In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

The Guardian, UK
April 24 2008

Remembering Anatolia, 1915

Today, April 24, is the day of commemoration of the Armenian
genocide. Is it not time for Turkey to recognise this crime and enable
a just closure?

by Harry Hagopian

Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman Turkish government systematically
targeted and killed Armenians in the Ottoman empire. Ultimately, well
over 1 million Armenians lost their lives during this period, which is
now widely regarded by most historians as the first genocide of the
20th century and one that is commemorated today the world over.

Mannig's story

I was six years old when we were deported from our lovely home in
Adapazar, near Istanbul. I remember twirling in our parlour in my
favourite yellow dress while my mother played the violin. It all ended
when the Turkish police ordered us to leave town.

The massacre of my family, of the Armenians, took place during a
three-year trek of 600km across the Anatolian plateau and into the
Mesopotamian desert. I can't wipe out the horrific images of how my
father and all the men in our foot caravan were shipped to their
deaths. My cousin and all other males 12 years and older were shoved
off the cliffs into the raging Euphrates river. My grandmother and the
elderly were shot for slowing down the trekkers. Two of my siblings
died of starvation. My aunt died of disease, and my mother survived
the trek only to perish soon after from an influenza epidemic.

Of my family, only my sister and I were still alive. The Turkish
soldiers forced us, along with 900 other starving children, into the
deepest part of the desert to perish in the scorching sun. Most did.

But God must have been watching over me. He placed me in the path of
the Bedouin Arabs who were on a search and rescue mission for Armenian
victims. They saved me. I lived under the Bedouin tents for several
months, before they led me to an orphanage in Mosul. I was sad about
our separation, but the Bedouin assured me that the orphanage was
sponsored by good people.

To my delight, I was reunited with my sister at the orphanage. She,
too, was saved by the Bedouin Arabs. The happiest days in my life were
at the orphanage. We had soup and bread to eat every day and were
sheltered under white army tents donated by the British.

Above all, my sister and I were family again.

This moving personal testimony was spoken by Mannig Dobajian
Kouyoumjian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide, and written for the
US Holocaust Centre by her daughter, Aida Kouyoumjian, from Seattle.

As an Armenian who was born after this grisly period of our history, I
often wonder how our forbears managed to sustain their hope, faith and
perseverance in the face of such immense suffering and painful
adversity. How did those Armenian victims of the genocide find the
personal resources, after what can only have been devastating and
orphaned situations, to carry on to rediscover fulfilling and normal
lives?

Is it not time for Turkey to put nationalism, pride and fear aside and
recognise this dark chapter of its history during the first world war?
Is it not time for Armenians and Turks to move forward by seeking a
just closure of this open sore?

Also for comments on the above, click on the link below:

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/harry_hagopian/2008/04/remembering_anatolia_1915.html

[Fedayeen]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Few pictures I took at from the April 24 march....

A lot of people marched this year, all thanks to Armenian youth.

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Russia

ARMENIANS OF KRASNODAR HELD TORCH PROCESSION TO COMMEMORATE GENOCIDE VICTIMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.04.2008 00:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Events dedicated to the 93rd anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide were held in Krasnodar, Russia.

On April 23, the youth of Krasnodar held a torch procession toward
the Khachkar inaugurated in the Armenian Church yard in commemoration
of the Genocide martyrs.

A documentary "I condemn" was screened.

On April 24, after a service for the Dead, Armenian organizations of
Krasnodar held a rally to condemn Turkey's policy of denial.

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=25891&sub=19&page=1

ARMENIANS AND JEWS MARKED GENOCIDE 93RD ANNIVERSARY IN YEKATERINBURG

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.04.2008 13:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On April 24, the Armenian community of Yekaterinburg,
Ani-Armenia, held a rally on occasion of the 93rd anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

Member of the General Council of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,
co-chair of the Council of Tolerance, Mikhail Oshtrakh was among the
speakers at the event.

