!á½p="justify">Although concrete results have not been published yet, the victory of the Democrats in the Congressional elections of November 2006 in the US is evident. Moreover, it is equally apparent that Nancy Pelosi, the Californian representative of the Democrats will be the Speaker of the House of Representatives, which will be dominated by the Democrats for the first time since 1994. Therefore, she will be the first women speaker in the history of the House.

Nancy Pelosi has also attracted attention as a member of an Italian-American family having close ties with politics. His father Thomas D’Alesandro and his brother Thomas D’Alesandro III were elected as the Mayor of Baltimore for years. His father had also represented Baltimore in the House for five successive terms. The political career of Pelosi shows a similar line of success since she has been elected to the House in the all Congressional elections since 1987.

It can be said that the latest elections would have significant repercussions on the Armenian question and the acceptance of the Armenian genocide allegations in the Congress; because many recently-elected Democrats have been in collaboration with the Armenian lobby of the US and have openly declared that they have been supporting the Armenian allegations. In his twenty years long Congressional career, in every occasion, Pelosi has also worked for the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by the US. In some speeches that she had been delivered in the past, she argued that Turkey should recognize the so-called genocide; that the strategic partnership between Turkey and the US had so far impeded the US recognition of the so-called genocide; and that the US has been ‘morally and humanely bound’ to recognize this ‘tragic event of history’. Below there are some samples from her speeches that put forward these aforementioned arguments:

-         On April 1999, in a Congressional speech she articulated that: “As we enter the Third Millennium of the Christian era, it behooves us to remember. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, then we are destined to continue our stumbling through the long, dark tunnel of endless ethnic-cleansings, genocides, and holocausts Let us, then, remember to remember”

-         Speaking in the Congress in April of 2001, she said that: “Our alliance with Turkey should not deter us from learning the lessons of past mistakes. If we ignore the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, we are destined to repeat those same mistakes. The horrible conflicts in Sudan, Sierra Leone, and East Timor remind us that we must do more to prevent the systematic slaughter of innocent people. We must learn from the past and never forget the victims of the Armenian genocide.”

-         In May of 2001, in a Congressional speech she noted that: “The sad thing about that tragedy is that it is a tragedy twice. Once in the course of the Genocide and secondly in the fact that we cannot get the United States to pass a resolution memorializing and acknowledging the terrible things that happened then . . This Armenian Genocide is a challenge to the conscience of our country and the conscience of the world. We will not rest until we have recognition of it.”

-         Speaking at a Capitol Hill observance in April of 2005, she focused on Turkey’s strategic position as an impediment in front of the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by stressing that: “First at the time of the Iron Curtain, [they cited] the strategic location of Turkey, after that it was the Gulf War and Turkey's strategic location . . . Turkey's strategic location is not a license to kill”

 
Besides, Pelosi declared just before the elections that she would work for bringing a draft resolution to the Congress. As one of the cosponsors of the House Resolution 316 on the affirmation of Armenian genocide allegations in the US records, Pelosi openly said that she would bring this draft to the agenda of the Congress and would openly support its adoption. In short, it is quite probable that throughout this year a draft resolution on the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide will occupy the Congressional agenda, this time more strongly and seriously.

In sum, the Congressional elections and a pro-Armenian speaker of the House will have considerable impact on the American perception of the Armenian question. American people will face up with the Armenian allegations more and more, and because of the lack of alternative explanations, American public opinion will perceive these allegations as ‘indisputable facts’. Besides, these allegations will be brought to the political scene and will have significant implications on Turkish-Armenian relations as well.