Armenian Genocide Commemorations List and related articles

[Yervant1]

MATENADARAN HOSTS EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN MANUSCRIPTS SAVED DURING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

16:59 â~@¢ 20.03.15
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/03/20/surviving-manuscripts-exhibition/1623210

The Institute of Ancient Manusripts (Matenadaran) has opened an
exhibition of manuscripts Armenian refugees saved during the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.

The manuscripts were saved from Taron (the MuÅ~_ Province of modern
Turkey) Lim Island, Aghtamar Island, Ktuts Island, Van church and
Varagavank.

The clou of the exhibition is Toros Roslin's Zeytun Gospel of 1256.

Among the exhibits is also the Cilician Gospel.

"These are the treasures of world literary art. Six exhibitions halls
will host exhibition, and exhibits will be changed throughout the
year," Director of Matenadaran Hrachya Tamrazyan told Tert.am.

The exhibition has been organized as part of commemorations of the
Armenian Genocide. The participants in the media forum 'At the foot
of Ararat' were the first visitors to the exhibition.

[Yervant1]

CONFRONTING CENTURY-OLD PAIN: TURKISH TOWN TO HOST GENOCIDE EVENT

18:59 * 20.03.15

A debate dedicated to the Armenian Genocide is going to be held in
the Turkish town of Ayntap on Saturday.

The event, entitled Confronting 100-Year Pain, is taking place upon
the initiative of the newly emerging Party of Greens and Leftists,
reports the Turkish-Armenian publication Agos.

The discussion will focus on the town's lost cultural diversity.

It will be attended by Turkish journalist Nurgun Balijoglu, US-Armenian
community representative Khachik Muradyan, Professor Vahagn Tatrian,
writer and translator Atilla Tiygan and others.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/03/20/100-gen/1623354

[Yervant1]

EUROPEAN FAMILY IS UNANIMOUS WITH REGARD TO RECOGNITION AND CONDEMNATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: SERZH SARGSYAN

18:52, 20 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 20 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan received today members of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary
Cooperation Committee who arrived in Armenia to participate in the
15th session of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
in Yerevan on 19-20 March.

As the Department of Public Relations and Mass Media of the Structure
to the Office of the President of the Republic of Armenia reports
to "Armenpress", Serzh Sargsyan greeted the guests and viewed the
conduct of the Committee's session in Yerevan as a good opportunity
for unconstrained exchange of views on issues concerning EU-Armenia
relations and sincere dialogue. Sargsyan voiced hope that the decisions
adopted during the session would contribute to the deepening of the
cooperation between Armenia and the European Union. The head of state
praised the Final Declaration adopted by the Committee, particularly
the provisions condemning the greatest crime of the 20thcentury
in the year marking the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The
President emphasized the fact that that document adopted by European
structures this month was the fourth important message to Turkey,
stating that the European family not only remembers the first
Genocide of the 20th century, but is also unanimous with regard to
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. Serzh Sargsyan
also praised the European parliamentarians' impartiality in regard
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The members of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee
viewed the passing week as useful from the angle of discussing in
detail the agenda of the Armenia-EU cooperation and touching upon the
perspective of development of the relations hinged on common values.

During the meeting, President Serzh Sargsyan also answered questions
regarding Armenia's foreign policy, regional stability and security,
the process of negotiations over a peaceful regulation of the
Nagorno-Karabakh issue and the parliamentarians' questions regarding
other issues.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/798575/european-family-is-unanimous-with-regard-to-recognition-and-condemnation-of-the-armenian-genocide.html

[Yervant1]

ASI SENATE TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Daily 49er: California State University - Long Beach
March 19, 2015 Thursday

Associated Students Inc. read a resolution on Wednesday to recognize
the Armenian Genocide and commemorate its 100th anniversary.

The resolution called for California State University, Long Beach
to memorialize April 24, 2015 as a day dedicated to remembering the
Armenian Genocide.

