The Politics Behind the Recognition of the First Genocide of the 20th Century
Posted OnJuly 3, 2014 byBy Ani Hakobyan.
If you mention the first genocide of the 20th century, you will leave most people scratching their heads. It seems, unfortunately, that Hitler’s comment, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians,” seems true.
Thankfully, there are many people who do remember. For the past 99 years, Armenians all around the world have commemorated this tragic and dark event in history by holding concerts to honor the victims and demonstrations in front of Turkish embassies to urge officials to admit to the wrongdoing of their ancestors.
While countries such as Russia, Greece, Poland, and Argentina have since recognized the Armenian Genocide, it is most frustrating that global superpower, the United States of America, with approximately 1 million Armenians living within its borders, has not given the much-deserved recognition to the genocide. Although 42 states have passed laws recognizing what occurred during the final days of the Ottoman Empire, the Federal Government has not taken the necessary steps to ensure its Armenian-American citizens’ happiness.
One would think that because this genocide preceded the Holocaust committed by the Nazis, the US would do something to once and for all pay respect to the 1.5 million Armenians who were brutally murdered at the hands of the Turks. But alas, it seems that the American government is a long time away from condemning the actions of the Turks in 1915 and for denying, the past 99 years, the horrific crimes they inflicted on innocent Armenians.
It is disappointing that year after year for the past six years President Barack Obama has continued referring to the ethnic-cleansing of Armenians in their historical homelands as massacres.
While appearing to be the same, massacre and genocide have different meanings. Massacre is to kill a large amount of people, while genocide is the systematic killing of a certain ethnic group. By failing to say the word genocide, the foreign policy of the United States seems weak at times and leaves one wondering just what kind of image the US maintains abroad.
Upon a closer inspection, the reason for the lack of recognition from the federal government of the Armenian Genocide is because of its foreign policy. Due to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars started by the Bush administration, Turkey, for years now, has provided bases for America in the cities of Izmir and Incirlik, giving the United States access to the Middle East, Balkans, and the Caucasus. It should also be noted that Turkey, at least on the outside, appears to be stable for most Western leaders, hence the trust and importance that it is given.
In fact, the bases in Turkey are so useful, that during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, ships were sent to scope out the area. America is clearly happy with the Turkish Republic; it deems the nation as a model country for the chaos-prone Middle East.
Due to its pro-Western foreign policy, the Republic of Turkey has become very close allies with the United States, with President Barack Obama going as far as calling Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan as one of his five most trusted world leaders in 2012, placing him alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron.
Placing the Turkish Prime Minister alongside Merkel and Cameron is hard to imagine, considering that these two Europeans are known for their cooperation, honesty, and fair way of leading. Erdogan, on the other hand, restricts freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and is known for his ultra-conservative views, which do not settle well with the Turkish population.
It is also ironic that the leaders of Israel, its Jewish population being descendants of Holocaust survivors, have not taken upon themselves the task of making sure that something similar to the Holocaust is properly recognized and its victims respected. Then again, Turkey is Israel’s only Muslim ally in the Middle East, so in a sense, it is a matter of survival to at times do as Turkey commands even though it is morally and logically wrong.
Recently, there have been many protests in Turkey calling for more democracy and urging the government to stop its censorship of the internet and a few websites, including the ever-popular Twitter. The country’s elite groups blame American diplomats for instigating the revolts, something that has severely strained US-Turkic bilateral relations.
Unfortunately, this strain will not do anything to get America to recognize the genocide, as the government would not risk irking the Turkish administration, especially when the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is slowly taking over Iraq. Obama’s decision to send in approximately 300 troops to assist the embassy in Iraq means Turkey is once again playing a powerful role in shaping Middle East politics, as it will probably house additional American troops and military personnel, should there ever be need to send in more people to Iraq.
It is quite saddening to see this amazing country, which staunchly tries to protect human rights, rule of law, and justice, cannot have an independent view on a historical event that has so much evidence to back it up.
Ani Hakobyan is a freshman in college double majoring in Political Science (specializing in International Relations) and Communications. With three years of journalism background, during which she was a writer and editor of the Opinion section, Copy Editor, and Editor-in-Chief and political commentator, Hakobyan hopes to bring to attention to the happenings of the former Soviet Union, a period in history which she is fascinated by. A self-declared Russophile, besides global affairs, Hakobyan is passionate about history, children’s and women’s rights, traveling, volunteering, and learning foreign languages.
References:
http://www.anca.org/genocide/states_map.php
http://www.armenian-genocide.org/recognition_countries.html
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/01/19/obama_names_his_world_leader_best_buddies
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/24/obama-marks-armenian-massacre-avoids-using-word-ge/
http://militarybases.com/overseas/turkey/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/08/politics/us-navy-ship-ukraine/
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/04/the-politics-behind-the-armenian-genocide.html#
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/22/world/europe/turks-seek-to-challenge-twitter-ban.html?_r=0