Ten reasons why Pres. Obama should travel to Armenia on April 24

By Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has invited several world leaders to Yerevan on April 24 to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

The Presidents of France, Russia, Poland and Belarus have already accepted Pres. Sargsyan’s invitation.

The White House has yet to make a public statement on whether Pres. Obama plans to travel to Armenia on this most solemn occasion.

A Century ago, Henry Morgenthau, US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, described the systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as “The Murder of a Nation.” Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, told CBS that he coined the term genocide based on the mass crimes committed against Armenians during WWI and Jews during WWII.

Here are 10 reasons why Air Force One should make an auspicious landing in Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport on April 24.

1. Pres. Obama would pay tribute to hundreds of thousands of compassionate American citizens for having raised over $117 million -- today’s equivalent of over $2 billion -- to aid destitute Armenians in the aftermath of the Genocide. Initiated by Amb. Morgenthau and supported by Pres. Woodrow Wilson, Near East Relief helped rescue and care for 132,000 Armenian orphans. This massive charitable effort was the first international humanitarian outreach in U.S. history.

2. By visiting Armenia on this occasion, Pres. Obama would be reaffirming the longstanding US acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide -- a settled historical fact recognized as genocide by:
-- The US Government in a document submitted to the World Court in 1951;
-- The House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984;
-- Pres. Ronald Reagan in a Presidential Proclamation issued on April 22, 1981;
-- 43 out of 50 U.S. states;