For the third year, President Donald Trump failed to properly condemn as ‘genocide’ the Ottoman Turkish government’s annihilation of millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and other Christians in his annual April 24th commemorative statement.
“This is a cut-and-paste policy, set in Ankara by Turkish dictators and enforced in Washington by American presidents,” said Armenian National Committee of America ANCA Executive Director Aram Suren Hamparian, whose complete response is provided below:
“President Trump has once again granted Turkish President Erdogan – an authoritarian and increasingly anti-American dictator – a veto over honest U.S. remembrance of Turkey’s WWI-era genocide of millions of Armenians and other Christians.
Read also
“This is a cut-and-paste policy, set in Ankara by Turkish dictators and enforced in Washington by American presidents.”
— Having promised an America First presidency, he has pursued a Turkey First policy on the Armenian Genocide.
— Having pledged to protest the persecution of Christians, he has enforced a foreign gag-rule against honest remembrance of a century-old crime.
— Having vowed to restore U.S. leadership, he has, instead, outsourced American moral standing to a foreign dictatorship.
We look now to the U.S. Congress to provide the leadership that the White House has failed to deliver.”
The President’s full statement is provided below.
Statement by the President on Armenian Remembrance Day 2019
The President’s full statement is provided below.
Statement by the President on Armenian Remembrance Day 2019
April 24, 2019
Today, we commemorate the Meds Yeghern and honor the memory of those who suffered in one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. Beginning in 1915, one and a half million Armenians were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. On this day of remembrance, we again join the Armenian community in America and around the world in mourning the many lives lost.
On this day, we also honor and recognize the work of those who tried to end the violence, as well as those who sought to ensure atrocities like this would not be repeated, like human rights activist and lawyer Raphael Lemkin. We recall the contributions of generous Americans who helped save lives and rebuild Armenian communities. As we honor the memory of those who suffered, we also draw inspiration from the courage and resiliency of the Armenian people who, in the face of tremendous adversity, built vibrant communities around the world, including in the United States.
We pledge to learn from past tragedies so as to not to repeat them. We welcome the efforts of Armenians and Turks to acknowledge and reckon with their painful history. And we stand with the Armenian people in recalling the lives lost during the Meds Yeghern and reaffirm our commitment to a more peaceful world.