Several days ago JLiving Notes was speculating, that the 106 resolution on Armenian Genocide adopted by the House Committee, will remain the focal point of many blog discussions for the days to come, saying he wants to believe, that for once historical justice will win (asking sceptically – if there is such thing at all). The British Times have been digging their archives and come up with more “hard” facts to support the Congress decision – the full text of this report from October 8, 1995 has already circulated through a large number of Armenian blogs, with the HayBlog and Kornelij Glas among the first to come up with the story.
To one who remembers the rejoicings which welcomed the bloodless Turkish Revolution of 1908, the fraternization of 
Moslem and Christian, the confidence in a better future for the Armenians which survived even the Adana massacre of 1909, the story of the systematic persecution of the Armenians of Turkey is a bitter tale to tell. Talaat Bey and his extremist allies have out-Hamided Abdul Hamid. They have even shocked their German friends, thus attaining eminence in “frightfulness” to which the “Red Sultan” never soared.
Meanwhile, Blogian says “Democrats Prostituting Under Turkish Sword“, and quotes the report by the New York Times, saying that “Over a dozen democrats have dropped their support for the Armenian Genocide resolution in the last 24 hours”.
Uzogh is not impressed though, this is “democracy in action” he says, pointing to this list of Congressmen supporting the resolution at the moment, and noting, that while the number has dropped from 226 to 218, there is still enough support to pass the resolution in the 435 seat Congresss.
Excellent article:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/10/16/armenian_genocide/
Nobody should be surprised. This always happens as I pointed out in your last post on the subject. And yes, this is “democracy in action.” The U.S. is having to weigh up national security and foreign policy concerns and objectives against an event which for them is something that happened nearly 100 years ago. Critics also argue that as similar events have happened and are happening in the here and now, why were the Democrats so concerned now.
Well, as usual, it’s pre-election year and the Armenian-American vote is sought after by those Democrats. Others say it is a way to disrupt U.S. engagement in Iraq, Whichever way it goes, few believe that Pelosi was guided by principles. Now it seems that she is aware of the political fall-out in the U.S. and appears to be backtracking on the resolution as well. Whether it gets to the floor or not, one supposes that more and more of those initially supporting the resolution will back out.
It’s always been like that. Nothing has really changed to make this time any different. It would be naive to think otherwise.
Anyway, full coverage, including links to Turkish and foreign blogs, is at:
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/category/genocide/
Pelosi Backtracks on Armenian Genocide Resolution
It should come as no surprise considering the political fallout from the adoption last week of HR 106 that U.S. Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reported to be backtracking from the resolution that would recognize the Armenian Genocide. This always happens, and The Financial Times reports that now is no different.
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2007/10/18/pelosi-backtracks-on-armenian-genocide-resolution/
BTW: Any plans for demonstrations outside the U.S. Embassy? It would be interesting to see if Sksela would hold such a rally, and especially in cooperation with other youth groups of different political persuasions.
It’s interesting to note that the Turks protest against the resolution, but Armenians here aren’t demonstrating in its support, especially now that it looks likely to be prevented from reaching Congress.
It’s perhaps for this reason that the international media is so far concerned only with reactions in the U.S. and Turkey. It appears to be totally uninterested in the reaction inside Armenia, and probably for that reason. Simply put, unlike the Diaspora, Armenians in the republic are passive.
Of course, one supposes that no Western embassy would fund such an event, but that’s not the point. Money isn’t actually needed. Just the desire to hold a demonstration that isn’t linked to the coming election.
BTW: Katy, interesting article. It was especially interesting to read what Taner Akcam thinks on the matter:
[…] one of the comments on an entry posted on The Armenian Observer points readers to a very interesting article on the Armenian Genocide and HR106 in Salon magazine. […]