President Donald Trump’s April 24th statement on the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide misses the mark, fosters denial, and does not reflect America’s proud record of genocide affirmation, the Armenian Assembly of America reported.
This year’s statement, as has been the case in previous years, reflects a dictionary definition of genocide and uses the Armenian expression, Medz Yeghern, but falls short of President Ronald Reagan’s declarative statement in 1981: “Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it – and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples – the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.”
“The Administration’s statement falls short of the national consensus as reflected in the unequivocal affirmation by the Congress of the United States which overwhelmingly adopted H.Res. 296 and S.Res. 150 last Fall, as well as by 49 American states,” stated Armenian Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. H.Res. 296 sailed through the House of Representatives by a vote of 405 to 11 and S.Res. 150 cleared the United States Senate by unanimous consent in October and December of 2019, respectively.
Last Fall at the Armenian Assembly’s National Advocacy Conference honoring Armenian American Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), she discussed the importance of genocide affirmation and many of her colleagues concurred, including former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden, who stated, in part in his letter to the Armenian Assembly: “The United States must reaffirm, once and for all, our record on the Armenian Genocide.” “We must never forget or remain silent about this horrific and systematic campaign of extermination…Failing to remember or acknowledge the fact of a genocide only paves the way for future mass atrocities,” the letter continued.
“Instead of supporting bipartisan Armenian Genocide resolutions, last Fall the Administration inexplicably enabled Turkey’s president to use the White House as a venue for genocide denial in an effort to thwart the will of Congress,” stated Assembly Co-Chairs Anthony Barsamian and Van Krikorian. “The failure to squarely affirm the Armenian Genocide hurts U.S. credibility on human rights around the world, and serves to empower authoritarian regimes as they continue to persecute Christians and other minorities,” the Co-Chairs added. “The facts of the Armenian Genocide and America’s record are clear. Presidential affirmation is inevitable and this was a missed opportunity,” the Co-Chairs concluded.