ASI Vice President Nayiri Baghdassarian wrote the resolution herself
since she is of Armenian descent.

"This is something really important to me," Baghdassarian said. "We
have addressed several issues, whether with animal rights or human
rights, and it went along with the theme of resolutions we've had to
discuss already."

Members of the Armenian Student Association attended the meeting
and spoke out on the importance of recognizing the Armenian Genocide
at CSULB.

"Because California recognizes the genocide as a state, it is wrong
for CSULB to not do so," Alique Cherchian, a political science and
psychology freshman, said.

The Armenian Genocide occurred from 1915 to 1923. 2015 marks the 100th
anniversary of the genocide. The Ottoman Empire killed an estimate
of 1.5 million Armenian men and women.

The resolution also proposes to educated CSULB students on the Armenian
Genocide in conjunction with ASA.

"Being the first genocide of the 20th century, it is a human rights
issue and this campus advocates human rights," Cherchian said. "You
are representing every student that comes here."

ASA reinstated this semester as a student organization and has 28
members. ASA serves CSULB as being an advocate for the Armenian
culture and educate students on the genocide.

"I want us to work towards celebrating our culture, celebrating our
people, literature, art and celebrate being alive," ASA President
Nare Mnatsakanyan said.

California is one of the leading states in recognizing the Armenian
Genocide. California passed Assembly Bill 659 in Feb. 2013 that
requires schools to educate students on all genocides including the
Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and Rwandan genocides.

The ASI senate also passed the resolution to support sexual assault
awareness on campus.

The resolution initially wanted to bring back the University 100
course but the senate removed it due to the fact that CSULB offers
a similar course, University 101.

University 100 is a course designed to familiarize freshman and
transfer students to CSULB. The course would also educated students
on sexual assault.

University 100 is similar to University 101, but it does not cover
everything, ASI Sen. Joanna Yan said. The University 101 course focuses
on educating students on the transition between college learning
and life at CSULB. Yan said she has not given up on reinstating the
University 100 course.

"After talking to administration, they can't talk about reinstating
[university] 100 but do it as a separate resolution," Yan said. "We
decided that might be route to take."

The sexual assault resolution will also utilize Carlson Bloc Tower
to ring a bell every 107 seconds, two times a day, for 30 minutes.

"In addition to the Bloc tower, we are going to be tabling at the
Women's Resource Center," Yan said. "They are going to be tabling
to inform and explain why we are doing this and not just an annoying
bell."

Sources:

Meeting audio

ASI Agenda Package

Alique Cherchian: 714-873-6845

Nare Mnatsakanyan: 323-485-3650

AB 659:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml;jsessionid=9004d0da3c4b57975637019106f9?bill_id=201320140AB659

University 100: http://daf.csulb.edu/offices/ppfm/police/security.html

University 101:
http://web.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/catalog/current/university_programs/university_courses/univ_courses.html

[Yervant1]

EGYPT'S SISI INVITED TO ATTEND "ANTI-TURKEY GENOCIDE CELEBRATIONS"

MENA news agency, Cairo, Egypt
March 19 2015

Yerevan, 19 March: President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi has been invited
to partake in the 100th anniversary celebrations that mark the mass
genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people,
Armenia official said on Thursday [19 March].

Speaking exclusively to MENA, Vigen Sargsyan, Head of the Armenian
Presidential Administration, said the Armenian prime minister has
invited Al-Sisi to attend the celebrations during his participation in
Egypt's Economic Development Conference (EEDC) held in Sharm al-Shaykh.

He expressed his country appreciation for Egypt that provided support
and safe haven for Armenians who fled the mass killings at the hands
of Turkey.

[Yervant1]

REMEMBERING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Al-Ahram, Egypt
March 19 2015

Nora Koloyan-Keuhnelian attended this week's international conference
in New York marking the Armenian genocide

The forget-me-not flower has been chosen to symbolise the centennial
of the Armenian genocide this year. The motto "I remember and demand,"
together with the flower symbol, is being used for events organised
across the world to commemorate the 1.5 million victims of massacres
committed by Ottoman Turks in 1915.