He said the Armenian and Jewish people suffered similar ordeals. "New
generations should know about the horrors of misanthropic policy and
prevent repetition of genocides in future," he stated, InterJewish
Club reports.

http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=25911

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Tufts Daily, MA
April 28, 2008
Armenian Genocide issue requires sustainable solution
By Harout Harry Semerdjian

This month, the world once again commemorates the 1915 mass killings
and deportation of over two million Armenians by the Young Turk regime
of the Ottoman Empire. Ninety-three years after the first genocide of
the 20th century, the United States and the international community
should, at last, compel the leadership of Turkey to seek a real and
sustainable solution to the Armenian Genocide issue by ensuring that
the country comes to terms with its past, as well as adopts some
much-desired changes in its policies toward Armenia.

The Armenian issue is one of the main foreign policy challenges for
the Turkish state today, which emerges not only in its policies toward
Armenia, but also in its relations with countries on nearly every
continent of the globe. Vehemently denied by Turkey, the 1915 events
have been accepted as genocide by over 20 countries of the world,
including such important nations as France, Russia and Canada. In
addition, 40 out of the states have affirmed the Armenian massacres as
genocide, and this reality should not be dismissed as mere local state
politics. These states, covering a huge portion of the country both in
terms of geography and population, speak the voices of their
people. Given this trend, then, it may be only a matter of time for
the remaining 10 states to follow the footsteps of the others - which
may eventually compel the United States government to affirm the 1915
events as genocide.

Last year, as the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee brought the
Armenian Genocide Resolution to a vote in the full House of
Representatives, it was certain that the resolution would pass with a
majority of at least 227 co-sponsors. However, with threats of an
invasion of northern Iraq (which eventually took place) as well as a
possible halt to military relations with the United States, Turkey was
successful in convincing the White House to use its acute leverage
over several congressmen to pull out their support from the
resolution.

But this cannot be interpreted as a political victory for Turkey for
several reasons, the most important being that the congressmen have
not argued against the reality of the Genocide. They have cited
Turkey's geo-strategic importance for the United States, and at least
one congressman who temporarily withdrew his support has explicitly
stated that "it is a good resolution and horrible timing." In other
words, these congressmen have arrived at the conclusion that genocide
took place in 1915 and they are ready to support legislation that
would set the U.S. record straight on this historical issue, but they
will vote on it when their dependence on Turkey regarding Iraq
subsides. Hence, the resolution has been postponed to sometime this
year - but it will undoubtedly resurface.

It would be na've and premature to interpret this development as a
final "victory" for Turkey. Rather, it can be seen as Turkey having
indirectly bought some precious time - which should not be
wasted. Turkey, foremost, has to use this opportunity to directly
communicate with Armenia on this issue in order to avoid third
parties, such as the U.S. Congress, from legislating history. Turkish
leaders should immediately consider opening the border with Armenia
and establishing diplomatic relations with the country. This move
would not only help build bridges between the countries and their
societies through economic and cultural contacts, it will also allow
the two sides to understand and assess the issues amongst
themselves. Without any preconditions, Armenia has already expressed
its desire to open the border and establish relations between the two
countries.

The Turkish leadership has very explicitly expressed its extreme
discontent with the congressional resolution as well as similar
preceding resolutions internationally. Doubtless, introduction of such
resolutions will not stop here and will only escalate in the coming
months and years, particularly as the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide nears.

I believe Turkey has an important opportunity here to prevent third
countries from adopting resolutions on the Armenian issue by taking on
the matter directly and officially with Armenia. Until then, the
Armenian Diaspora, largely a creation of the great dispossession and
mass deportations of Armenians in 1915, will continue to push for
recognition through their home countries. This brings no real benefit
to either Turkey or Armenia; it mainly brings a short-term
psychological comfort to diaspora Armenians, who see no results on the
issue between their homeland and Turkey and feel compelled to take the
matter into their own hands. The United States and the international
community should therefore challenge the Turkish leadership to adopt
changes in its Armenian policy, which will undoubtedly benefit both
sides and help build long-overdue bridges between the two nations.


