Survivors see Armenian Genocide recognized

Congressmember Gary Ackerman greets 95-year old Onorik Eminian (left) and 98-year old Perouz Kaloustian, after the House Foreign Affairs Committee recently passed House Resolution 106, recognizing the “Armenian Genocide.” Both of the women reside in the Armenian Home in Flushing,
They are survivors of the systematic slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians, which happened in Turkey between 1915 and 1923. The brutal campaign by the then-Ottoman Empire, which aligned against the U.S. in the First World War, provoked international outrage and prompted relief efforts in the U.S. and other countries.
The subject is still a sore point in Turkey, considered an ally of the U.S. in the war against terror. Their government had threatened retaliation - even to cut off a pipeline to our troops in Iraq - if the resolution was even considered, suggesting that the U.S. would “lose Turkey.” This prompted some on the committee to suggest delaying the vote.
During the debate, Ackerman, a co-sponsor of the resolution, pointed out the two Flushing women in their wheelchairs, asking, “When should we tell them when to come back to this room for justice?”
“Turkey has to understand that they are no more the Ottoman Empire than today’s Germany is the Third Reich.” Ackerman said.
On October 10, the committee voted 27-21 to send the “Affirmation of the United States Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution” to the full House for a vote.
“The world must never forget” said Congressmember Joe Crowley, another co-sponsor, as he praised the vote, saying “we are finally officially recognizing this heinous chapter in our world history.”
In 2003 Crowley traveled to Armenia and planted a tree there, as part of the nationwide commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the slaughter.