About time! This holocaust deserves just as much attention as the Jewish holocaust but it’s sad that people refuse to recognize it for political purposes. What strikes me the most is that Mr.Lantos a holocaust survivor himself is against this bill. Turkey’s refusal to recognize this holocaust should be taken up to the UN and punishment should be enforced. In Iran , everyday thousands of Christians, Muslim , and Jews remember this day by marching to Tehran’s biggest church. http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7038762.stm
Mr. Lantos at last minute during voting changed his mind. The world already knows what happen, and its even better that US is trying to recognize Armenian genocide. Bush is just a joke, toight he vetoed childrens healthcare program, what a moron. Regarding Armenian genocide, not many people know that Germany officialy apologized for being Turkeys aly during genocide and having some commanders in turkish army and they didn't do anything to prevent it. So turks now can get boiled in their own soak. Justice will prevale.
I realize this thread is a tad old, but come on, why pass this bill? What does it prove? The only real result is that Turkey is pissed at us, and are now ignoring our warnings and ripping into the PKK hiding out is Iraq. Its not the US governments place to say what happened in history. Leave that to the historians. Just because the US says something did/didn't happen doesn't mean it did/didn't happen. Recognizing the genocide (even if a genocide did occur, I don't know either way) proves nothing and only makes Turkey pissed at the US. Way to build friendships, Washington.
You get mad at country with 70 million people when one man remotely denies the Jewish holocaust which debatable because he didn’t actually deny it. But when your country decides to keep silent over the mass killing of 1.5 million Armenians you support it? It seems like America is becoming more unethical day by day.
Wow, really? Remotely? Didn't actually deny it? Do you know what "myth" means? Of course you do, but as usual anything and everything that comes from you has to be pro-Iran, anti-America. Good job.
Too bad you can’t speak Farsi because if you did only then will you find the real meaning of what he meant and why he was misquoted .
So, what you're saying is that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting misquoted him? Kind of like when it was mistranslated when he said there were no gays in Iran. You know, I've worked with interpreters and translators for quite some time. Mistranslations are pretty rare, yet somehow they always seem to happen to Ahmadinejad. Perhaps he should learn to speak a bit more clearly.
And this country is considered the democratic country of the world??? In reality politicians of this country are wolf's who are hiding under the lamb skin.
I have no problem recognizing genocide when I see it, but it doesn't need to done by passing a bill through congress that enrages a country important to the US' goals in the Middle East. If we know that this issue pushes Turkey's buttons, then why deliberately push them? What do Armenians and Armenian Americans gain from the genocide being recognized. It doesn't make it go away, only make officially have happened under U.S. laws... which is meaningless to everyone except Turkey.
So you would only admit to genocide when it doesnt impede on your interests, right? Say, like in Darfur?... Oh, forgot that there are American oil interests there as well, but since the Sudanese gov't chose to sign contracts with Chinese, Indian and Russian oil companies instead of Exxon, its ok to ascribe genocide there. Nothing more hypocritical than a biased person acting neutral.
For fcuk's sake, your argument is apples to oranges. Second off, Darfur and Armenia are not related at all. One has already happened and there is nothing anyone can do about it, and the other is ocurring and somthing must be done to stop it. Recognizing genocide in Darfur and sending in troops to protect innocent people is something that I fully support. Like you said, the US won't do anything because action would not benefit them in any (oil related) ways. But, what is the purpose of recognizing genocide that happened years ago? If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't. The US recognizing it won't change anything. People will not rise from the dead. What it will do is piss off Turkey. And, I certainly do have a bias, it's called pragmatism...
What was and what is the purpose of recognizing the Jewish holocaust or genocide on a daily basis? Certain Jews and important political figures across the Western hemisphere claim that by recognizing this holocaust we are remembering and respecting the dead and more importantly we are educating people so that this doesn’t happen in the future. Now I like to ask you personally, what is your opinion about recognizing the Jewish holocaust and having re-runs on history channels across the Western world about this subject routinely? Shouldn’t we do act the same when Armenians received the same fate as Jews? Or should be just deny the fact that it happened because it will make the Turks angry. By your logic the US should have just turned a blind eye on the Nazis so the Germans wouldn’t have gotten pissed. I don’t want to be disrespectful but In my opinion you sound like a selfish person.
The Jewish holocaust is recognized by Germany and numerous apologizes have been handed down from everyone from the Pope to the German PM. The Holocaus has definitve evidence to support that it was a genocide, therefore it should be and is recognized. Germany admits it happened and is very sorry for it. No. There is no definitive evidence that the massacres in Armenia were genocide. Additionally, Germany accepted the Holocaust as genocide while Turkey does not in regards to the Armenian slaughter. Germans were never angry at anyone for claiming the Holocaust to be genocide, because they themselves viewed it as genocide. My logic is not what you stateabove. My logic is very simple. If the cons outweigh the pros, then don't do it. In this case, The cons far outweigh the pros. Let's not be self righteous here, the Holocaust and the Aremnian slaughter are two very different things and should be treated as such.