The five purple leaves of the flower symbolise the five continents
where the genocide survivors found shelter when they escaped the
events, eventually forming a diaspora. The flower also has four
colours, each conveying a certain meaning. The black in the centre
symbolises the horror of the genocide. The inner light violet stands
for the present, while the outer violet of the flower symbolises
the future.

The inner yellow stamens symbolise eternity, the sunlight which brings
hope to live, exist and create, while the 12 cyclical pillars in the
design are in the shape of the Genocide Memorial, the Dzidzernagapert,
that stands on a hill in the capital of Armenia Yerevan today.

It is said that in the Middle Ages, this flower was considered the
symbol of God's presence. It is widely used today as a pin worn
by Armenians.

Last week's conference, organised by the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF) Eastern US Centennial Committee, bore the title
"Responsibility 2015." According to conference committee co-chair
Haig Oshagan, who made the opening speech, responsibility extends
to individuals and nations to know their pasts, being a way of
understanding the present and future. There is a responsibility to
explain the genocide to the current generation, he said.

"It's our duty to understand what happened to our ancestors and
pass it on to the new generations," Oshagan said. "Our demands for
reparations are based on the notion of responsibility. A nation
cannot claim impunity for a criminal, and the opposite of impunity
is accountability or responsibility. This has to do with everything
from recognition to reparations, and the foundation is that Turkey is
responsible for these crimes and we will demand reparations for them."

He continued, "I think what we do as activists comes from our sense of
responsibility to our nation. The work we're doing is voluntary. We
all feel we're in some way responsible. So it seemed appropriate to
call the conference 'Responsibility 2015'."

The opening session was presented by UK human rights lawyer Geoffrey
Robertson, counsel in a case that refers to the Armenian genocide
that went to the European Court of Human Rights in January. Robertson
appeared in court with international lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney.

In his opening presentation, entitled "100 years of Human Rights
Violations," Robertson called on Turkey to recognise the crimes
carried out against the Armenians under Ottoman rule as genocide;
in other words, intended to target the continuing existence of the
Armenian people.

Asked by the Weekly why a historian should label the process by which
more than a million Armenians lost their lives in 1915 "genocide,"
Robertson said, "As historians don't know the law, it's quite clear
that a number of denialist historians deny the genocide. They don't
understand what genocide means, and they profess no understanding
of the law or have no experience in applying it, so they are not
qualified to answer the legal question of whether or not these crimes
were genocide."

Robertson referred to US government policy at the time, which had
not hesitated to condemn the massacres in 1915. "[The] news was fully
covered in the New York Times, and some of the evidence for Ottoman
government guilt comes from the cables and memoirs of US Ambassador
Henry Morgenthau and his consular officials," Robertson said.

Former US presidents Ford, Carter and Reagan all went on record to
condemn the massacres. But on Armenian Remembrance Day (24 April)
in 1990, President George Bush Sr. suddenly dropped the word and,
in later years, neither Bill Clinton nor George W. Bush picked it up
or went beyond the words "mass killings" or "massacres" to describe
the genocide.

"Barack Obama, a legal scholar who had studied the case closely enough
to know what he was talking about when he spoke of genocide during
his campaign in 2008, reneged on his promise to use the word when he
became president, thus breaking his promise to Armenian citizens living
in the United States who had already voted for Obama," Robertson said.

It was earlier announced that British writer and Middle East
correspondent for the Independent newspaper Robert Fisk would be among
the speakers at the conference. But Fisk, known for his strong support
for recognition of the Armenian genocide, cancelled his appearance as
a speaker only a day before the conference started, citing unforeseen
circumstances, according to conference organisers.

One of the panels at the conference was entitled "Building Solidarity"
and included investigative journalist David Barsamian, novelist
and activist Nancy Krikorian, executive director of Human Rights
Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division Sarah Leah Whitson,
and researcher Elyse Semerdjian as speakers.

