Errors in Armenian genocide article

Re: “The Politicization of a country’s historical events”, March 17

I want to thank Amalia Biro for covering the recent recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Swedish parliament.

However, the article claims that the massacres were not previously labelled. In actuality, the term “genocide” was coined in 1944 specifically to describe the attempted extermination of the Armenians in World War I and the Jews in World War II.

Secondly, the article claims that Canada and Sweden are following the lead of the United States in officially recognizing the genocide, but in this case it was Canada who was the leader.

Today, Turkey is threatening to deny the U.S. access to the Incirlik air base, which is an important hub servicing military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

They also have a habit of recalling their ambassador immediately after a genocide recognition bill is passed. The tide is turning, though. There is a desire on behalf of both Turkey’s intellectual community and grassroots activists in the West to put an end to the genocide denial that is tainting Turkey’s current human rights record.

April 24 will mark 95 years since the genocide was carried out in 1915 and only a handful of survivors remain.

–Nazeeg Haneshian