Obama Likely to Recognize Armenian Genocide

"My conscience cannot accept the ignorance and denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and - on my own behalf - I share the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers - and I apologize to them."

Turkish people can sign an online petition agreeing with this statement, according to the BBC. The petition drive, launched Dec. 15 by more than 200 prominent Turkish academics and writers, is the first of its kind in the nation. The scholars have already made news and faced condemnation for issuing a similar statement on their own behalf. Now they are encouraging Turkish citizens to show the same brave honesty, and thousands have already done so.

While the statement deliberately avoids the word "genocide," it represents nearly unstoppable momentum for the movement toward recognizing the Armenian genocide (As an aside for language mavens, the statement refers to the massacre as the Great Catastrophe, in capitals, nearly echoing the Armenian community's phrase Great Calamity). When Barack Obama arrives in the White House, he now has little reason not to honor history, human rights and his one million Armenian-American citizens by recognizing the Armenian genocide.

The roots of the Armenian genocide date to the 1890s, when an Ottoman sultan ordered the killing of about 200,000 Armenians, a large Christian minority within the empire. In response, Americans organized large protests and relief organizations, as well detailed in Peter Balakian's "The Burning Tigris."

Balakian quotes American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1903 description of the Armenian massacres: "The word 'Armenian' has a connotation of horror; we are accustomed to see it followed by 'atrocities,' 'massacre,' 'outrage;' it has become an adjective of incredible suffering."

Regardless of this vehement global response, the attacks on Armenians would only escalate in the new century. A new, more nationalistic Ottoman leadership wanted to create a religiously and ethnically pure empire. It carried out the systematic destruction, deportation and massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians starting in 1915.

Again, the American people appealed for aid and justice, and the U.S. ambassador in Turkey was among several American diplomats who acted and spoke heroically on behalf of the devastated Armenian people. However, the U.S. government soon let condemnation or even recognition of the Armenian genocide become trumped by Middle Eastern oil interests and an alliance with the new Turkish republic.

At the time, former president Theodore Roosevelt criticized his successor Woodrow Wilson for not taking action to defend the Armenians. No subsequent president has acted to correct Wilson's blind oversight. Today, the United States government is still silent amid a growing chorus of recognition.

At least 21 countries have officially recognized the Armenian genocide, according to Wikipedia, including Russian and much of Western Europe, where some countries' representatives argued against allowing Turkey into the European Union without recognition of the Armenian . A partial list of recognition efforts is listed here. In addition, 42 states in the U.S. have passed individual proclamations. However, even if all 50 states recognize the Armenian genocide, it will not be as strong as a federal bill.

At the federal level, military concerns currently hinder passage. A 2007 bill was headed for Senate approval when the Bush Administration started a public campaign against the bill on the grounds that it would restrict American military use of bases, land routes and airspace in Turkey for the war in Iraq.

With Obama promising to end the war in Iraq and build domestic alternative energy, military and oil-related justifications no longer should prevent recognition of the Armenian genocide.

"There was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian people," said Obama in 2007. He has spoken out more than once in favor of the genocide resolution, and pledged that he will recognize the genocide as president. He needs to keep this promise.

Armenians in the United States and around the world need to hear the United States government acknowledge genocide. Moreover, the world needs to see that the definition and acknowledgment of history's most brutal crimes against humanity are not subject to political expediency.