The panel said that there was no better time to discuss international
solidarity as recognition of the Armenian genocide was imminent. "We
also have ongoing struggles that we should be concerned with,
about human rights abuses in the West Bank in Gaza, Syria, ethnic
cleansing by IS [islamic State], and the US policy regarding human
rights abuses happening inside the states and abroad," said panel
discussant Semerdjian.

"The escalation of human rights abuses around the world is worth
thinking about in terms of solidarity. As global diasporans, we
have intersectional identities that raise the possibility of linking
activists outside our community."

Whitson talked about her personal experience of working for human
rights and the importance of activism. She believes she has a cause to
defend -- the Armenian cause -- and this made her choose her career and
stand up for her people's rights, "as no one else will do it for you."

"My participation in the many protests, mostly linked to the Armenian
genocide, allowed me to bring back a sense of an inner responsibility,
an inner obligation, of what it means to be a human and what a
responsibility it means to be in a country like the United States
where we're not in the middle of war and I have all the benefits
and privileges of an education. I have to exercise the privileges of
being in this society by being a voice for justice," she said.

In college, Whitson expanded her interests to focus on the Middle
East. She studied Arabic and spoke it well as her Armenian family was
from the Middle East. She spent most of her summers in Arab countries
and lived there for years so had a good opportunity to learn Arabic
at an early age.

"I continued that focus on Arabic in college, then I went to continue
my studies in Egypt and then became involved in Palestine activities
at Berkeley University. Generally questioning American foreign policy
in the Middle East was the focus of my studies," she said.

Whitson sarcastically thanked the "Bushes" who inspired her to be
a full-time activist after the US-led war in Iraq and the Second
Gulf War, which gave her a sense of responsibility as a human being
to speak out and challenge things that deeply impact other people,
among them the US military campaign in Iraq.

She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout
the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal
reform, migrant workers and political rights. In Moscow, Whitson put
together a delegation of public health experts and lawyers to travel
to Iraq to investigate the impact of the First Gulf War and the US
bombing campaign on civilians in Iraq.

Data collected on the mission documented the US bombing campaign,
important since there were few journalists on the ground. The mission
also underlined the importance of facts and information, even though
the US government denied that there had been an increase in mortality
as a result of the campaigns.

"It was an incredibly empowering experience because it showed me, and
I hope it shows everybody and reminds everyone, that you don't have
to be in the White House or the state department to shape policy to
have a voice to be heard. What you really just have to do is to know
the facts, gather your evidence and exercise your voice," she said.

Novelist Nancy Krikorian, a board member of Project 2015, which
deals with Armenian genocide centennial commemorations in Istanbul,
believes that as an Armenian activist with the knowledge of a history
of injustice, and as a US citizen, she needs to stand up and have a
voice in the US media, to be an anti-war witness and an anti-war voice.

Kricorian was involved with the "Codepink: Women for Peace" campaign
before the Iraq war. She attended demonstrations and organised local
and national campaigns. "When you care about other people's struggles,
they care about your struggle," Kricorian said, adding that Armenians
should care about the Palestinian cause and build mutual solidarity.

"Armenians in Jerusalem, for example, suffer from occupation like
Palestinians do," she said.

The conference programme made it clear how the issues tackled deal
more with the present and the future than with the past.

"The conference did not limit itself to the consequences of the
Armenian genocide and the long shadow cast by its denial. It looked at
crimes that have happened before, like against the Herero [in Africa],
the Holocaust and Darfur," Khatchig Mouradian, editor of the US-based
Armenian publication the Armenian Weekly and head of the conference
committee, told the Weekly.

"After all, responsibility also applies to us Armenians. Scattered
around the world, primarily as a consequence of the genocide, we
cannot remain indifferent to the challenges facing other people."

