Presidential silence on Armenian genocide is appalling
The United Nations defines genocide as “any of acts committed with intent to destroy … a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” By this definition, it is indisputable that the actions committed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915 that took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians constitute genocide.
The United States holds a long history of avoidance when it comes to the Armenian genocide. The last U.S. president to use “genocide” in reference to it was Ronald Reagan. Every American president since then has avoided the truth by using “Meds Yeghern.” That translates to “great tragedy” in Armenian.
By simply standing by, the United States is guilty of being complicit in the Armenian genocide. After all, silence is what allows genocide to happen.
Valezka Murillo, Merced
This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Presidential silence on Armenian genocide is appalling."