Harout Harry Semerdjian, a Doctoral Candidate at the University of
Oxford, is an alumnus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and
the University of California, Los Angeles. He may be reached at
[email protected]

http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2008/04/28/OpEd/Armenian.Genocide.Issue.Requires.Sustainable.Solution-3352863.shtml?refsource=collegeheadlines

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Artsakh

TRIBUTE TO MEMORY OF VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMITTED IN OSMANIAN TURKEY PAID IN KARABAKH

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
April 25 2008

YEREVAN, 25.04.08. DE FACTO. The 93d anniversary of Armenian Genocide
committed in Osmanian Turkey was commemorated in the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic.

The Republic's supreme leadership headed by the NKR President Bako
Sahakian paid tribute to the memory of the tragedy's innocent victims
laying wreaths at the Stepanakert Memorial Complex.

The NKR MPs and members of government, representatives of the
Defense Army, as well as the staffs of the Republic's enterprises,
establishments and educational institutions also visited the Memorial
Complex.

The clergymen of the Artsakh Eparchy of Armenian Apostolic Church
held a mourning service, the NKR MFA Press Office reports.

http://www.defacto.am/index.php?OP=71334109

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

ANKARA'S POLICY OF "ARM TWISTING AND MOUTH SHUTTING" WILL NOT BRING ANY SUCCESS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.04.2008 GMT+04:00

The official Ankara believes that the states, which have already
recognized the Genocide or are going to recognize it are potential
enemies of the Turkish Nation and if it was of Turkey's will, they
would all be brought to court on Article 301.

It happened so, that Turkey says something and does something
completely different, but always acts according to its own interests,
never taking into consideration the point of view of its strategic
partners; i.e. the USA and Israel. However it is more appropriate to
call these countries "strategic partners", since Ankara's conduct
towards these countries already exceeds the limits of simple
cooperation. For pressure on its partners Turkey has chosen a very
handy target; the Armenian Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire
in 1915 - 1923.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The official Ankara believes that the states, which
have already recognized the Genocide or are going to recognize it
are potential enemies of the Turkish Nation and if it was of Turkey's
will, they would all be brought to court on Article 301. The constant
manipulation and intimidation with the "necessity and importance" of
Turkey brought to the fact, that the US Congress and the Knesset of
Israel cannot decide on recognizing the Armenian Genocide for already
so many years. However, it should be confessed that in this aspect
the US legislators have left the Israeli legislators far behind. And
the matter is not in the pressure of the Armenian lobby, but in the
fact the USA is very far from the Middle East.

On April 24 on the official website of the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA) a photograph of the Statue of Liberty
with its mouth closed by the Turkish flag was placed. ANCA carries
out an action called "Stop the policy of mouth shutting", against
the Turkish attempts of impeding the adoption of Resolution 106
about the Armenian Genocide. "The Turkish government, which forbids
speaking about the Armenian Genocide within the borders of the country,
exports this anti-democratic ban in the USA and carries the policy of
"mouth shutting" towards those congressmen, who discuss and approve
Resolution 106.

As the history proves, the USA may develop its interests only when
it keeps close to the American values," says ANCA. So the USA will
easily resist Turkey's pressure.

Israel is in a more complicated situation: it has to resist the
pressure from all sides, even from the USA.

Recently George Bush announced that its aim is to establish
the independent Palestine. And Turkey has always seemed to be a
partner. However the last events proved that it is not a reliable
one. The President of Syria Bashar Asad confirmed the fact of Turkey's
mediation between Syria and Israel. The Turkish party delivers the
message of Israel to Syria which spoke of the readiness of giving
away the Golan Heights in exchange to peace. In the interview to a
Qatari newspaper "Al-Vatan" Asad announced that the Prime Minister
of Turkey Recep Erdogan "informed him about the readiness of Israel
to recall its troops from the Golan Heights for the sake of peace in
Syria." The message was delivered to Erdogan last week by its Israeli
colleague Eghud Olmerta. It is said that Turkey has taken up the
role of mediator between the countries since April of the previous
year. "Our main task in the present stage is to find a common word
with the help of Turkey's mediation," announced Asad. In its turn
the press-secretary Olmerta also announced about the readiness of
the Israeli prime minister for the negotiations: "Israel wants peace
and the start of peace negotiations in Syria. We know that Syria
is expecting negotiations, and Syria knows what we want." Turkey
strongly intends to become the predominant force in the Middle East,
replacing the USA. So the issue of the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide is a very useful way of displaying pressure on Israel. The
position of Turkey is quite clear: if you do not raise this issue in
your Knesset, we will still consider continue helping you. If you do
raise the question in the Knesset, we will help our Arab friends to
return their territories and first of all the Golan Heights.