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/10728/19/Remembering-the-Armenian-genocide.aspx

[Yervant1]

VATICAN ARCHIVES SHED LIGHT ON TRAGEDY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Patheos
March 20 2015

Vatican City, Mar 20, 2015 / 11:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of Pope
Francis' Mass commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide, newly released historic documents confirm the Holy See's
broad commitment to helping the Armenian people at a time when few
others would.

The Italian Jesuit-run magazine La Civilta Cattolica stressed that
newly published documents "prove how the Holy See, always informed
about events, had not remained passive, but was strongly committed
to face the issue" of the Armenian Genocide. "Benedict XV was the
only ruler or religious leader to voice out a protest against the
'massive crime'."

The Armenian Genocide is considered to have begun April 24, 1915
with a massacre of Armenians in Istanbul. Over the next eight years,
1.5 million Armenians would be killed and millions more displaced.

However, such killings were perpetrated before, when much of the
region was still under Ottoman rule.

For instance, a March 27, 1896 letter by the Franciscan Father Domenico
Werson, who was serving as a missionary in Aleppo, recounted the
massacre of Christians in Marasc and vicinities.

Most of the documents in the newly published series are from the
archive of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. They have
been published in a series of four books by the Jesuit priest Father
Georges-Henry Ruyssen. In advance of the series' March 21 release date,
the latest edition of La Civilta Cattolica has published a summary.

The documents on the "Armenian Question" date from the end of the
19th century to the first half of the 20th century.

The collection of documents includes letters from Popes and to Ottoman
sultans; documents and dispatches by Vatican Secretaries of State and
prefects or secretaries of other Vatican dicasteries; documents and
reports by the Apostolic delegates; and letters by Armenian patriarchs
and bishops with firsthand information.

There are also reports by eye witnesses that clearly describe what
was going on.

The documents note the actions of Pope Benedict XV, who sent two
personal letters to Sultan Muhammad V Reshad on Sep. 10, 1915 and
March 12, 1918, respectively.

The Pope's effort was the climax of several attempts at mediation
carried forward by the Holy See to help Armenians. Pope Leo XIII tried
a mediation beginning in 1859. The Holy See sought to be a mediator
with Djemal *****, commander of the Turkish army in Syria, for the
freedom of 60 Armenians sentenced to death in 1917. Cardinal Pietro
Gasparri, the Vatican Secretary of State, mediated with Mustapha
Kemal ***** in 1921 for the safeguard of the lives and the goods of
surviving Christians in Turkey.

The Holy See did not only work in diplomacy, but also sought to assist
surviving refugees.

The Holy See, La Civilta Cattolica writes, "mobilized a continual
flow of financial aid and supplies in an era when there were no other
international humanitarian organizations beyond the Red Cross and
the Near East relief."

The Holy See especially assisted orphans, and founded "many orphanages"
open to people of every religious confession. Young orphan Armenian
girls were also hosted in the orphanage in the Apostolic Palace of
Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.

The documents record the reasons why countries did not take any stance
on the genocide and did not defend the Armenian people when the first
signs of genocide were visible.

La Civilta Cattolica underscored that in the late 19th century,
the question of the future of the Armenians "was forgotten step by
step," because the "gradual passivity of European diplomacy" worked to
"preserve at every cost the integrity of the Ottoman empire."

Archbishop Augusto Bonetti, the apostolic delegate to Constantinople
from 1887-1904, summarized the international situation.

France and Russia both aimed to preserve "the integrity of Turkey."

France had made major capital investments in the region, while
Russia wanted Turkish relations to be dormant so it could focus on
the Far East.

In Archbishop Bonetti's view, Germany had a material interest in
the continuation of the war between the Greeks and the Turks, while
England had "important political interests in Turkey."

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the
publication of these documents may shed light on the reasons why
this genocide was perpetrated in the midst of a general political
indifference.

