April 25th 2009
Obama Crushes Armenians’ Hopes
“When we are promised something this meaningful and it doesn’t happen, it leaves us without hope.”
That’s UCLA econ major Arek Santikian, who spent a year as a volunteer for Obama, fired up by Obama’s pledge to America’s Armenians that he would be the president who, at last, would acknowledge the Ottoman Turk genocide against Armenians in 1915, which took 1.5 million lives. During the campaign, Obama said the genocide is “a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of evidence,” and he pledged he would officially recognize it. He also criticized the Bush administration for not recognizing the Armenian holocaust, natch.
The big day was yesterday, Armenian Holocaust Memorial Day. And Obama broke his promise. Here’s his statement, from today’s LA Times:
“I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and my view of that history has not changed. My interest remains the achievement of a full, frank and just acknowledgment of the facts.”
So he said one thing to get elected, and did another thing once elected. Santikian and thousands of other LA Armenians were surprised.
As he leaned against a tree at the consulate, Zorik Mooradian, 52, held up a large canvas splashed with the Armenian flag colors of red, orange and blue and the words, “Obama . . . Keep the Promise.”
“The founding fathers did not envision that we would compromise truth for politics,” said the disappointed Mooradian, who has been coming to the protests for three decades.
The scene was more somber in Montebello, where clergy with the Armenian Apostolic, Catholic and evangelical churches held a service with incense, hymns and an Armenian-language liturgy. Rows of Armenian youths in youth-group uniforms lined a path for participants to walk as they laid roses, carnations, lilies and other flowers at the base of a genocide monument.
There, several people expressed disappointment at Obama but also political pragmatism and a renewed effort to work for recognition.
“Obviously we’re disappointed but what can you do?” asked Artak Arakelian, 22, a USC student who was working at a table selling remembrance paraphernalia. “It just makes us work harder to make sure he fulfills his promise the next time.”
Good luck with that, Artak. If I were you, I’d put your bet on a different horse.
There’s an easy case to be made here for not recognizing the Turks’ murder of so many Armenians. Turkey is an important ally, and Turkey and Armenia are making tentative steps towards normalization, both of which argue for a low-key position from America.
Of course Obama knew that – or should have known that in order to be experienced enough to run for president. He just used the Armenians like he used so many others, in classic old school “promise them anything” politics. It’s just that this time instead of throwing one grandmother or one old friend under the bus, he’s got to throw all 1 million American Armenians under it.
But then, he’s got a big bus ….
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