"If Israel does not recognize the Armenian Genocide, it does not mean
that the Israeli Nation does not recognize this fact either. Here the
problems are merely of geopolitical character," says the representative
of Masonic lodge of France "the Great East" Marcel Veil. The chairman
of the committee for public relations of the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA) Anthony Barsamyan is of the same opinion.

"Recently the attitude of the Jews towards the Armenian Genocide has
considerably changed. The Jewish people do not insist on the uniqueness
of the Holocaust in the world history any more, but they admit that
the mass killings in the Ottoman Empire are Genocide," said Barsamyan.

According to the Executive Director of the EU public relations in
Boston (JCRC - Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston)
Nancy Kaufman, the 20th century will remain in the history of the
humanity as the time of good and evil, as the time of many changes,
as the era of tragedies and reforms. "The two worst events of the
century have become the Armenian Genocide committed by the Turks in
the beginning of the century, and the Holocaust, committed by the
Nazis in the middle of the century. As the representatives of the
next generation, our task is to tell the stories about our ancestors,
having become the victims of these murderous acts. This will allow
us to give evidence about the black periods of our nations. Only with
this we may be sure that people will never forget about this and the
call of "never again!" will not be left unnoticed," she said in her
speech in the building of the House of Representatives in the State
of Massachusetts to the support of the memory and recognition of the
Armenian Genocide.

The world is changing, but Turkey persistently keeps on remaining
the same and does not seem willing to change together with us. Sooner
or later Ankara will have to put up with the fact that its policy of
"arm twisting and mouth shutting" will not bring any success.

http://www.panarmenian.net/details/eng/?nid=881

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Kentucky

Armenian National Committee of America -
Eastern Region
122 W. 27th St. 12th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Telephone: (917) 428-1918
Facsimile: (201) 453-3387
[email protected] www.anca.org

PRESS RELEASE
May 1, 2008
Contact: Karine Birazian
Tel: (917) 428-1918


KENTUCKY BECOMES 41st STATE TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE


FRANKFORT, KY - The Armenian National Committee of America- Eastern
Region (ANCA-ER) welcomed today a proclamation issued by Kentucky
Governor Steven L. Beshear recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The
"Bluegrass State" proclamation brings the number of states to
formally recognize the Armenian Genocide to forty-one. The full
text of the Kentucky proclamation is provided below.

The powerfully worded proclamation designated April 24, 2008, as
"Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" in the state of
Kentucky, noting that "recognition of the ninety-third anniversary
of this genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of
future genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about
the atrocities of these horrific events."

"Gov. Beshear's proclamation reflects the growing sentiments of
U.S. government officials to speak with moral clarity on the
Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Eastern Region Director Karine
Birazian. "The burgeoning Kentucky Armenian community's initiative
serves as an inspiration to Armenian American activists across the
U.S. to redouble efforts to end Turkey's gag rule on U.S.
affirmation of this crime against humanity."

The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most
influential Armenian American grassroots political organization.
Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and
supporters throughout the United States and affiliated
organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the
concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.

