Trump ‘Unrecognizes’ the Armenian Genocide: The History of US Presidential Recognition

Most notably, these are lines written by Ken Khachigian, a chief speech writer, senior political advisor, and special consultant to President Reagan. According to Khachigian this speech was cleared with two senior members of the National Security Agency before being presented to Reagan to avoid international political repercussions harmful to the United States. However, later on Ronald Reagan never referred back to this characterization, which faced a backlash from Turkey. In his written responses to questions submitted by the newspaper Hurriyet of Turkey to the question “Congress is about to vote on an Armenian resolution – referring to the so-called genocide in 1915. Do you approve congressional action on such a sensitive issue?” President Reagan responded that “On those grounds alone, my administration opposes congressional action on the kind of resolution to which you refer.” From that time on the US administration officials avoided calling a spade a spade till 2021 when the word “genocide” was finally uttered by the US president.

The recognition of Armenian Genocide was an important issue for years especially for the Armenian community in the US. The ultimate goal was to achieve recognition by the US president and by both Houses of the US Congress. The path towards recognition was particularly complex since the collapse of the USSR and the formation of independent Armenia. Unfortunately, through the years many candidates who later became presidents, as well as other officials, promised the Armenian-American community to recognize the Armenian Genocide but failed to keep their promise once in office.

It is worthwhile to have a short outlook at US presidents’ policies on this issue starting from George H. W. Bush. Back in 1988, when Bush was running for president and was the Vice President under Ronald Reagan issued the following statement: “The United States must acknowledge the attempted genocide of the Armenian people in the last years of the Ottoman Empire, based on the testimony of survivors, scholars, and indeed our own representatives at the time, if we are to ensure that such horrors are not repeated.” However, after becoming the US president not only did Bush fail to keep his promise but also tried to prevent the adoption of Armenian Genocide resolution by the Congress. Bush himself referred to the Armenian Genocide as “massacres.”

The 42nd US president Bill Clinton acted similarly in this regard. Clinton failed to keep the promise of calling Armenian murders “genocide” instead referring to them as “deportations and massacres.”  Moreover, Clinton interfered with Congress to cancel the voting on Armenian Genocide resolution which would have been a winning vote. In his letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert, Clinton stated that the bill “could have far-reaching, negative consequences for the United States.” The US leadership was worried about the potential consequences of such a resolution on the US-Turkish relations.

President George H. Bush also had pledged to the Armenian community to recognize the Armenian Genocide in a letter: “The Armenians were subjected to a genocidal campaign that defies comprehension and commands all decent people to remember and acknowledge the facts and lessons of an awful crime in a century of bloody crimes against humanity. If elected President, I would ensure that our nation properly recognizes the tragic suffering of the Armenian people.” And once again, the promise never materialized and later President Bush urged members of Congress to refrain from adopting the Armenian Genocide resolution since it would do “great harm” to US relations with Turkey. In his opinion the resolution was “not the right response to these historic mass killings.”

The commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide coincided with President Obama’s Presidency. Back in 2008 Obama had stated that: “​​As a Senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide…America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides.” However, upon taking office Obama like his predecessors failed to keep it. In his statement on centennial of the Armenian Genocide Obama avoided the term Genocide using instead terms like “mass atrocity” and “terrible carnage.” Obama’s administration official spokesman at the time said that the approach that US administrations have taken is the right “both for acknowledging the past, and for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the present.” On the other hand, during Obama’s presidency, the so-called “football diplomacy” effort was launched which aimed to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations. This was used as an excuse by the administration to avoid using the term “genocide” arguing that it would harm the process.