Between lies and truth - Biden shouldn’t inflict blow on US - COMMENT

Every year, on the eve of April 24, Armenians spread false information about the troubled period of 1915 and follow the statements of the heads of state. It is not clear whether the leading states of the world yield to the whims of the Armenians, or use them for their own purposes.

In the US, the issue of the ‘Armenian genocide’ is invariably present in a number of numerous promises of candidates during the presidential election campaign. The current President Joe Biden, like his predecessors, pledged to satisfy the requests of the Armenians in this matter. Previous presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump also made similar promises. However, they didn’t become complicit in the Armenian falsification and didn’t support the distortion of history. Commenting on these events, Barack Obama said: “The Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were deported, massacred and marched to their deaths.” In a statement issued by the White House, Obama referred to those events as a “massacre,” a “terrible carnage,” “horrific violence” and a “dark chapter of history.”

Contrary to the expectations of the Armenians, Donald Trump also called the events that happened 106 years ago not ‘genocide’ but ‘the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century.’ US President Joe Biden is supposed to use the phrase ‘Armenian genocide’ in his April 24 address this year. In his political activities, Biden is also known for his sympathy for the Armenians. This suggests that the current owner of the White House won’t make any objective decisions in connection with international conflicts.

Meanwhile, for the Azerbaijani public, the Karabakh issue is a litmus test for objectivity of others. What happened in 1992 proved Biden’s injustice. As a senator, he took a number of steps against Azerbaijan. Joe Biden played an active role in the adoption by the US Congress of the Section 907 of the United States Freedom Support Act. According to this amendment, the US government was prohibited from providing assistance to the official structures of Azerbaijan. Biden has also repeatedly spoken out against repealing the amendment. Biden’s love for the Armenians is evident in the composition of his team. There are two people of Armenian origin working in his administration. Jeff Marutyan was appointed US President’s Special Assistant for Human Resources at the Climate and Science Agency, and Ike Hajinazarian was appointed White House Regional Communications Director.

By the way, if Joe Biden uses the word ‘genocide,’ he will violate the norms of international law. That’s because a biased approach to the 106-year-old event is an instrument of political pressure. For years, Armenian claims have been used against Turkey. If the US president approaches the issue from the position of Armenians, it will be an indicator of the 78-year-old head of state’s support for falsifications and injustice, especially considering that after the Second Karabakh War, the actions of Armenians and their sponsors against Azerbaijan and Turkey don’t subside. So, if Biden uses a word that will satisfy the Armenians, it can be considered an integral part of this campaign.

Then it is safe to conclude that the forces that lost to the Ottomans in the First World War are now trying to take revenge on Turkey, putting pressure on it through false Armenian claims. Of course, there are sober-minded people in this world, and it is them who declare that events of this kind should be studied primarily by historians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his speeches on this issue, has repeatedly stated that archival materials from that period can be presented to specialists. That is, these events are associated with history, and historians must deal with them. The use or rejection of the term ‘genocide’ is the subsequent stage.

On April 22, 1982, then US President Ronald Reagan, in his address to Jews, drew a parallel between the ‘Armenian genocide’ and the Holocaust. This was done on the initiative of the Armenians working in the White House at that time. Then an Armenian named Kenneth Khachigian worked in the Reagan secretariat in the White House. He wrote most of the speeches of the 40th President of the US. Reagan commissioned him to write a text about the Holocaust. Khachigian, taking advantage of the opportunity, added the statement ‘Armenian genocide’ to the president’s report. Comparing his ‘genocide’ in scale to the Holocaust, he also reminded about the claims of the ethnic group to which he himself belonged. Now the Armenians, referring to this speech, are trying to pass off this speech as the recognition of a false story by the US President.

In any case, if Joe Biden succumbs to the Armenian adventure and defends the falsification, this will mean not only disrespect for Turkey, but also a step directed against Azerbaijan, justifying the atrocities committed by the Armenians in Karabakh. When the Armenians occupied this region of Azerbaijan, they carried out ethnic cleansing, subjected local residents to genocide, and destroyed historical monuments. Civilians were subjected to genocide in Khojaly, Meshali, Garadaghli, Baganis Ayrim, Karkijahan, Aghdaban and other settlements.

As many as 13 monuments of history and culture of global significance, 292 republican (119 architectural and 173 archaeological) and 330 local (270 architectural, 22 archaeological, 23 garden, park, monumental and memorial monuments, 15 decorative and applied arts samples) remained under occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas, as well as 22 museums with more than 40,000 exhibits, 927 libraries with a 4.6 million book fund, 808 clubs, 4 theaters and 2 concert halls, 31 mosques, 9 historical palaces, 8 parks of culture and recreation, 4 art galleries, 85 music schools, 103,200 pieces of furniture equipment, 5,640 musical instruments, 481 cinema installations, 20 movie cameras, 423 video recorders, 5,920 sets of national men's and women's clothing, 40 sets of sound amplifiers, 25 large and 40 small-sized attractions, etc. Armenia took these historical monuments from Karabakh or destroyed in the same way as it cleared the territory of local residents.

Recently, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, commenting on the alleged steps of the US on this issue, said about the position of the organization he represents: “In terms of the position of the UN, the fact of the genocide should be decided by the relevant court instance.” On December 9, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted in Paris the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This Convention entered into force on January 12, 1951. According to the definition of genocide, an event in the Ottoman state is not genocide, because then the armed Armenians opposed the state, while the state suppressed this revolt. However, the atrocities committed by Armenians in March 1918 in all regions of Azerbaijan against peaceful Azerbaijanis, including those committed in Karabakh over the past 30 years, are genocide. In addition, according to this document, the crimes committed by the US and France in Africa are also genocide.

Finally, if Joe Biden voices the Armenian falsification, there will be no confidence in the US international mediation mission in the settlement of conflicts. By doing this, the White House will deal a blow to the strategic partnership with Turkey and Azerbaijan. If Biden takes this step, defending the falsifiers of history, it will give impetus to the emergence of new relations in the region. So, the current owner of the White House will pass the fairness test. The score he gets on this test will be an indicator of US fairness.