Senate candidate Sam Rohrer would co-sponsor Armenian Genocide Recognition bill Continue reading on Examiner.com Senate candidate Sam Rohrer would co-sponsor Armenian Genocide Recognition bill

A Turkish official holds up a piece of bread to tease deliberately starved Armenian children Credits: 1915 Collection of St. Lazar Mkhitarian Congr., via http://www.armgate.com

Adam Taxin
Philadelphia Jewish Culture Examiner
30/3/2012

On a recent broadcast of The Chai95 Radio Hour with Adam Taxin, on WWDB 860 AM in Philadelphia, Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate Sam Rohrer stated that, if elected, he would be willing to co-sponsor a Senate resolution that recognized the Turkish Muslim extermination of up to 1.5 million Armenian Christians during the period from 1915 to 1923 as a “genocide.”

Last Thursday, March 22, Chai95 Radio Hour host Taxin (aka the writer of this piece) asked Rohrer, a nine-term former Pennsylvania State Representative from the Reading area: “Would you as a Senator co-sponsor a resolution [to recognize] the Armenian Genocide,” to which Rohrer responded unequivocally: “Yes, I would. Absolutely.”

Referring to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 as a “fact of history that occurred,” Rohrer continued by saying: “If I were there, I would push and join the others that are trying to make that known. And that’s the kind of thing that needs to be spoken out against by people in positions of authority in the U.S. Senate and Congress, [including] to speak out and speak against the President when he improperly squashes the revealing of the truth and limits the free speech of those who are in positions [and] who ought to speak and recognize that. Because if we don’t recall that which has happened, we’re going to repeat it again, and that cannot happen.”

Taxin’s question to Rohrer was a follow-up to a preceding phone call into the show for Rohrer from Kate Nahapetian of the Washington, D.C.-based Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA),

Nahapetian’s original comment and question to Rohrer were: “The show had a segment on the Armenian Genocide just a couple of days ago, and I understand that you also feel very strongly about it. And, as a man of faith, I wanted to know what your position is on the Armenian Genocide. Would you allow foreign governments like Turkey to gag the United States and prohibit people from speaking about the Armenian Genocide, like our diplomats are currently prohibited from talking about it? And what would you do to help prevent genocide … in Sudan? Sudan is preventing foreign assistance from reaching South Kordofan right now, and that’s an issue at the forefront that we care a lot about also, so I wanted to get your positions on that.”

To that, Rohrer responded (in relevant part): “These matters of fact and truth and historical reality are not things to be shoved under the rug, to be covered over, to be refused to be talked about. And as a a leader of the free world, the United States, and those in it — the Senators, Congressmen and President — have an obligation to speak out in the defense of those who are downtrodden, those who are persecuted, those who are ultimately involved in such horrendous things as genocide … And to do anything other than that is a relinquishing of duty and responsiblity in regard to the sacredness of life, of all life. And so I would be very bold and clear to speak out wherever and whenever atrocities of that type occur.”

Asked later by Taxin for an explation of what she meant by “gag,” Nahapetian responded: “The Armenian Genocide happened during World War I, and, at the time, U.S. diplomats actually risked their lives to document the crimes. But as Turkey became more important to U.S. interests, the position changed.”

In that regard, Nahapetian continued: “And today it’s to the point where U.S. diplomats, if they speak about the Armenian Genocide, like Ambassador John Evans did a few years ago, they actually suffer negative consequences to the point of being pushed out and actually fired. So right now, because of the Turkish government, the U.S. government is not allowed to speak honestly about the Armenian Genocide.

“And when Congress tries to pass resolutions co commemorate this crime, the President — Obama — actually opposed those efforts, because the Turkish government tries to silence any discussion in the United States, to the point of funding chairs at U.S. universities that will also propagate the lies and also [further] the propoganda of the Turkish government.”

To the best of this writer’s knowledge, Rohrer has not been asked to date about his support and potential co-sponsorship of the Return of Churches Resolution, which calls upon the Secretary of State to press Turkey to return stolen Christian church properties and allow full freedom of faith for religious minorities.

As for the other four Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Pennsylvania — David Christian, Marc Scaringi, Tom Smith and Steve Welch — they have not to date, as far as known, expressed opinions on either the Armenian Genocide Resolution or the Return of Churches Resolution. None of the four other Republican candidates has run for office previously.

The winner of the Tuesday, April 24 Pennsylvania primary will oppose Democrat incumbent U.S. Senator Robert Casey, Jr. for election in November. Casey received a “C-” from the ANCA in its most recent (November 2010) grading of Members of Congress. This past weekend, Casey held a Turkish-oriented fundraising event.

On Thursday, March 15, The Chai95 Radio Hour with Adam Taxin featured an extended segment with experts on the Armenian Genocide, featuring guests Peter Balakian (author of Black Dog of Fate and The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response), Mark Geragos (attorney for Armenian descendants of Genocide victims) and Aram Hamparian (executive director of the ANCA).

Rohrer was a guest on that March 15 show as well, in a different segment. Asked a question about the topic of the Armenian Genocide, Rohrer said, among other things, that “to remember incidences of historical fact is an extremely part of upholding truth and justice. And I would, as a Senator, recognize and be a part of recognizing and remembering those kinds of instances, so we do not repeat it again.”

Rohrer also added: “You’re seeing things in Egypt with Coptic Christians … and across this world right now, where it is only the beginning stages of what will end up in the same kind of thing … if the light is not shined and we do not bring attention to it.”

This past Tuesday, March 27, near the beginning of The Chai95 Radio Hour, co-host Bob Guzzardi discussed the topic of the Armenian Genocide during his monologue segment. A podcast of that show will be available until Tuesday, April 3 via this link. (That podcast is under Tuesday at 12 PM. Guzzardi’s segment runs from approximately 9 minutes in until approximately 15 minutes in.) At the beginning of the segment that immediately followed Guzzardi’s (from approximately 15 minutes to appoximately 17 minutes in), show guest David Horowitz started off his time on the show by immediately mentioning the religious aspects of the Armenian Genocide (without actually even having been asked about the subject).

The annual Armenian Genocide Walk will be taking place in Philadelphia the afternoon of Sunday, April 28. More details about that Walk and the Armenian Genocide in general can be obtained via this link.

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