Sen. Menendez Calls Protocols “Insult” to Armenian Nation

NEW YORK – Senate Foreign Relations Committee member and outspoken advocate of international affirmation of the Armenian Genocide, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), called provisions in the Turkey Armenia protocols which would create a historical commission “frankly absurd.”  The New Jersey legislator went on to state that “I do not think that Armenia should be pressured into anything that is not in their national interests or in the long-term national interests of the United States.”

Expanding on his concerns of the Protocol’s historical commission provision, Sen. Menendez called such an action “an insult to the Armenian people. It is an insult to the memory of the victims.  It is an insult to the top scholars who have clearly spoken on this issue and issued their unequivocal conclusions.”

Sen. Menendez went on to restate the importance of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.  “The Armenian Genocide is an irrefutable fact of history,” explained the Senator.  “It is time that Turkey recognizes it and accepts it.  It is time that the world acknowledges this fact of history and moves on towards a viable peace that honors the true history of the Armenian people.”

Senator Menendez offered his remarks during the Armenian Cultural Association of America (ACAA) banquet in support of the efforts of the Armenian National Committee of America Eastern United States. For his decades of outspoken leadership and advocacy for Armenian American concerns and, most recently, his efforts to ensure a U.S. foreign policy which properly recognizes the Armenian Genocide, Sen. Menendez was awarded the 2009 Freedom Award.  Previous Freedom Award recipients were former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Evans and Pulitzer Prize winning author Samantha Power.

More information about the ACAA banquet and other 2009 community honorees will follow.