“Obama Administration insults the memory of Armenian Holocaust,” Stephen Brown writes in an article published by the Front Page Magazine.
“Next month, Armenians worldwide will mark the centennial of the Armenian Holocaust that saw 1.5 million of their people perish barbarically at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in a jihad that is continuing today under the Islamic State. This destruction of the Armenians in Anatolia, where they had lived for several thousand years, was also the event that gave Hitler reason to believe he could get away with exterminating Jews, Poles and Gypsies,” the author writes.
“Who still remembers today the annihilation of the Armenians?” the Nazi leader reportedly said.
“The trauma of 1915 left deep scars on the Armenian psyche, similar to those the Nazi Holocaust made on that of the world’s Jews. As a result, one would think the Obama administration would show an increased sensitivity regarding the killing of Armenians, especially by Muslim enemies, and more especially in view of the approaching Armenian Holocaust’s centenary in April. But only last month, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland urged Armenian authorities to make “a humanitarian gesture” and release two Azeri terrorists who had crossed the border from Azerbaijan and murdered two people, one a 17-year-old. A third Armenian, a woman, was badly wounded,” the article reads.
“Such humanitarian gestures have been shown to reduce tensions and build trust between the sides. So that’s what she (Nuland) was referring to,” said a state department spokeswoman later at a press briefing, in explaining the assistant secretary’s controversial remarks.
Recalling the history of the Karabakh conflict and Turkey’s move to seal the border with Armenia, Stephen Brown says “it is against this background of war, genocide, ethnic cleansing and ancient hatreds that Nuland called upon Armenian authorities to make a “humanitarian gesture” and release the murderers.”
The two Azeri terrorists were found guilty in a Republic of Artsakh court after an “open and transparent trial,” and received prison sentences of life and 22 years respectively. One of the charges that formed the conviction was “murder committed by an organised group motivated by ethnic hatred.” Artsakh security forces killed a third Azeri terrorist belonging to the group. None of the three, Azerbaijan claims, are members of its military. The author also reminded about the extradition and release of Azeri officer Ramil Safarov, who had killed Armenian officer, Lt. Gurgen Markarian, in his sleep with an axe in 2004 in Budapest
“The reason the Obama administration requested on Azerbaijan’s behalf that the two Azeri murderers be released was probably not a humanitarian one, as it maintains. Like some Arab countries, Azerbaijan is very oil rich, while Armenia has no oil. American companies also have investments in the large Azeri oil industry. Equally important, Azerbaijan serves as a hub for the Caspian Sea-Central Asian energy pipelines. As well, both Israel and the United States view Azerbaijan as an ally in the regional showdown with Iran. So it is most likely that upholding these business and strategic interests with Azerbaijan was the real reason behind Nuland’s pushing for the terrorists’ release.”
“If the State Department truly wants “to reduce tensions and build trust” in the region, it should first tell Azerbaijan and Turkey to lift their blockades and open their borders with Armenia, ending the crippling of the Armenian economy. This is the humanitarian gesture it should be pursuing and not the release of two murderers,” Stephen Brown writes.
He believes that “the border openings would not only be a good start to solving the other outstanding regional issues, it would also serve to lessen the Armenian fear that their Muslim neighbours simply want to finish the extermination project they started in 1915.” “It would also constitute a very fitting gesture of friendship and reconciliation, especially by Turkey, to Armenians worldwide on the centenary of the horrific event that serves as the well-spring of so much of their pain.”
“But instead of a adopting a principled position that would help lessen that pain, the Obama administration appears to have taken one of unprincipled pragmatism,” the article concludes.
