April 24th is the 94th Anniversary of The Armenian Genocide. On this day we honor those who perished in the first genocide of the 20th century. The numbers are so huge and the events so long ago that it is increasingly hard to put a face to such suffering -that is why hearing the testimony of 96 year old survivor Alice Shnorhokian is all the more powerful and important. Although Alice was only three years old when the genocide occurred she still speaks to us on behalf of over a million people lost.
The Armenian National Committee of America has recently launched a campaign The Fierce Urgency of Now, and it is aptly named. Genocide is still raging in Darfur, and crimes against humanity are taking place in other parts of the world. Today the Armenian story has a special impact, for several reasons.
Turkey and some of her allies, including the United States, have not recognized the atrocities against the Armenian population of Turkey in 1915 as genocide. If we take the time to look at the documentary evidence and read the history there is no doubt that there was a systematic, racially and politically motivated campaign to eliminate a minority population in Turkey. Yet even nine decades later this is still a potent political issue and one that the US has religiously evaded as we value our strategic geographical relationship with Turkey.
In January 2008 Senator Obama spoke openly of the Armenian genocide and he made an election promise to formally recognize this as genocide. Yet when he spoke to the Turkish parliament earlier this month, he danced around the issue:
"I know there's strong views in this chamber about the terrible events of 1915. And while there's been a good deal of commentary about my views, it's really about how the Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past."
The Armenian National Committee feels, not surprisingly, that President Obama missed an opportunity there. There may be reason to think that he has a discreet plan to change the years of deadlock and denial. Let's hope so, for it is vital to the security and future of all of us that genocide is called when it occurs and denial is not allowed to re-write history. If this can happen with the Armenian genocide now that so few survivors are still alive, it might then only be a matter of time until Holocaust denial is allowed to flourish and followed by denial of the Cambodian, Bosnian and Rwandan genocides.
We must honor the dead, and fight for a future free of genocide and crimes against humanity. The fierce urgency of now means today.
Today why not hear Alice Shnorhokian's story and those of other genocide survivors? They deserve to be heard. Genocide Prevention Month is nearly over, but genocide is not yet over or eradicated.