#####

TEXT OF KENTUCKY PROCLAMATION MARKING THE
93RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE


Proclamation

By Steven L. Beshear
Governor of the
Commonwealth of Kentucky

To All To Whom These Presents Shall Come:

WHEREAS, One and one-half-million Christian Armenian men, women and
children were the innocent victims of a brutal genocide perpetrated
by the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915-1923; and

WHEREAS, The Armenian genocide has been recognized as an attempt to
eliminate all traces of a thriving, ancient civilization over 3,000
years old; and

WHEREAS, Recognition of the ninety-third anniversary of this
genocide is paramount to guarding against the repetition of future
genocides and educating people across the Commonwealth about the
atrocities of these horrific events; and

WHEREAS, Armenian-Americans living in Kentucky have greatly
enriched our state through their leadership in various aspects of
society;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, STEVEN L. BESHEAR, Governor of the Commonwealth
of Kentucky, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2008, as
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE in Kentucky.

DONE AT THE CAPITOL, in the City of Frankfort this 28th day of
April, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand Eight and in the 216th
year of the Commonwealth.

STEVEN L. BESHEAR
GOVERNOR

http://www.anca.org/press_releases/press_releases.php?prid=1481

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

ART AS EVIDENCE

Arshile Gorky's moving double portrait is a testimony to the Armenian suffering the Turkish government still deny
April 29, 2008 11:45 AM

The artist Arshile Gorky was a survivor of a genocide that officially didn't happen. To this day, the government of Turkey denies that in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 to 1918, the Armenian population of Turkey was deliberately eradicated. Yet there is ample evidence of what happened. There are written eyewitness accounts, there are photographs - and there is Gorky's painting The Artist and his Mother (1926 - 36).

Can a painting be historical evidence? Can it "prove" something happened? Those who still deny the historical reality of the Armenian genocide are capable of ignoring or explaining away photographs of emaciated bodies in heaps, photographs that back up contemporary written evidence that starvation was a key element in the pogrom. Armenian men were shot dead in their tens of thousands. Women and children were driven on forced marches towards Syria and Iraq without food or water, in a herding intended to kill. At least one million people were massacred.

Gorky's family were peasants who lived beside Lake Van. In 1915, when he was 12, the Armenian ordeal began - for him a grim adventure of siege, flight, and hunger. His mother Shushan died of malnutrition in March 1918 after giving every scrap of bread to her children. Gorky reached America in 1920 and went on to become a great artist, one of the generation that created abstract expressionism. His two versions of his memory picture The Artist and his Mother - one is in the Whitney Museum in New York, the other in Washington's National Gallery - are based on a photograph of the young Gorky with his mother.

If all other evidence of the fate of Armenians in Turkey in 1915 - 18 were to vanish, this moving image would endure as testimony to what happened. You know, looking at it, that it records a tragedy. It is a painting of distance and loss: the artist meditates on the distance history has imposed between him and the place he came from, him and the child he was. There's a dry hardness to the figures that's at odds with his natural grace as a painter - it communicates his sense of remoteness. His mother is frozen forever in his photographic memory. You want to know the story: you find out about the painting and discover the horrifying facts. The victims of this genocide still haven't been properly acknowledged. But Gorky gave at least one of them a face. How can the government of Turkey look Gorky's mother in the eye and still deny the facts

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/art/2008/04/art_as_evidence.html

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

Providence, Rhode Island (US)

Providence Journal, 4/28/08

Tribute paid to Armenian 'martyrs'

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, April 28, 2008

By Richard C. Dujardin

Journal Religion Writer

PROVIDENCE - With the Armenian Martyrs Memorial at the North Burial
Ground serving as a backdrop, several hundred people, including clergy
and politicians, assembled under a gray sky yesterday to once again pay
tribute to the 1.5 million Armenian "martyrs" who suffered and died in
what has long been called the Armenian genocide.

The prayer service, coming as it did within three days of the 93rd
anniversary of when it is believed the Turkish Ottoman Empire began its
years-long effort to drive out and eliminate the Armenian minority from
their ancestral homeland, was a bittersweet one for participants who had
been following the effort to get Congress to adopt a resolution that
would have denounced the decades-old atrocities.

