Landmark Decision: Armenian Parliament Recognizes Aramean Genocide

On 24 March 2015, the Armenian National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan passed a Bill condemning the Genocide of the Greeks and Arameans Perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1923. The draft Bill was adopted with 117 votes “for,” with no abstentions or votes “against” the Bill. The World Council of Arameans (Syriacs), the United Nations NGO representing Aramean Christians across the world, applauds the Republic of Armenia for its recognition of this forgotten Genocide.

The Armenian Standing Committee on Foreign Relations had earlier sponsored the Bill leading to healthy debate in the Parliament. The discussions referred to several international resolutions and conventions in order to substantiate their decision. This included the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 96 of 11 December 1946, titled “The Crime of Genocide,” the 11 December 1946 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the 26 November 1968 Convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Aramean (Syriac) people were subjected to a horrific Genocide by the Ottoman (Turkish) Government in 1895 and from 1915-1923. This year of 2015, marks the 100 year anniversary since the terror rained on the Armenian, Greek and Aramean (Syriac) populations of Turkey.

The Aramean people are the indigenous people of Southeast Turkey and, like the Armenians and Greeks, suffered a campaign of race extermination by the Ottomans, who were assisted by numerous Kurdish tribes. The Arameans who managed to escape the Genocide, continued to suffer the theft and occupation of their indigenous lands and constant terror, persecution and massacres in Southeast Turkey. This has now led to a large Diaspora living in exile throughout the world.

It is a fact of history that as Turkey wiped out over 1.5 million Armenians, the Ottomans also sanctioned the systematic annihilation of the Arameans (Syriacs) and Greeks. Henry Morgenthau, U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire (1913-16), testified as follows about the ethnic cleansing of the Arameans (also referred to as “Syrians” for historical reasons) by the Turks:

“And now the Young Turks, who had adopted so many of [Sultan] Abdul Hamid’s ideas, also made his Armenian policy their own. Their passion for Turkifying the nation seemed to demand logically the extermination of all Christians – Greeks, Syrians, and Armenians ... They would destroy all Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, and other Christians, move Moslem families into their homes and into their farms, and so make sure that these territories would not similarly be taken away from Turkey” (Ch. XXII).

Mr. Johny Messo, President of the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs), welcomes the Resolution and remarks: “During this 100 year anniversary of the Ottoman Genocide of the Armenians, Greeks and Arameans, we are left at a crossroads. In order to step into a brighter future, states must recognize their past and decide whether they wish to remain stuck in the past or prefer to move forward. Just like the German State recognized the Holocaust, for instance, it would benefit the Turkish State to come to terms with the dark pages of its history, reconcile with the victims, and gain the respect and appreciation of the world community. During this centennial year, we ask all governments of the world, in particular of Turkey, to mirror the example of the Armenian people.”

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NOTE ON THE MISSTRANSLATION OF ARMENIAN ASORI AS “ASSYRIAN”

In recognizing the Genocide of the Arameans (Syriacs), the Armenian Parliament refers to “Asori.” In Armenian, “Asori” and “Asoreren” are well-acknowledged terms to mean “Syrian” people and “Syriac” language, which are originally Greek terms for the Semitic (Hebrew and Aramaic) names of the “Aramean” people and “Aramaic” language. Historians, linguists and scholars of Armenian Studies widely confirm the historical and linguistic fact that “Asori” should be translated as “Syrian; Aramean.” They have also clearly clarified the confusing and inaccurate translation of the resembling English term “Assyrian,” which itself is actually “Asorestants’i” in Armenian.

For the Turkish term Süryani, which has also sometimes erroneously been translated as “Assyrian,” see a brief explanation with academic references at http://wca-ngo.org/heritage/288-fact-sheet-sueryani-means-syrian-syriac-or-aramean-aramaic.

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