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Armenian Genocide

Floor Speech

Date: April 24, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs Arts, Entertainment, and History


ARMENIAN GENOCIDE -- (Senate - April 24, 2007)

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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I wish to add my voice to those asking that today, the 24th of April, 2007, be a day of reflection and remembrance for those Armenians who perished in the genocide that occurred between 1915 and 1923.

As many as one and a half million Armenians lost their lives during this systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing conducted in Turkey while the world was preoccupied by the First World War and its aftermath. That the major powers, including the United States, did not prevent or intervene at any point to stop this killing represents one of twentieth century's ugliest stains on humanity.

While today we all would like to believe that had world leaders been acutely aware of the atrocities occurring they would have acted to stop them, recent episodes make a clear that we as a people continue to struggle with the obligation to speak out when our neighbor's blood is shed. In Bosnia, Rwanda, and right now in Darfur, the world has stood by while hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians are slaughtered. Any action on the part of the international community has been too little and far too late.

Because I believe we cannot prevent future genocide unless we recognize past genocide, I am a sponsor of Senate Resolution 106, which calls upon the President to ensure that this Nation's foreign policy reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the U.S. record relating to the Armenian genocide.

I join many of my colleagues today in urging the Senate to pass this resolution.

Turkey is good friend of the United States and a critical ally in the fight against terrorist networks. I hope that the ties that bind our two nations only grow closer in the coming years, as we continue to work through NATO to ensure cooperative security. And I will join my colleagues in pressing for Turkey's admittance to the European Union.

However, I believe that the Armenian genocide must be acknowledged.

Today, the 92nd anniversary commemorating this incident, we pause to pay tribute to those who died and renew our commitment to ensuring that similar atrocities never again occur.


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