As for Pope Francis, he will celebrate a Mass marking the centenary
of the genocide in St. Peter Basilica on April 24.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/catholicnews/2015/03/vatican-archives-shed-light-on-tragedy-of-armenian-genocide/

[Yervant1]

'ARMENIAN GENOCIDE' DISTURBING, BUT NEEDS TO BE SEEN

Quad City Times, IL
March 19 2015

The grim, eye-opening documentary "The Armenian Genocide" is not
easy to watch. But it should be watched. In fact, it must be watched
to remind contemporary viewers of a century-old horror that remains
shrouded in secrecy and denial to this day.

More than 1 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks during
World War I in a genocide that included the deportation of men, women
and children to the Syrian Desert. Thousands died as they tried to
make the journey on foot.

To this day, the Republic of Turkey refuses to acknowledge the
slaughter.

Andrew Goldberg wrote, directed and produced this film whose narration
includes the recognizable voices of Julianna Margulies, Ed Harris,
Laura Linney, Natalie Portman and Orlando Bloom. Turkish scholars
are also are on hand for the discussion.

Perhaps the most powerful voices are the Turkish villagers who remember
what their families told them about participating in the slayings.

"They caught Armenians and put them in a barn and burned them," one man
from eastern Turkey says. Other Turks remain steadfast in the belief
that their ancestors could not have participated in anything so brutal.

The movie begins with the political and religious environment of the
era, and the complexities that led to the beginning of the atrocities.

It is disturbing enough to hear people discuss events that occurred
generations before, and to understand that the likes of Theodore
Roosevelt, H.L. Mencken and the New York Times spoke out about the
massacre.

But it is entirely another to hear what happened from the missionaries,
journalists and diplomats who were witnesses. To then see the
ghastliness in archival photographs and film clips is shattering. Be
forewarned: Even though much time has passed since these films and
pictures were made, many of these images of the suffering and the
dead are not for the faint of heart.

One of the most memorable interviews is a clip from a 1949 interview
with law professor Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term "genocide."

Every year, this film series opens my eyes to a part of history about
which I knew little. I'm going to guess that I am not the only viewer
who will be shocked and repulsed by this dark lesson in human --
indeed, contemporary -- history.

Here's what I would suggest to those unfamiliar with the Armenian
Genocide: Do an Internet search and see how many people continue to
deny the slaughter as well as the very worth of this film.

Then see the film and judge for yourself.

http://qctimes.com/entertainment/movies/disturbing-armenian-genocide-must-be-seen/article_17e54313-0590-57bf-81ae-b9a6a24b7a92.html

[Yervant1]

TIGRAN HAMASYAN TO GIVE CONCERTS AT ARMENIAN CHURCHES OF WESTERN ARMENIA DURING CONCERT TOUR "LUYS I LUSOY"

19:33, 20 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 20 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. Fans of musician Tigran Hamasyan
have the chance to take part in the Yerevan-Istanbul pilgrimage as
part of the musician's concert tour "Luys I Lusoy". As part of the
pilgrimage, the musician and the Yerevan State Chamber Choir will
perform in Javakhk, Tbilisi, Gandza, Kars, as well as other cities
of Western Armenia and in Istanbul.

"We will most likely give 10 concerts at churches in Armenia. It
doesn't matter if the Turks try to disturb the concerts at Armenian
churches. I'm going to do my job. My only fear is that the Turks won't
let us perform at the Tigran Honents Armenian Church in Ani since Ani
is of strategic significance for Turkey," Tigran Hamasyan mentioned.

The Yerevan-Istanbul pilgrimage is part of Tigran Hamasyan's 100
concerts with the title "Luys I Lusoy". The concerts will be taped
and turned into a documentary film.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/798581/tigran-hamasyan-to-give-concerts-at-armenian-churches-of-western-armenia-during-concert-tour-%E2%80%9Cluys.html

[Yervant1]

