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Letter to the President Regarding Armenian Genocide
I am writing to share my profound disappointment that, this April 24th, you allowed a foreign government – the Turkish regime led by the authoritarian and increasingly anti-American Recep Erdogan – to exercise a veto against honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.
The facts of the Armenian Genocide are well known to all, universally affirmed by genocide scholars and thoroughly documented in our own American archives. As you know, The Promise, a major motion picture, has raised even greater awareness of this crime, educating millions across America about Turkey’s ongoing efforts to enforce its Armenian Genocide gag-rule on our White House.
Please stand up to Ankara’s arm-twisting by speaking forthrightly and fearlessly about the Armenian Genocide. America must only have a single moral standard on issues of genocide – total opposition to this crime and zero-tolerance policy toward denial. Turkey has no right to veto American policy on issues of genocide, and U.S. leaders – speaking in the name of the American people – have no right to let foreign powers bully us into silence on matters of human rights.
I encourage you to revisit your April 24th statement – fully and formally rejecting Turkey’s gag rule, embracing an honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, supporting S.Res.136 and H.Res.220, and committing the United States, as a policy priority, to a truthful and just international resolution of this still unpunished crime.
In making this request, I am joined by all our allies in America’s genocide-prevention community and our friends in the Armenian, Greek, Assyrian/Chaldeans/Syriac and other Christian targeted by Turkey’s genocidal campaign a century ago and Ankara’s ongoing obstruction of justice for these crimes. Thank you considering my views on this matter. I will be following the news to learn of your position on the Armenian Genocide.
Letter to U.S. Senators Who Have Not Yet Co-Sponsored S.Res.136 – The Armenian Genocide Resolution
I am writing to urge you to cosponsor the Armenian Genocide Resolution (S.Res.136) and to support the passage of this measure. A similar resolution was adopted, with a strong bipartisan majority, in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2014, but the full Senate has yet to hold a vote on this genocide-prevention measure.
As the film, The Promise, has shared with audiences across America, over a million and a half men, women, and children were murdered in a state-sponsored campaign pursued by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, because they were Armenian and Christian. Today, the Armenians who still live in Turkey continue to face religious persecution and the Armenians who live in Armenia endure Turkey’s blockade against their landlocked country, one of the longest blockades in modern history. Turkey’s worldwide campaign to prevent the teaching of the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, including in the United States, only emboldens others who would perpetuate the cycle of genocide.
Speaking honestly is the right thing to do, and also the smart policy to pursue. Our nation’s interests in the future of Armenian – Turkish relations will be best served by our White House and Congress rejecting, at long last, Ankara’s shameful gag-rule on honest and open American discourse about the Armenian Genocide. It is, very simply, long past time for the U.S. Congress to take away Turkey’s undeserved veto over which genocides Americans are allowed to condemn or commemorate. We must no longer tolerate Ankara’s continued denial of the vast Christian cultural legacy destroyed during and after Turkey’s genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Syriac, and Pontian civilizations.
Adolf Hitler infamously said, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” I ask you to reject Turkey’s threats, stand up for our cherished American values, and say “We do.”
Thank you for your consideration of my request, and for sharing with me any actions or votes your take on this matter. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Armenian National Committee of America at (202) 775-1918.
Letter to U.S. Senators Who Have Co-Sponsored S.Res.136 – The Armenian Genocide Resolution
I am writing to thank you for cosponsoring the Armenian Genocide Resolution (S.Res.136) and to urge you to support the timely passage of this measure. A similar resolution was adopted, with a strong bipartisan majority, in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2014, but the full Senate has yet to hold a vote on this genocide-prevention measure.
As the film, The Promise, has shared with audiences across America, over a million and a half men, women, and children were murdered in a state-sponsored campaign pursued by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, because they were Armenian and Christian. Today, the Armenians who still live in Turkey continue to face religious persecution and the Armenians who live in Armenia endure Turkey’s blockade against their landlocked country, one of the longest blockades in modern history. Turkey’s worldwide campaign to prevent the teaching of the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, including in the United States, only emboldens others who would perpetuate the cycle of genocide.
