The Neglected First Genocide
Why President Biden’s use of the G-word matters
On April 24, 2021, President Biden kept a campaign promise.
He became the first U.S. president to call the massacre of Armenians by the Turkish government between 1915 and 1923 what it was: a genocide.
There is a lot of power in a word. Though the United States has long decried the wholesale murder, torture, starvation, and forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians — up to 1.5 million perished during those eight years — no U.S. leader has been willing to risk rupturing ties with Turkey. Its location at the confluence of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, its status as a key NATO member, and its Incirlik Air Base have made it a key strategic partner.
So much so, that even President Obama was reluctant to ruffle Turkey’s feathers on the 100th anniversary of what Armenians call the Meds Yeghern, “great evil crime.” He tiptoed away from fulfilling his 2008 promise to recognize it as genocide, referring to instead as “the first mass atrocity of the 20th century.” It was a bitter disappointment for Armenians in America and around the world. Aram Hamparian, head of the Armenian National Committee of America, commented at the time, “It’s like (President Recep Tayyip)Erdogan imposing a gag rule…
