Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

House tentatively approves resolution condemning Armenian genocide
by Tom Stuckey, Associated Press - April 6, 2001
Posted: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 03:03 am CST

The House of Delegates debated several important state issues such as gun safety education and racial profiling Thursday, but the longest, most emotional discussion was about something that happened almost halfway around the world 80 years ago.

The House tentatively approved a resolution to establish a day of remembrance for up to 1.5 million Armenians killed during World War I when Armenia was ruled by the Ottoman Empire, now the modern state of Turkey.

Maryland lawmakers joined an international debate over whether the deaths were the unfortunate result of war or a deliberate act of genocide.

Armenians are waging a worldwide effort to gather support for their contention that 1.5 million Armenians were killed or died in forced marches by the Ottoman Empire during its war with Russia.

Armenians said it was ethnic cleansing that amounted to an international crime. Turkey puts the death toll at no more than 500,000 and says the deaths were the unavoidable result of war.

Opponents argued that the legislature should not meddle in foreign affairs and tried to amend the resolution condemning the "Armenian Genocide" to make it a day of remembrance for the estimated 175 million victims of political violence and genocide around the world in the 20th century.

"This is a national and international issue, not a Maryland issue," said Delegate David Boschert, R-Anne Arundel, the sponsor of the amendment.

Delegate Dan Morhaim, D-Baltimore County, said the legislature runs the risk of angering Turkey and inflaming passions between Turks and Armenians.

He presented the legislature with letters from prominent Republicans and Democrats opposing passage of resolutions by the U.S. Congress and state legislatures labeling the killing of Armenians as genocide.

Delegate Richard D'Amato, D-Anne Arundel, told delegates there is no international consensus that the deaths of so many Armenians were deliberate and amounted to genocide.

"We have no foreign relations committee here. We have no intelligence committee here," D'Amato said. "It's inappropriate to ask delegates to sort it out."

Delegate Sheila Hixson, D-Montgomery, said the legislature has taken a stand on similar resolutions at least a dozen times in the past when a group of Marylanders have asked for help.

"We've never questioned them," she said. "I think Maryland has a right to make a decision for our citizens."

After Boschert's amendment was rejected, the resolution was given tentative approval and is expected to be up for a final House vote Friday.

The resolution and a similar one that passed the Senate stirred passions on both sides of a long-standing international debate.

Senators and delegates were flooded with e-mails and letters asking them to vote for or against the resolution. The Turkish ambassador to the United States, Baki Illkin, traveled to Annapolis earlier this session urging lawmakers to defeat the resolution.

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