After getting early support from congressional leaders, the resolution
was put on hold last October in the face of opposition from the Turkish
government, which angrily denies there was such a genocide and which
showed it was ready to use the resolution as a pretext to make
incursions into northern Iraq.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.. one of the Senate sponsors for the
resolution, said he personally believes that the sooner that the United
States takes a stand recognizing the genocide, the better it will be for
everyone.

"The Turks have spent decades and millions of dollars trying to put
their stamp on the history of that time," Reed said in an interview. "I
think the sooner we get beyond that and the sooner we recognize it as a
historical reality, we can have a more productive relationship with the
Turks."

Yesterday, however, community leaders said they also had much to be
happy about. Last week, they learned that not only is teaching about the
genocide to be part of the new statewide social studies curriculum but a
handbook, A Case Study of the First Genocide of the 20th Century, is now
complete and should be ready for use for all of the state's social
studies teachers by this fall.

Robert Petrucci, a social studies teacher in East Greenwich, who four
years ago became the first high school teacher in Rhode Island to create
a course on genocides of the 20th century, said that when he began the
course he asked his students to think of the "worst crime that could
happen to your family and how you would feel if no matter who you told,
no one would recognize that the crime happened in the way you knew it
did."

At the time, he said, you would have to look hard to find even a
sentence acknowledging the atrocities inflicted on the Armenians, he
said, though that's now changing.

Guest speaker Henry Theriault, a professor of philosophy at Worcester
State College and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Genocide Studies and
Prevention, said the fierce opposition displayed during the last six
months by the Turkish government shows the degree to which hatred of
Armenians still exists in Turkey and why it is not just an argument
about overcoming denial. "There is work to do in changing anti-Armenian
attitudes in Turkey that have led to Armenians being denigrated in
Turkey even today," he said.

The professor said that he was thinking of all those who endured the
rain and cold weather to sit through a series of speeches, and he
appreciated it very much. "But I was also thinking this is a little bit
of a reminder to us how much those Armenians who died and those who
lived through the genocide, walking through the desert in 110 degrees
stripped naked and with burned flesh would have welcomed this little
rain, this little coolness in their lives."

[email protected]

http://www.projo.com/ri/providence/content/ARMENIAN_MEMORIAL_04-28-08_QM9U7F3_v11.26e004a.html

[Siamanto]

Re: In Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - 2008

HR 106 & Capitol Hill

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.aaainc.org

PRESS RELEASE
April 29, 2008
Contact: Christine Kojoian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434


SPEAKER PELOSI RENEWS CALL FOR GENOCIDE AFFIRMATION DURING CAPITOL HILL COMMEMORATION

Armenian Assembly of America Takes Part in Observance Events in U.S.,
Armenia

Washington, DC - In commemoration of the 93rd Anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reaffirmed her
commitment to this critical human rights issue.

"It is long past time for the President and Congress to formally
recognize the Armenian Genocide," Pelosi told the crowd gathered at an
observance event on Capitol Hill. "If we ignore history we are destined
to repeat the mistakes of the past.

"On this anniversary we must remember the victims and survivors of the
Armenian Genocide," she continued. "We must provide the leadership to
ensure that his human tragedy is not repeated."

Pelosi began her remarks by first acknowledging survivors of the
genocide who were present, as well as Archbishop Vicken Aykazian,
President of the National Council of Churches in the USA and legate of
the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) in Washington.

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chairs Frank Pallone, Jr.
(D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) spearheaded the April 23 observance
event, held in conjunction with the Assembly, ARMENPAC and other
Armenian organizations.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), in his remarks, discussed the
importance of recognizing the transgressions of the past in order to
prevent future crimes.

"Denial is the child of repetition," Hoyer said. "If one does not
remember that which happened, and recognize it for what it was -- a
genocide, then the risk of it being repeated is far greater."

Echoing Hoyer, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) said that the United
States makes an enormous mistake as a country, when it denies the
existence of genocide. As a cosponsor of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution (S. Res. 106), Menendez promised to vote for the resolution
when it is brought to the Senate floor, saying "nothing will deter me
when that opportunity comes up."

