Speech #1010121546

Regardless of shortterm political consideration. the State Department should acknowledge the facts of the Armenian genocide. To do otherwise would set a precedent for other nations that tamper with their history for political advantage. I am appalled by State Departments attempt to overlook the arrests. deportations. torture. and murder that occurred with the complicity of the Turkish Government in the early part of this century. The State Departments position is unsatisfactory and inconsistent with President Reagans Proclamation 4838. which states. in part: "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it. and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed itand like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoplesthe lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten." Further. the State Departments statement does a disservice to people of Armenian descent living in the United States and other countries. By compiling an accurate record of the facts of the past. these people can maintain a sense of ethic identity and alert future generations about evil in the past so as to avoid it in the future.