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By David Boyajian<\/b><\/p>\n
President Biden\u2019s <\/span>April 24<\/span><\/a> statement acknowledging the Armenian Genocide (1915\u20131923+) <\/span>carried out<\/span><\/a> by Turkey was welcome but flawed.\u00a0 Indeed, \u201cTurkey\u201d appears nowhere in the document.\u00a0 Moreover, the State Department swiftly undermined Biden\u2019s virtuous-sounding words.<\/span><\/p>\n American acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide <\/span>isn\u2019t<\/span><\/i><\/a> even new.\u00a0 The U.S. House has passed several resolutions on the Genocide. \u00a0 And a nearly unanimous Congress did so in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Presidents going back to Woodrow Wilson have <\/span>described<\/span><\/a> the Armenian ordeals with language such as: an effort to exterminate all Armenians; terrible massacres; mass killings; death marches; and an ancient [Armenian] homeland was erased.\u00a0 If these don\u2019t describe genocide, the word is meaningless.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1951, the State Department <\/span>cited<\/span><\/a> the Armenian \u201cmassacres [as a] crime of genocide\u201d in a filing at the International Court of Justice.\u00a0 In 1981, President Reagan included \u201cthe genocide of Armenians\u201d in a Holocaust proclamation.<\/span><\/p>\n Genocide acknowledgments should not \u2014 like car insurance \u2014 <\/span>lapse<\/span><\/i> if not renewed annually.\u00a0 Will the Holocaust become a non-genocide next year if the White House happens to overlook it?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Still, the president\u2019s statement is <\/span>noteworthy<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 It could even <\/span>reinvigorate<\/span><\/a> several Armenian American lawsuits against Turkey. \u00a0 But the statement has problems.<\/span><\/p>\n It tries to take the heat off today\u2019s <\/span>Republic<\/span><\/i> of Turkey by blaming only \u201c<\/span>Ottoman<\/span><\/i>-era \u2026 authorities\u201d for the Genocide.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After the Allies defeated Ottoman Turkey in WWI (1918), Ottoman General Mustafa Kemal\u2019s (Ataturk) forces continued to massacre Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks.\u00a0 Kemal also <\/span>ordered<\/span><\/a> that Armenia be \u201cpolitically and physically eliminated.\u201d\u00a0 When he established the Turkish <\/span>Republic<\/span><\/i> in 1923, Kemal appointed <\/span>Ottoman<\/span><\/i> genocidists and continued to persecute Christians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thus, as President Erdogan himself has <\/span>confirmed<\/span><\/a>, his country is a \u201ccontinuation\u201d of Ottoman Turkey.\u00a0 Knowing this, the Turkish Republic has always tried to evade accountability for the Genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n Disgracefully, though, Biden tries to assist Turkey in that regard by writing, \u201cWe do this not to cast blame\u201d [on Turkey].\u201d\u00a0 The president has no right to hand Turkey a <\/span>\u201cGet Out of Jail Free card.<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Just two days later, American Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy tried to help Turkey <\/span>duck accountability<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cThe Armenian Genocide took place in 1915, the [UN] Genocide Convention did not come into force until 1951 \u2026 from the legal perspective the Convention is not being applied retroactively.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tracy\u2019s reasoning \u2014 <\/span>disputed<\/span><\/a> by <\/span>experts<\/span><\/a> \u2014 suggests that Jews should have received no restitution or reparations because the Holocaust (1933\u20131945) also occurred before 1951.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s genocidal threats against Armenians continue to this day, something the president\u2019s declaration ignores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 1993, Turkey was going to <\/span>invade<\/span><\/a> Armenia were the coup against Russian President Boris Yeltsin to succeed.<\/span><\/p>\n President Erdogan has branded Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks \u201cLeftovers of the Sword.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s an obvious, existential threat against Christian populations who survived Turkey\u2019s 20<\/span>th<\/span> century genocides.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2020, Turkey, its Turkic ally Azerbaijan, and <\/span>jihadist mercenaries<\/span><\/a> successfully attacked Armenian-populated Artsakh\/Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Erdogan <\/span>gleefully<\/span><\/a> likened<\/span><\/a> these attacks to Ottoman Turkey\u2019s genocidal invasion (1918) of Armenia. \u201cToday, may the souls of [General] Nuri Pasha, [Minister of War] Enver Pasha, and the brave soldiers of the Caucasus Islam Army, be happy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n An analogy would be Germany\u2019s denying the Holocaust, threatening Israel, arming its foes, calling Jews \u201cleftovers of the concentration camps,\u201d and glorifying Nazi Germany.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Azerbaijani President Aliyev simultaneously claimed huge chunks of Armenia, including its capital Yerevan.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey and Azerbaijan\u2019s military assaults and threats are all<\/span> reminiscent of the Genocide.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0Biden\u2019s vow that America must \u201censure that what happened [the Armenian Genocide] is never repeated,\u201d therefore, rings hollow.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act conditionally prohibits U.S. aid to Azerbaijan if the latter supports terrorism or engages in aggression against Artsakh\/Nagorno-Karabagh\/Armenia.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, the White House just waived Section 907 despite Azerbaijan\u2019s flagrant use of ISIS and other terrorists against Armenians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s not be deceived by the president\u2019s April 24 statement and the State Department\u2019s unprincipled actions.<\/span><\/p>\n