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Last month, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs passed H.R. 106, with a vote of 27 to 21. If passed by a full House, the nonbinding, but highly contentious resolution would formally recognize the mass killings of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923 by the former Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide.But in the face of increased criticism from the Bush administration and eight former secretaries of state, as well as threats from Turkey – a key ally in the Iraq war and the successor state to the Ottoman Empire – many withdrew their support.

Critics did not take issue with the language of the resolution, but rather the timing and the ramifications they believed it could have on the war.

In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who strongly campaigned for the resolution, the four key sponsors of the resolution said because they felt confident a majority of the House supported H.R. 106, they would set the vote aside until “timing is more favorable.”

Under the cover of World War I, the government of the Ottoman Empire began the systematic deportation and massacre of over 1.5 million Armenians. Turkey continues to deny the scale of the act and the degree to which its former government was involved.

Twenty-two countries have already recognized the crimes committed against the Armenian people as genocide, as well as 40 states.

There is no doubt that the geopolitical ramifications of approving the resolution at this time are considerable. The U.S. depends on Turkey’s logistical support, including the use of crucial military facilities. Large quantities of Iraq-bound military supplies flow through Incirlik Air Base in Southern Turkey. The U.S. is also fearful of Turkey forces moving into Northern Iraq to attack Kurdish rebels. Despite calls for restraint by NATO and President Bush, last month the Turkish government authorized a request for troops to cross the Iraqi border. Critics argued that the ceremonial resolution hinders the U.S.’s ability to dissuade Turkey from launching a large-scale military expedition.

But H.R. 106 is more than a symbolic gesture. Its passage would send a clear message to those who choose to deny or mislabel the atrocities committed against the Armenian people.

Under Article 301 of the penal code, the Turkish government persecutes those who insult “Turkishness” by invoking the Armenian genocide. The whitewashed version of events they prefer to promulgate portrays the killings as two-sided, a civil war in which just as many Turks died and where Armenians collaborated with enemy Russia in great numbers.

Until Turkey is willing to acknowledge the crimes of the past, the timing of such a resolution will always be inconvenient.
In order to forge a more stable and honest national identity, Turkey needs to own up to this regrettable chapter in their history.

The U.S. cannot continue to favor geopolitical expediency over upholding the truth. It must do what it has failed to do in the last century and recognize the mass-killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide – not only to bring a sense of closure to those aggrieved, but to send a sharp message to the deniers, to those committing genocide today in Darfur and to lessen the likelihood of genocide occurring again in the future.

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