution that calls on the president to work toward “equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations” based upon Turkey's full acknowledgment of the “facts and ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide.” He introduced the resolution on March 18 and nearly 50 House members have declared their support. The issue has long been a source of tension between Turkey and several Western countries, especially the US and France, both home to large ethnic Armenian diasporas. Armenians in the US have put tireless efforts to mark the killings this year. The Armenians' renewed push to recognize the killings as genocide prompted Ankara's counter-offensive. A number of high-level Turkish officials visited Washington since the beginning of the year, including Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu is expected to arrive in the US capital just days before Obama's statement as part of a Turkish government-orchestrated campaign to blunt the momentum. Last week, the Turkish parliament speaker said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that Turkey more than anyone wants to illuminate every aspect of the 1915 events so that the issue is not "exploited.” "Whatever there is in front or behind [us], who provoked these events, who promoted them … whatever happened, we want them to be unveiled based on documents with all their dimensions," Çiçek said, adding that Ankara wants to eliminate the “exploitation of the 1915 events” and contribute to peace through “exposing historic realities.”

• published: 05 Apr 2015
• views: 4