Recognizing the 76th Anniversary Of Armenian Genocide
Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today,
April 24, marks the 76th anniversary of the Armenian genocide launched
by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire. By recognizing this important
day, we send a message to the world that such slaughters must never
be forgotten and can never become mere footnotes in history.
Accounts of the Armenian genocide have a frighteningly
familiar ring to all of us today. On April 24, 1915, hundreds of
Armenian political, intellectual, and spiritual leaders were seized
by Ottoman authorities, only to be executed or exiled. For the next
8 years, Ottoman Armenians were forced from their lands into exile
in America, Russia, Europe, and the Arab countries. Between 1915
and 1923, it is estimated that 1.5 million of the 2.3 million Ottoman
Armenians had either died or had been deported from their homeland,
a land which they inhabited for over three millenia.
Unfortunately, there have been repeated attempts
to hide this dark moment in history and to deny that it ever happened.
We must not let this happen. There is a mountain of evidence proving
that the horrors of the Armenian genocide are all too true. The
U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morganthau, Sr., repeatedly
protested the treatment of Armenians while the British Viscount
James Bryce compiled a 684-page report on the massacre with the
help of Arnold Toynbee.
Even the allies of the Ottoman Empire were horrified
by this brutality. Otto Liman van Sanders, the German military adviser
to the Ottoman Empire, personally intervened to prevent the deportation
of Armenians from Smyrna in November 1916. Yet, perhaps the most
convincing evidence of this tragedy is the trials for war crimes
held by a liberal Ottoman government which took power in the aftermath
of this massacre. The leaders of the Young Turk government were
convicted in absentia for ordering this genocide.
Unfortunately, even in the United States, there
has been a willingness to gloss over the entire affair, a willingness
to look the other way when acknowledging the truth is inconvenient.
Recently, a photograph depicting Armenians hung by Ottoman soldiers
was removed from the Ellis Island centennial photo exhibit when
a controversy arose. We have to recognize this tragic event for
what it truly was, the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians.
Ignoring the Armenian genocide, extraordinary
evidence of man's capacity for inhumanity, can open a Pandora's
box of selective morality a virtual guarantee that similar tragedy
will touch other people in the future. Selective morality only leads
to selective genocide. We must never ignore the persecution and
slaughter of any people. We now see the tragedy of the Armenians
being replayed in Iraq as millions of Kurds flee the reign of terror
and as Kurdish refugees die at a rate of 1,000 a day. That is why,
with renewed vigor at this time, I urge every Member of the Senate
and every individual to set aside time today to reflect on the tragedy
of the Armenian and Kurdish people and to make a solemn vow that
we must prevent genocide from ever happening again, to anyone, anywhere,
anytime.
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