US Armenians hail committee vote on 'genocide' resolution

Armenian-American groups have welcomed the passage of the Armenian “genocide” resolution by a House committee, saying their next objective will be the resolution’s swift endorsement in a House floor vote.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the resolution late Thursday despite last-minute objections by President Barack Obama’s administration.

The 23-22 decision sends the measure to the full House, but it is not clear yet if or when the resolution could see a floor vote.

The non-binding resolution calls on Obama to ensure that U.S. policy formally refers to the World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” and to use that term when he delivers his annual message on the issue in April – something he avoided doing in 2009.

“The committee’s message was simple, yet powerful: Turkey doesn’t get a vote or a veto in the U.S. Congress,” Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, the largest U.S. Armenian group, said shortly after the vote.

The committee vote is “setting the stage for [House] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and the full U.S. House to properly commemorate the Armenian genocide,” Hachikian said.

Victory message

“It’s clear to me why we won this battle, despite millions of dollars in Turkish lobbying, Ankara’s hysterical threats and a last-minute attack by [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration,” Hachikian said in a separate message to Armenian-Americans.

“We won because of you and dedicated people like you around the country. Your time and energy, along with your faith and financial support, made the difference,” he said.

“Truth prevailed today, and the cause of genocide affirmation and prevention has been furthered,” said Bryan Ardouny, the executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, another major Armenian-American organization. “We commend the leadership of [committee] chairman Howard Berman and all those who supported the bill’s passage.”

The Armenians’ narrow victory came shortly after Clinton warned that the resolution could harm an ongoing normalization process between Turkey and Armenia.

“We do not believe that the full Congress will or should act upon that resolution and we have made that clear to all the parties involved,” the secretary of state said.

Similar “genocide” resolutions passed the same committee in 2000, 2005 and 2007, but none of them could reach a House floor vote because of extensive pressure from former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.