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Ten Reasons Why Pres. Obama Should Travel to Armenia on April 24

by Harut Sassounian
March 24, 2015
in Columns, Latest, My Turn
0
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Harut Sassounian
BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian has invited several world leaders to Yerevan on April 24 to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

The Presidents of France, Russia, Poland and Belarus have already accepted President Sargsyan’s invitation. The White House has yet to make a public statement on whether President Obama plans to travel to Armenia on this most solemn occasion.

A Century ago, Henry Morgenthau, US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, described the systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as “The Murder of a Nation.” Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, told CBS that he coined the term genocide based on the mass crimes committed against Armenians during WWI and Jews during WWII.

Here are 10 reasons why Air Force One should make an auspicious landing in Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport on April 24.

1. President Obama would pay tribute to hundreds of thousands of compassionate American citizens for having raised over $117 million — today’s equivalent of over $2 billion — to aid destitute Armenians in the aftermath of the Genocide. Initiated by Amb. Morgenthau and supported by President Woodrow Wilson, Near East Relief helped rescue and care for 132,000 Armenian orphans. This massive charitable effort was the first international humanitarian outreach in U.S. history.

2. By visiting Armenia on this occasion, President Obama would be reaffirming the longstanding US acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide — a settled historical fact recognized as genocide by:
— The US Government in a document submitted to the World Court in 1951;
— The House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984;
— President Ronald Reagan in a Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, 1981;
— 43 out of 50 U.S. states;
— Two dozen countries, including France, Italy, Russia, Canada, Holland, Vatican, Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, Lebanon, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, and Venezuela;
— Several international organizations, including the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities; the European Parliament; and the International Association of Genocide Scholars.

3. The Centennial could well be President Obama’s last opportunity to regain the trust of the Armenian-American community by honoring his solemn pledge as Senator and Presidential candidate to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

4. President Obama could lay the foundation for improved Armenian-Turkish relations based on truth and justice, in line with a pending resolution in the House of Representatives, and his previous April 24 statements, declaring that “a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of the facts is in all of our interests.” President Obama’s visit would also encourage Turkish human rights activists to continue their arduous task of assisting the Government of Turkey to reckon with the darkest pages of its past.

5. The U.S. President could take advantage of this visit to urge Turkey to lift the blockade of Armenia, while taking a glimpse at the biblical Mount Ararat just across the closed border.

6. In response to mounting attacks by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), President Obama could stress Washington’s strong support for a peaceful settlement of this thorny conflict.

7. President Obama’s visit would help balance Armenia’s relations with the West, particularly after its membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, and in view of Putin’s planned trip to Yerevan on April 24. Armenia has enjoyed close relations with Western Europe and the United States, and has participated in international peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Lebanon. More recently, the appointment of former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan as Ambassador to Washington, underscores the importance Yerevan attaches to its relations with the United States.

8. Since President Obama, due to the Ukraine crisis, is not planning to travel to Moscow to take part in the World War II Victory Day celebrations on May 9, he would have the opportunity to meet with President Putin in Yerevan, in a less conspicuous atmosphere.

9. President Obama’s visit to Armenia would be a significant gesture of goodwill toward the Armenian-American community. Last week, 16 major Armenian-American organizations sent a joint letter to the President urging him to participate in the Armenian Genocide Centennial events in Armenia.

10. President Obama would be making a historic first US presidential trip to Armenia, preceded by several high-ranking American officials: Secretary of State James Baker III in 1992; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2001; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 and 2012, when she laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, as all U.S. Ambassadors have done on every April 24, since the country’s independence in 1991.

Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian

Next Post

Karanian to Present ‘Historic Armenia’ at Armenian Embassy in Washington

Comments 0

  1. ara says:
    7 years ago

    I would not count on it -and do not let kerry or someone else do it- Obama went to his Selma which was good-why would he come to our Armenia-He will not go-watch

    Reply
    • GeorgeMardig says:
      7 years ago

      There’s a lot for Obama and US to gain

      Reply
  2. Zareh says:
    7 years ago

    ain’t gonna happen. He hates us. He used us to get elected, plain and simple.

    Reply
  3. ed says:
    7 years ago

    the U.S.A should be replaced with Russia and then we’ll see the Armenian growth , i hope we will see that day this year , but that depends on the U.S.A and it’s policy

    Reply
  4. State-Of-Emergency says:
    7 years ago

    Even if Obama wanted to attend, the mere presence of Putin will sabotage it. No way they are going to be seen together after all that has gone on. It would be the most awkward meeting ever. Putin is pretty much blamed for the mayhem in eastern Ukraine, the land grab of the Crimea, continued strife in Syria, and the downing the Malaysian airlines. How can they avoid each other without making international headlines. Don’t even dream of seeing them both there, it’s has to be one or the other.

    Reply
  5. hye says:
    7 years ago

    Nzhdeh once said: Uzhne tsnum iravunch(power creates right)

    Reply
  6. Marshal says:
    7 years ago

    It would be very sad if President Obama doesn’t go to Armenia .
    If he is the leader of the free world he needs to be there . Armenians played a big role in his presidency so out of respect to the victims we expect him to attend .

    Reply
  7. GeorgeMardig says:
    7 years ago

    Turkey’s coward and insane Erdogan needs help to confront it’s past

    Reply

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