As the sun rises on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, millions across the globe remember the dark history of 1915, when the Ottoman government exterminated nearly 2 million Armenians in an organized attempt to eliminate the Armenian people.  

A century after the genocide, the Turkish government perpetuates this crime through its campaign of denial, rejecting complicity in the genocide and threatening all who mention the “g” word with sanctions and imprisonment. Turkish leadership further gags world governments from qualifying the events of 1915 as “genocide;” one such placated country is the United States.

The Turkish government has repeatedly threatened the United States from using the “genocide” word, even lashing out with ominous warnings whenever a genocide recognition bill is introduced in Congress. The U.S. government considers Turkey too dear an ally to offend, and thus remains silent. 

Today, the White House indicated that President Obama will again forgo mention of the word “genocide” when commemorating the events of 1915 during his yearly address on the genocide’s anniversary, which is this Friday, April 24th. 

Since the Reagan administration, U.S. Presidents and leadership have dodged mention of “genocide,” instead obscurely referring to the massacres as a “great tragedy” and taking a diplomatic backseat on the issue of recognition. During his campaign in 2008, Barack Obama affirmed that the genocide was an unavoidable fact, and that as president he would recognize the events of 1915 as genocide. 

“There was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian People. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on behalf of the Turkish Government,” he said. Every year since his election, however, the president has avoided the “genocide” label, instead calling the events of 1915 a “Meds Yeghern,” Armenian for “great calamity.” This year, Obama is slated to continue this tradition of avoidance and submission. 

This issue of U.S. silence is unique to the Armenian genocide. Darfur, Bosnia and Rwanda received appropriate recognition and President Obama has publicly condemned Holocaust denial. With what authority does the United States speak so firmly against the crime of genocide and holocaust denial when its leadership cowers from mention of the first genocide of the 20th century for fear of compromising a political friendship? The Armenian genocide’s recognition is a humanitarian issue, not a political bargaining chip.

SEE ALSO: Genocide Awareness Heats Up As Armenian Genocide Centennial Approaches

In 2012, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton read a statement articulating the U.S. government’s vague hope that “these two peoples and nations can move forward together.” 

This has been the backwards stance of the American government; rather than recognizing the crime, the government urges Armenia to forgive an unapologetic Turkey for genocide. Statements like these are a smokescreen, disguising recognition-dodging as diplomatic abstention. 

Obama, referring to the Darfur genocide, said, “It’s very encouraging to see activism based not on self-interest, but on a moral imperative. We can’t say never again and then allow it to happen again.” The U.S. government selectively activates this moral imperative, however, and with its silence on the Armenian genocide, U.S. leadership has offered genocide perpetrators a dangerous loophole.

Selective silence on genocide sends the message that genocide is only reprehensible when its perpetrators are not political allies. With its refusal to appropriately label the genocide, the United States has become party to genocide denial through silence, trading moral imperative for political expediency and bowing to the threats of Turkey’s corrupt leadership. 

And the leadership is indeed corrupt; the Turkish government is notorious for its many human rights violations. Adjacent to perpetrating and denying the Armenian genocide, Turkey holds a reputation for erasing genocide records, funding anti-genocide lobbyists, silencing genocide historians and imprisoning journalists and citizens who offend “Turkishness,” a concept outlined in Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which promises prosecution to anyone who publicly degrades Turkey’s national identity.

For the Turkish government, speaking about the Armenian genocide has thus become criminal, as the government considers mention of the genocide an insult to Turkish nationalism. Writer Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted under the purview of Article 301, simply for speaking publicly about the genocide.

The Turkish government has induced a sanctioned culture of genocide denial, one that led to the murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Turkey, one that funds genocide-denying lobbyists, and one that led to the recent signs placed in Turkey this year that read, “We celebrate the 100th anniversary of our country being cleared of Armenians. We are proud of our glorious ancestors.”

This is the government to which the United States bows its head. Not only does the Turkish government control the spread of information within the boundaries of its state, but it has extended its silencing hand abroad. The United States must stand against Turkish denial and unequivocally recognize the Armenian genocide for the sake of history.

After all, Hitler used the Armenian genocide as his template for the holocaust, having drawn confidence from the world’s silence toward Turkey’s crime. Before launching his attack on Poland, Hitler said: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Ignoring a genocide opens doors to genocide in the future, and the United States government must realize that “never again” is a universal demand and can only be answered when it addresses all genocides, no matter the political inconvenience of recognition. Obama’s use of the word “genocide” would send the right message to Turkey and to the world: that the United States does not bow to denialist governments, that all genocides must be recognized and that genocide perpetrators are held accountable for their crimes.

Pope Francis last week identified the Armenian genocide as “the first genocide of the 20th century” and noted that genocide denial represents complicity in the crime. He said, “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.” The Turkish government, in response to the Pope’s statements, pulled its ambassador from the Vatican and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan publicly condemned Pope Francis.  

The United States must follow the Pope’s example and prove its moral integrity by standing against Turkey’s bully tactics and using the word “genocide” to accurately qualify the events of 1915. Appeasing the Turkish government and submitting to its demands will only further fuel the cycle of denial.

In 1915, entire family trees disappeared. Land, history and ancient churches were stolen. For Armenians around the world today, recognition means justice for what was lost. It symbolizes a first step to equity for an unpunished crime. The world must hold Turkey accountable for its genocide, and the United States must lead this charge. 

A century later, it’s time for U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide. It’s time because a genocide forgotten is a genocide repeated. It’s time because Turkey must acknowledge the reality of its past. It’s time because genocides are still perpetrated today. It’s time because we must recognize the truth, and the truth is never out of season.

Reach Contributor Alexa Youssefian here.