1) Sharing a few personal reflections on @POTUS Biden's immensely moving decision to recognize the #ArmenianGenocide at long last (1/10):
2) A quarter century ago, I began researching the major genocides of the 20th century. My research began, naturally enough, w/ the Ottoman slaughter & I discovered the extent to which Raphael Lemkin invented the word "genocide" in 1944 w/ the destruction of the Armenians in mind
3) With publication of "A Problem from Hell" in 2002, I was stunned & humbled by the response of Armenian-Americans who invited me into their homes&churches, & who attended public events to rebut the orchestrated lies of Turkish govt officials who tried to discredit my research.
4) I also learned more about the impressive achievements of the Armenian diaspora: US school textbooks changed; movies/poems/songs depicted the truth; & members of Congress like @SenatorDole, @SenatorDurbin, @SenatorMenendez, @RepAdamSchiff, @RepAnnaEshoo mobilized for the cause.
5) In 1915, @nytimes ran 145 stories abt "race extermination” of Armenians, but well into 21st c. fudged language, saying,eg,Armenians were "chased from their ancestral homelands." But growing awareness mattered & in 2004 NYT editor @billkeller2014 rightly began using "genocide.”
6) Of course what Armenian-Americans wanted most was @WhiteHouse genocide recognition. When I worked for Obama in Senate in 2005, he wrote a powerful letter to Sec. State Rice urging the Bush Admin to recognize. When Obama then ran for president, he pledged to recognize. But…
7)...But as has been much discussed, Obama didn't fulfill this pledge. In the chapter "April 24th" in my memoir, I describe his reasoning (concerns about complicating troop withdrawal from Iraq, upsetting Armenia-Turkey peace process, etc).
Armenian-Americans were crushed.
Armenian-Americans were crushed.
8) Having pushed for recognition, I was shaken by the decision—and went into labor a few weeks early, causing my son Declan to be born on April 24, #ArmenianGenocideRemembranceDay. He turned 12 today.
9) I thought we had another shot in 2015 with the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, after @Pontifex recognized. But with the war against ISIS ongoing, the Pentagon worried about losing access to Turkish bases.
10) Then-VP @JoeBiden & I attended the somber 100th anniversary Mass @WNCathedral. That night, Biden told me that if he was ever in a position to do so, he would recognize the Armenian Genocide.
Today, as President of the United States, he did just that.
Today, as President of the United States, he did just that.
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