Why Obama Never Recognized the Armenian Genocide

Introduction: A Broken Promise

The killing of more than 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 by the rulers of the Ottoman Empire is one of the largest mass murders in human history, as recognized by many countries around the world. The Turkish rulers of the era sought to drive out the entire Armenian population during the First World War in order to establish their supremacy — particularly over the businesses that Armenians held in the country. In pursuit of this goal, mass murders were carried out, and thousands of Armenians also died when they were forced to march through the desert under the pretext of being relocated to rehabilitation camps.

While many countries have long recognized this act of cruelty as genocide — a deliberate attempt to wipe out an entire community — some nations still refuse to do so officially. The United States is one such country: barring one brief exception, neither the U.S. president nor any official government communiqué has termed the killings genocide. This has occurred despite the fact that a large section of American historians and politicians recognize the massacres as genocide, and many celebrities, community leaders, and religious figures around the world endorse the term as well.

The issue of the Armenian Genocide arises every year on April 24, the annual commemoration marking the start of the killings in Turkey in 1915. No public figure has performed a more striking or politically awkward reversal on the issue than outgoing President Barack Obama and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. On April 24, 2016, Barack Obama broke faith with his own campaign promises and declined to term the Armenian massacre "genocide" for the eighth and final time during his two-term presidency.

U.S. Reluctance to Recognize the Armenian Genocide

Against severe objections from the Turkish government, a number of countries have formally recognized the Armenian massacre as an act of genocide. Germany — the country most closely associated with the Jewish Holocaust, and one that has long since acknowledged its own historical crimes — joined the list and recognized the Armenian massacre as genocide. Yet the U.S. government has still not officially adopted the term.

It is worth noting, however, that several individual U.S. states — including Minnesota — have referred to the Turkish crimes against the Armenians as genocide in official statements. On one notable occasion at the federal level, President Ronald Reagan used the word "genocide" in reference to the Armenian massacre in a 1981 proclamation. However, the U.S. State Department subsequently issued a clarification, under pressure from Turkey, stating that Reagan's words did not reflect official U.S. policy.

Obama's Campaign Pledge and Subsequent Reversal

Barack Obama stands out as a particularly striking case because he was exceptionally vocal about recognizing the Armenian killings as genocide while running for president in 2008. "The Armenian genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point-of-view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence. The facts are undeniable," he declared in more than one campaign speech (Jake Tapper, 2016). He further stated: "An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy" (Jake Tapper, 2016).

Obama also promised that, upon taking office, he would ensure that the U.S. government formally recognized the Armenian massacre of 1915 as genocide and that it would be reflected in official U.S. records. Yet once elected, he did not keep that promise. With 2016 marking his final year as president, it became clear that Obama would leave office without fulfilling his commitment. His repeated failure to act on this pledge — despite the forcefulness of his original statements — drew sharp criticism from the Armenian-American community and historians alike.

Conclusion

The story of U.S. non-recognition of the Armenian Genocide is ultimately a story of realpolitik overriding moral commitment. Successive presidents have found that the strategic value of Turkey as a NATO ally and a stabilizing presence in the Middle East consistently outweighs the political cost of disappointing the Armenian-American community. Barack Obama's case is particularly instructive: his pre-election statements on the Armenian Genocide were among the most forceful ever made by a major U.S. presidential candidate, yet his eight years in office passed without a single official use of the term. The pattern suggests that as long as Turkey remains indispensable to U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. government will continue to be deferred — regardless of the moral clarity with which individual presidents speak on the campaign trail.

References

Dadrian, V. (1992). Ottoman archives & denial of the Armenian Genocide. [Place of publication not identified]: [Publisher not identified].

Hovannisian, R. (1995). The Republic of Armenia, 1918–1920. Watertown, MA: Armenian Review.

Jake Tapper, C. (2016). Obama again breaks a promise on the Armenian genocide. CNN. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/24/politics/armenia-genocide-obama-broken-promise-jake-tapper/

Wofford, T. (2015). Hillary's shifting stance on the Armenian Genocide. Newsweek. Retrieved May 27, 2016, from