Every April 24, Armenians around the world take a day to
remember the genocide committed against approximately 1.5 million
of their ancestors by Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1922.
This Thursday, Armenian students at UCLA can find comfort in the
fact that their fellow students stand with them in remembrance of a
historic tragedy ““ a tragedy the Turkish government denies to
this day. Last week both the undergraduate and graduate student
governments passed resolutions recognizing the genocide and calling
on others to do the same.
Armenian students can also be comforted that UCLA boasts one of
the top Armenian studies programs in the world, with a faculty
whose professors have repeatedly called for genocide
recognition.
But Armenians cannot be comforted by the U.S. government. The
leaders of the most powerful nation in the world’s history
will not stand with the Armenian population on April 24, failing to
recognize the systematic murder of Armenian Americans’
ancestors in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire.
The reason? Political expediency. Canada has recognized the
genocide. So has France and so has Israel. But the United States
has not because it does not want to upset fragile relationships
with Turkey, a country whose friendship we have aggressively sought
since the beginning of the Cold War.
Though some intellectuals argue that the genocide does not
deserve being labeled as such and that the killing of Armenians was
just part of a civil war, this position is not the reason U.S.
officials do not offer recognition.
Last year, John M. Ordway visited UCLA just after being named
U.S. ambassador to Armenia. His lunch at the UCLA Faculty Center
was mostly jovial, but when the question of genocide recognition
came up, things turned somber. Ordway did not try to argue to a
group of distinguished faculty, many of whom have dedicated much of
their research to the topic of Armenian genocide, that the event
does not deserve recognition. He merely articulated the fragility
of the U.S.-Turkey relationship, saying it was not beneficial to
push the question.
There is indeed a benefit to a friendly relationship with
Turkey. The United States in the last few decades has made
significant political, economic and military investments in the
Middle East. It is always good to have an additional ally in a
region so hostile toward us. But Turkey hasn’t always acted
like the perfect ally. The Turkish government recently rejected the
United States’ appeal to use Turkish soil as staging ground
for an invasion of Iraq. Despite significant diplomatic and
financial benefits that would have come by supporting the war in
Iraq, Turkey thought the invasion was wrong.
If the United States believes that failure to recognize a crime
against humanity is wrong, it should put political benefits ““
or perceived political benefits ““Â aside.
The United States was willing to threaten our political
relationships all over the globe by invading a sovereign nation in
the name of “liberating” its people. Yet the same
country will not recognize a crime of deep emotional significance
to the more than 1 million Armenian Americans, out of fear of
upsetting relations with Turkey, a country that has not been an
unswerving ally.
This week, if you see Armenian American students and their
supporters leafletting on Bruin Walk or demonstrating in Meyerhoff
Park, take a moment. Say hello, shake a hand, sign a petition.
Stand with your fellow students because, sadly, their elected
representatives in Washington will not.