Flip-flopping on the Armenian genocide
I was going through some old files today when I came across a front-page story that I wrote for The Bee almost two decades ago about the first President George Bush's acknowledging that there was an Armenian genocide. It was a stunning position to take at a time when the Reagan Administration was fighting efforts to formally recognize the Armenian genocide.
The issue came up during a campaign stop in Fresno when Bush was running for president: He said he persoanlly believed there was a genocide and "it's a matter that the Turks have been unwilling to face up to."
Bush made that statement on May 17, 1988, when he was vice president. He was elected president later that year. His position on the issue became a matter some controversy. But I know George H.W. Bush made that statement because I asked the question and heard the answer.
The statement put Bush at odds with Reagan's State Department, which feared offending Turkey. Bush admitted at the time that the genocide question was sensitive for the U.S. government because of the strategic importance of military bases in Turkey. Bush also said, "You can never make up for the suffering that took place. But getting the facts out (will help). It is sensitive ... and there are some strategic considerations there."
But after he was elected president, Bush switched positions on supporting a formal recognition of the genocide. He later wrote a letter to Congress opposing efforts to name April 24, 1990, as a day of remembrance for the 1.5 million Armenians killed early in this century.
Those who believe there was an Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks are still fighting to get the U.S. government to formally recognize the massacre. Bush's son, President George W. Bush, also presides over a State Department that opposes passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
But this isn't a partisan issue. State Departments under presidents of both parties have long opposed the resolution
It's time to put this issue behind us. Congress should pass the Armenian Genocide Resolution.
After this item was posted, Lanny Larson, a former Bee colleague now working at Fresno State, sent this note, which should be of interest to readers:
Saw your blog and wanted you to know that Taner Akcam, a Turkish scholar who has published a book with what he says is evidence from Turkish government records that the Genocide was a planned extermination with approval well up the chain of command, will speak at Fresno State on Jan. 21. http://www.fresnostatenews.com/2006/12/turkishscholar.htm. .