Speaking honestly is the right thing to do, and also the smart policy to pursue. Our nation’s interests in the future of Armenian – Turkish relations will be best served by our White House and Congress rejecting, at long last, Ankara’s shameful gag-rule on honest and open American discourse about the Armenian Genocide. It is, very simply, long past time for the U.S. Congress to take away Turkey’s undeserved veto over which genocides Americans are allowed to condemn or commemorate. We must no longer tolerate Ankara’s continued denial of the vast Christian cultural legacy destroyed during and after Turkey’s genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Syriac, and Pontian civilizations.
Adolf Hitler infamously said, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” I ask you to reject Turkey’s threats, stand up for our cherished American values, and say “We do.”
Thank you for your consideration of my request, and for sharing with me any actions or votes your take on this matter. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Armenian National Committee of America at (202) 775-1918.
Letter to U.S. Representatives Who Have Not Yet Co-Sponsored H.Res.220 – The Genocide Prevention Resolution
Please co-sponsor H.Res.220, a bipartisan genocide prevention resolution.
This measure – very simply – seeks to apply the lessons of the U.S. response to the Armenian Genocide in preventing modern day atrocities across the Middle East.
I make this request amid all the national media attention to The Promise, a major motion picture that tells the story of the Armenian Genocide, sharing with audiences across America the powerful message that we must never stay silent in the face of genocidal violence targeting ethnic and religious minorities.
As you know, the genocidal crimes are today being committed against Christians, Yezidis and others across the Middle East are, in many ways, part of a pattern that began, a century ago, with the Ottoman Empire’s campaign to destroy Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Greeks, Pontians, and other religious minorities upon their biblical era homelands.
We can and should draw upon the lessons of our American response to these atrocities – ranging from relief efforts to diplomatic protests – in order to prevent genocide, in our time, upon these lands. An honest understanding of this history and a truthful appreciation of the genocidal nature of these crimes can help save innocent lives today in the Middle East, and, more broadly, strengthen America’s standing in preventing genocides all around the world.
On a bipartisan basis, H.Res.220 builds upon the official U.S. designation – by both the Legislative and Executive branches – that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Its adoption would also be consistent with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by 44 U.S. states and nearly a dozen of our NATO allies.
For further information or to cosponsor, please ask your staff to contact Mena Hanna in Rep. Trott’s office or Jeff Lowenstein in Rep. Schiff’s office.
Letter to U.S. Representatives Who Have Co-Sponsored H.Res.220 – The Genocide Prevention Resolution
I am writing to thank you for co-sponsoring H.Res.220 and to encourage you to work with this bipartisan genocide prevention resolution’s authors to secure its passage by the U.S. House.
As you know, this measure seeks to apply the lessons of the U.S. response to the Armenian Genocide in preventing modern day atrocities across the Middle East.
I make this request amid all the national media attention to The Promise, a major motion picture that tells the story of the Armenian Genocide, sharing with audiences across America the powerful message that we must never stay silent in the face of genocidal violence targeting ethnic and religious minorities.
I very much appreciate your efforts to educate your House colleagues about how the genocidal crimes currently being committed against Christians, Yezidis and others across the Middle East are, in many ways, part of a pattern that began, a century ago, with the Ottoman Empire’s campaign to destroy Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Greeks, Pontians, and other religious minorities upon their biblical era homelands.
The passage of H.Res.220 will encourage U.S. leaders to draw upon the lessons of our American response to these atrocities – ranging from relief efforts to diplomatic protests – in order to prevent modern-day genocide. An honest understanding of this history and a truthful appreciation of the genocidal nature of these crimes can help save innocent lives today in the Middle East, and, more broadly, strengthen America’s standing in preventing genocides all around the world.
We are gratified that H.Res.220 builds upon the official U.S. designation – by both the Legislative and Executive branches – that the atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Its adoption would also be consistent with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by 44 U.S. states and nearly a dozen of our NATO allies.
For further information, please ask your staff to contact Mena Hanna in Rep. Trott’s office or Jeff Lowenstein in Rep. Schiff’s office.