Delivering the keynote address was Dr. Gregory Stanton, President of the
International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), a global,
interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further
research and teach about the nature, causes, and consequences of
genocide, and advance policy studies on prevention of genocide.

While discussing the history and the House Resolution recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, Stanton said that the United States, once again,
"surrendered to the 90-year campaign of denial by the government of
Turkey."

Stanton added that "the State Department and the White House have
continued the cowardly policies of every Secretary of State since
Lansing, who have considered it more important to placate the Turkish
Government, than to be truthful about history."

"Denial is actually the continuation of genocide," and according to
Stanton, Turkey has three favorite methods to continue genocide denial,
and they are:

1) Blame the victims by claiming the killings were in self-defense
against people who were disloyal to the Ottoman Empire;
2) Claim that Muslim Turks suffered many deaths; and
3) Claim that the deaths were inadvertent due to lack of food and water,
not due to intentional destruction.

Stanton explained that these claims are proven false and problematic by
the eyewitnesses [here tonight], and by American counselor officers,
missionaries and "most tellingly perhaps, in the archives of the old
allies - Germany, Austria and Hungary."

"This was not simply a by-product of deportation, this was mass murder
intended by starvation."

The attendees or speakers also included Michelle Bachman (R-MN); Gus
Bilirakis (R-FL); Jim Costa (D-CA); David Dreier (R-CA); Anna Eshoo
(D-CA); Carolyn Maloney (D-NY); Jim McGovern (D-MA); George Radanovich
(R-CA); Steven Rothman (D-NJ); Ed Royce (R-CA); Adam Schiff (D-CA); Brad
Sherman (D-CA); Jackie Speier (D-CA); Chris Van Hollen (D-MD); Joe
Wilson (R-SC); and Frank Wolf (R-VA).

Tatoul Markarian, Armenian Ambassador to the U.S., and Vardan
Barshegian, Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, also
addressed the crowd.

"We appreciate Speaker Pelosi's commitment and leadership to ensure the
unequivocal affirmation of the Armenian Genocide," said Assembly Board
of Trustees Chairman Hirair Hovnanian. "In the face of Turkey's ongoing
denial campaign, the Armenian-American community will not rest until the
United States reaffirms the incontestable fact of the Armenian
Genocide," added Hovnanian.

The Assembly also participated in commemorative events across the
country, from New York and California, to Boston and Texas, as well as
Armenia.

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding
and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.
###

NR#2008-044

Editor's Note: Statements can be found on the Assembly Website at:

http://www.aaainc.org/index.php?id=580

Photographs can be viewed at the following links:

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Pelosi.jpg

Caption: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), with Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny, right, Associate Grassroots Director Taniel Koushakjian,
far left, and Congressional Relations Associate Bianka Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Menendez.jpg

Caption: L to R: Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Associate Grassroots
Director Taniel Koushakjian, and Congressional Relations Associate
Bianka Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Hoyer.jpg

Caption: L to R: Associate Grassroots Director Taniel Koushakjian,
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
(D-MD) and Congressional Relations Associate Bianka Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/93rd_Anniversary.jpg

Caption: L to R: Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, President of the National
Council of Churches in the USA and legate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern), Dr. Gregory Stanton, President of the
International Association of Genocide Scholars, Armenian National
Institute Director Rouben Adalian, and Assembly Executive Director Bryan
Ardouny.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Sherman.jpg

Caption: Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) flanked by Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny, left, and Associate Grassroots Director Taniel
Koushakjian.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Rothman.jpg

Caption: Congressman Steven Rothman (D-NJ) with Congressional Relations
Associate Bianka Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Bilirakis.jpg

Caption: Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Congressional Relations
Associate Bianka Dodov and Director of Communications Michael
Zachariades.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Costa.jpg

Caption: Congressman Jim Costa (D-CA), center, with Associate Grassroots
Director Taniel Koushakjian and Congressional Relations Associate Bianka
Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Radanovich.jpg

