Abstention on Armenian genocide vote vexes supporters of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar [View all]

John Parker-Der Boghossian spent Tuesday afternoon closely watching C-SPAN and Twitter with anticipation as the U.S. House considered a historic resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide of a century ago. When he saw a “present” vote pop up on the screen, he was perplexed.

“Who votes ‘present’ on a genocide resolution?” he thought. Minutes later, the St. Anthony resident learned that the vote was cast by his own congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar. Shock and anger set in.

“I don’t understand how morally, when asked to affirm or deny, that you would vote ‘present,’ ” said Parker-Der Boghossian, whose mother’s family escaped death during the systematic murders and expulsions that affected some 1.5 million Armenians, a Christian minority within what was the Muslim-majority Ottoman Empire, with most of the violence taking place in modern-day Turkey. “I don’t know morally how you do that.”

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Omar’s decision to abstain and the subsequent explanation she gave has triggered another round of intense criticism for the freshman Democrat, in Minnesota and across the nation. Many members of the Twin Cities Armenian community expressed shock and deep dismay.

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Omar said in a statement Tuesday that while she believes accountability is “paramount” for human rights abuses, including genocide, such acknowledgments should not be “used as cudgel in a political fight.” She pointed to the slave trade and genocide of American Indians as examples of atrocities that receive too little recognition. She later defended her vote on Twitter, reiterating that she acknowledges the World War I-era Armenian genocide and that her concern was “not with the substance of this resolution.”

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http://www.startribune.com/abstention-on-armenian-genocide-vexes-omar-supporters/564138312/