Suren Manukyan: U.S. recognized Armenian Genocide in 1975

April 19, 2010 - 16:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia for the first time raised the issue of Genocide in 1965. Discussions have been held since then, however, the present-day situation is quite different, said Suren Manukyan, deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute.

“Armenia doesn’t need to prove the fact of Genocide any more. Even those countries, which refrain from official recognition due to political reasons, do not doubt that the massacre of Armenians in 1915 constituted Genocide,” Mr. Manukyan told reporters on April 19.

He also reminded that Young Turk leaders stood trial and were sentenced to death in 1919 for “involvement of Turkey in WWI and annihilation of the Armenian population.”

Commenting on the possibility of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. this year, Mr. Manukyan said that the U.S. recognized the Genocide in 1975, when the Congress passed a relevant resolution.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.