Monday, April 25 2022 11:48

ArmInfo.A year after President Biden rejected Turkey's gag-rule on honest U.S. remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, Armenian Americans look for concrete U.S.   action to secure justice for this crime and prevent a second genocide  resulting from Turkey and Azerbaijan's ongoing threats and attacks  against Armenia and Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee  of America (ANCA).  

President Biden's second Armenian Remembrance Day statement  -   issued on April 24th, the international day of remembrance of this  crime - once again mourned the "one and a half million Armenians who  were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of  extermination." The statement continued, "As we reflect on the  Armenian genocide, we renew our pledge to remain vigilant against the  corrosive influence of hate in all its forms. We recommit ourselves  to speaking out and stopping atrocities that leave lasting scars on  the world." 

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian stated, "In the year since  President Biden first joined Congress in commemorating the Armenian  Genocide, he has approved continued U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan -  U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance that materially strengthens and  morally emboldens an oil-rich dictatorship hell-bent on completing  this crime against the Armenian homeland, a landlocked, blocked  genocide- survivor state." 

"President Biden's record, sadly, reflects the letter but not the  true spirit of genocide recognition. No sustained pressure on Turkey  to reckon with its present-day responsibilities, no confrontation of  Azerbaijan's genocidal violence against Artsakh, no forceful  challenge to Ankara's ongoing denial of this crime, no active support  for U.S. educational programs. He can and must do better," concluded   Hamparian.  

In 2021, just one day prior to recognizing the Armenian Genocide,  President Biden waived Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act,  allowing continued U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan, an authoritarian  regime that, along with Turkey, launched a devastating 44-day war  against Armenia and Artsakh in 2020.  Azerbaijan continues its  attacks against Artsakh and has illegally stationed troops on  sovereign Armenian territory.  The ANCA and a coalition of U.S.  faith-based, ethnic, and human rights organizations have called on  President Biden to stop arming Azerbaijan.  

The Congressional Armenian Caucus, in an ANCA-supported letter to  House Appropriations Committee leaders set to go out early his week,  is calling for zeroing out military aid to Azerbaijan and expanding  U.S.  aid to Artsakh and Armenia to $150 million to address the  ongoing humanitarian toll of the Turkey/Azerbaijan attacks which  forced 100,000 indigenous Armenians from their Artsakh homes,  creating an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe.  

Earlier this week, building on presidential and congressional  recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Representatives Carolyn Maloney  (D-NY) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced the "Armenian Genocide  Education Act." The measure seeks to provide $10 million in funding  over five years for the Library of Congress to educate Americans  about Ottoman Turkey's systematic and deliberate state-sponsored mass  murder, national dispossession, cultural erasure, and exile of  millions of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriacs,  Arameans, Maronites, and other Christians, between 1915 and 1923.   The ANCA- backed bipartisan bill already has over 50 cosponsors.  

On April 27th, Armenian Americans will be joining Congressional  leaders at the annual Capitol Hill Remembrance of the Armenian  Genocide.  The event will take place at the Rayburn House Office  Building "Gold Room" from 6:00pm to 9:00pm EST.  

The President's full 2022 Armenian Remembrance Day statement is  provided below and available on the White House website:   https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-  releases/2022/04/24/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-armenian-remembrance-day-2/    Statement by President Joe Biden   on Armenian Remembrance Day    APRIL 24, 2022    STATEMENTS AND RELEASES   

On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian  intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Thus began the  Armenian genocide-one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th  century.  Today, we remember the one and a half million Armenians who  were deported, massacred, or marched to their deaths in a campaign of  extermination, and mourn the tragic loss of so many lives.  

As we reflect on the Armenian genocide, we renew our pledge to remain  vigilant against the corrosive influence of hate in all its forms. We  recommit ourselves to speaking out and stopping atrocities that leave  lasting scars on the world. And, as we mourn what was lost during the  Meds Yeghern, let us redouble our efforts toward healing and building  the better, more peaceful world that we wish for our children. A  world where human rights are respected, where the evils of bigotry  and intolerance do not mark our daily lives, and where people  everywhere are free to pursue their lives in dignity and security.  

This is also a moment to reflect on the strength and resiliency of  the Armenian people. After enduring a genocide, the Armenian people  were determined to rebuild their community and their culture, so  often in new homes and new lands, including the United States.  Armenian Americans are a vital part of the fabric of the United  States. They make our nation stronger and more dynamic, even as they  continue to carry with them the tragic knowledge of what their  ancestors endured. We recognize their pain and honor their story. 

  Today, 107 years later, the American people continue to honor all  Armenians who perished in the genocide.