Jack Reed: “Today, on behalf of the Armenian population of Rhode Island, and Armenians around the world, I wish to recognize the…”

“Today, on behalf of the Armenian population of Rhode Island, and Armenians around the world, I wish to recognize the 92nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide. On April 24, 1915, nationalists in the Ottoman Empire rounded up, deported, and executed 200 Armenian community leaders, writers, thinkers, and professionals in Constantinople, present day Istanbul. Also on that day in Constantinople, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were massacred in the streets and in their homes. These events sparked an 8-year campaign of tyranny that impacted the lives of every Armenian in Asia Minor. By 1923, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, and another 500,000 were exiled. The U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morganthau, Sr., unsuccessfully pleaded President Wilson for intervention. Unfortunately, the United States and the world tragically failed to intervene on behalf of the Armenian people. Ambassador Morganthau would later write in his memoir, 'The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915.' Today, as a proud supporter of S. Res 106, legislation officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, I urge the President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the U.S. record relating to the Armenian genocide.”