Thurgood Marshall once said, “The only way you can get your rights…is to insist upon them.” To this end, the Armenian Youth Federation-Youth Organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Eastern Region (AYF-YOARF) and the greater Armenian-American community have fought for decades in search of justice for one of the darkest moments in human history: the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Today, by voting to set a permanent U.S. policy in recognition of the Genocide, the U.S. House of Representatives has taken an important step in holding Turkey accountable for the systematic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 to 1923.
An end has been put to Turkey’s gag rule by properly recognizing the atrocities of the Ottoman Empire. After nearly 105 years of denial and mockery, Turkey is facing justice. With this policy, the United States refuses to kowtow to Turkey’s manipulation and deceit. No longer can Turkey wrongfully use its geopolitical stronghold to blackmail the United States into supporting its regime of human rights violations.
The AYF-YOARF ER thanks the U.S House of Representatives for embodying our beloved American values of courage, truth and justice today. By recognizing the Armenian Genocide, the U.S House of Representatives has given due honor to the noble efforts of many Americans who responded during the crisis, like American Red Cross founder Clara Barton, U.S Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, President Woodrow Wilson and the Americans who were part of the Near East Relief Foundation. This is the beginning of a new and brighter chapter for Armenian-American relations and for descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors in the United States, who can now proudly say that their country recognizes the Armenian Genocide. Once again, thank you to the United States House of Representatives for bringing this great nation to the right side of history.
The Armenian Weekly