Moscow State Symphony Orchestra to commemorate Armenian Genocide victims

13:32, 21 March, 2015


YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS: Today numerous events all over the
world are being presented within the framework of the projects
dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Thus, on
April 18 at the Grand Hall of the P.I.Tchaikovsky Moscow State
Conservatory headed by its Music Director & Chief Conductor Pavel
Kogan the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra will present a special
concert, dedicated to the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The Public Relations and Media Officeof the State Youth Orchestra of
Armenia informed Armenpress that the concert program will include the
pieces by A.Schoenberg and G.Mahler. During the concert evening the
Orchestra will perform jointly with the choir of the V.S. Popov Choral
Arts Academy and the soloist Zandra McMaster (Great Britain).


http://armenpress.am/eng/news/798628/moscow-state-symphony-orchestra-to-commemorate-armenian-genocide-victims.html

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Nansen's granddaughter criticizes Norwegian government's position on Genocide

11:21, 21 March, 2015


YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS: The Norwegian Verdens Gang (VG)
newspaper on March 15 touched upon the non-participation of the Prime
Minister of Norway Erna Solberg in the events, devoted to the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and published the critics of
Marit Greve, the granddaughter of Fridtjof Nansen, addressed to the
government. Armenpress reports that the newspaper states that the
centenary of the Armenian Genocide is marked on April 24 2015. On that
occasion the leaders of many countries have been invited to Armenia to
take part in the commemoration ceremony and pay tribute to the 1,5
million victims of the Genocide.

The Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg also was invited, though she
declined the invitation. No other representative of the Norwegian
government is going to take part in the centenary. Besides, Norway
does not recognize the events committed in Turkey towards Armenians in
1915 as genocide.

According to the newspaper, Greve is disappointed with the position of
the Norwegian government and stresses that there is no doubt that the
events and acts committed in 1915 against the Armenians are genocide.
The biographer of Fridtjof Nansen and historian Carl Emil Vogt agrees
with Greve. The article says that according to him, Norway undermines
the years-long efforts of Fridtjof Nansen, not recognizing the
Armenian Genocide.


http://armenpress.am/eng/news/798614/nansen%E2%80%99s-granddaughter-criticizes-norwegian-government%E2%80%99s-position-on-genocide.html

[Yervant1]

German journalist: Turkey should change mindset on Armenian Genocide

01:10, 21.03.2015


YEREVAN. - Europe should discuss the matter with Turkey that if it
wants to be included in Europe, it should change its attitude toward
the Armenian Genocide issue and realize its huge mistake.

The chairman of the European Youth4Media Network association, Joachim
Musholt, told the aforesaid to Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, the Turkish government is closed and not ready to
cooperate on this matter.

"I've come to Armenia to learn more about the Armenian Genocide. I'm
from Germany. Our association works with the media," Musholt noted.
"We plan to implement projects with the youth on this matter, since
not everyone in the Western countries knows about the Armenian
Genocide."

To the query on what call he would make upon the Turkish government
which continues denying the fact of the Armenian Genocide, the German
journalist responded that even though the great majority of the
Turkish society does not want to speak about this issue, the rest are
quite open.

"I hope we will be able to convince these people to deepen contacts;
but the Turkish society is much closed for that issue. Germany also
committed genocide, the Holocaust, but the Germans apologized,"
stressed the head of the European Youth4Media Network association. "I
believe this is a good example for other countries."


http://news.am/eng/news/258084.html

[Yervant1]

Frontpage: Obama administration insults memory of Armenian Holocaust

Frontpage magazine presents the article by contributing editor Stephen
Brown about the upcoming Armenian Genocide centennial and the U.S.
government's attempts to urge Armenia to make "a humanitarian gesture"
and release two Azeri terrorists, instead of first telling Azerbaijan
and Turkey to lift their blockades and open their borders. The article
says:

"Next month, Armenians worldwide will mark the centennial of the
Armenian Holocaust that saw 1.5 million of their people perish
barbarically at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in a jihad that is
continuing today under the Islamic State. This destruction of the
Armenians was also the event that gave Hitler reason to believe he
could get away with exterminating Jews, Poles and Gypsies. "Who still
remembers today the annihilation of the Armenians?" the Nazi leader
reportedly said.