Caption: Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA), center, Associate
Grassroots Director Taniel Koushakjian and Congressional Relations
Associate Bianka Dodov.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/VanHollen.jpg

Caption: Democratic Congressional Campaign Chairman Congressman Chris
Van Hollen (D-MD) flanked by Executive Director Bryan Ardouny and
Director of Communications Michael Zachariades.

http://www.aaainc.org/fileadmin/aaainc/images/PR_-_2008/May_-_June/Wilso

n.jpg

Caption: Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) with Associate Grassroots
Director Taniel Koushakjian.

http://www.aaainc.org/index.php?id=7&no_cache=1&newsID=115

Statement from Senator Barack Obama in Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide
Monday, April 28, 2008


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Michael Ortiz, 202 228 5566

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide:

"Last week we paused in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, which was carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. Nearly 2 million Armenians were deported, and approximately 1.5 million of those deported were killed.

"It is imperative that we recognize the horrific acts carried out against the Armenian people as genocide and I will continue to stand with the Armenian American community in calling for the government of Turkey to acknowledge it as such. The occurrence of the Armenian genocide is a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming collection of historical evidence.

"I was deeply disturbed two years ago when the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia was fired after he used the term "genocide" to describe the mass slaughter of Armenians. I called for Secretary Rice to closely examine what I believe is an untenable position taken by the U.S. government.

"I will continue to push for the acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide and I offer the Armenian people my condolences."

http://obama.senate.gov/press/080428-statement_from_6/

Scott Garrett urges to bring H. Res. to the House Floor for a vote

armradio.am
26.04.2008 12:42

Speaking on the House floor on April 24, Congressman Scott Garrett said:

`Today we mark the 93rd anniversary of the onset of the Armenian
genocide. It is on this date that the Ottoman officials captured more
than 200 Armenian intellectual leaders and placed them in prison.
Unfortunately, these actions were only the beginning of the Ottoman-led
atrocities against the Armenians.

During the following years, at least 1.5 million Armenians were
arrested and compelled to march hundreds of miles to what is today the
Syrian desert. And along the way, prisoners of all ages endured hunger,
thirst, rape, sexual abuse, and other forms of torture.

While it is difficult for us to commemorate these terrible acts each
year, we must continue to remember those horrors that can occur when
governments persecute citizens based on ethnicity or religious
affiliation.

We often hear those words of George Santayana's famous quote that,
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." And
these words are ringing true today as well. Already, there are those
who deny that the Armenian genocide occurred despite the vast evidence
to the contrary. Meanwhile, our generation has seen its own mass
murders occur in Rwanda and Sudan.

So, I urge my colleagues in the majority to bring House Resolution 106,
which commemorates these atrocities that occurred only a few
generations ago, to the House Floor for a vote. Now is the time for
America to officially ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflects
sensitivity concerning human rights issues.

Just yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Alice Khachadoorian-
Shnorhokian. Alice is a resident of Mahwah, New Jersey, which is a town
in my district. Alice was born in Turkey in 1912 to a successful,
respected Armenian family of eight. And when Turkish officials ordered
Armenians to denounce their faith and nationality, she and her parents
refused. As a result, her family was rounded up and ordered to march
into the desert. Alice and her brother were too young, of course, at
that age to walk, so her parents had to put them in boxes on either
side of a donkey and march into the desert.

When they arrived in Meskene, her mother befriended their Turkish
neighbors, and these neighbors ultimately enabled them to get a permit
which allowed Alice and her family to escape. Alice moved to the United
States in 1980, and became a citizen of the U.S. just 5 years later.
And, as a survivor, she says she wants to, "see justice so that the
words 'never again' become a reality."

So, while I am a Member of Congress, I will always remember Alice's
words and her wish. We must fully recognize the friendship with our
allies in Turkey today, but we cannot change nor should we forget the
past. I hope that there can be some reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia, and that a proper acknowledgement of the crimes of the past
can now allow them to move forward into a future of peace and also of
mutual understanding.'

http://www.armradio.am/news/?part=pol&id=12585

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