The trauma of 1915 left deep scars on the Armenian psyche, similar to
those the Nazi Holocaust made on that of the world's Jews. As a
result, one would think the Obama administration would show an
increased sensitivity regarding the killing of Armenians, especially
by Muslim enemies, and more especially in view of the approaching
Armenian Holocaust's centenary in April. But only last month, US
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
Victoria Nuland urged Armenian authorities to make "a humanitarian
gesture" and release two Azeri terrorists who had crossed the border
from Azerbaijan and murdered two people, one a 17-year-old. A third
Armenian, a woman, was badly wounded.

"Such humanitarian gestures have been shown to reduce tensions and
build trust between the sides. So that's what she (Nuland) was
referring to," said a state department spokeswoman later at a press
briefing, in explaining the assistant secretary's controversial
remarks.

Nuland was in Azerbaijan, the second stop of her tour of the Caucuses
Mountains, when she made the "humanitarian gesture" comment, having
previously visited Georgia. In Azerbaijan, Nuland also said she would
take up the matter of releasing the two imprisoned Azeris when she
visited Armenia, her next and last stop. Armenia and Azerbaijan are
both former Soviet republics in the southern Caucuses Mountains, who
now face each other over a closed, hostile border. Armed clashes occur
there now almost daily and deaths have occurred. The military
confrontation between the two Caucasian nations has recently become so
heated, it is feared armed conflict could break out.

The cause of the enmity between Christian Armenia and Azerbaijan, a
Turkic-speaking, Muslim-majority country, was an undeclared war fought
from 1988 to 1994 over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave inside of
Azerbaijan that sought secession and reunification with Armenia in the
dying days of the Soviet empire. The Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians,
perceiving themselves as victims of the Soviet Union's nationalities
policy, believed they were righting a historical wrong. In 1921, the
Bolsheviks had first awarded the enclave to Armenia but later reversed
that decision, giving it to Azerbaijan, even though the population,
according to an early Soviet census, was 95 percent Armenian. Stalin
was reportedly responsible for this fateful, and disastrous, decision
reversal.

During the conflict, both sides engaged in ethnic cleansing. According
to authors Caroline Cox and John Eibner, Azeris cleared 40,000
Armenians out of Kirovabad, Azerbaijan's second-largest city, in 1988
in response to Nagorno-Karabakh's secession drive. Another Azeri
pogrom against Armenians, in which 32 were killed, preceded this in
Sumgait, followed by another in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital.

"The Armenians were not quick to retaliate to the Sumgait massacre,"
wrote Cox and Eibner in their 1993-published book Ethnic Cleansing In
Progress: War In Nagorno-Karabakh. "But Armenian restraint crumbled in
response to the Kirovabad pogrom and the anti-Armenian demonstrations
in Baku."

In the war itself, the outnumbered Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, with
assistance from neighboring Armenia, not only won their independence,
defeating the Azeri forces, they also conquered some adjoining Azeri
territory, which they still hold today. With the victory,
Nagorno-Karabakh renamed itself Artsakh (its ancient name when an
Armenian kingdom), and became an independent state, recognised
internationally, however, by few others. These diplomatic difficulties
have also prevented Artsakh from joining Armenia, although the two are
closely entwined.

Until now, Artsakh has refused to return the Azeri territory it
occupies until it can be guaranteed that it will not be used to stage
attacks on its land. In this respect, Nagorno-Karabakh has adopted a
position similar to Israel's regarding the Arab territories it
captured in 1967: it will trade land for peace.

Azerbaijan's ally, Turkey, which is located on Armenia's western
border, became so incensed when the Artsakh forces were winning that
it threatened to attack Armenia, although it was not officially a
combatant. Apparently, Turkey is not content with having murdered 1.5
million Armenians a hundred years ago and wants to continue this
homicidal tradition in this century. A Turkish military assault on
Armenia would be like Germany attacking Israel today.

However, a warning from the Kremlin that a Turkish attack on Armenia
would mean war with Russia caused Turkey to climb down, thus averting
a regional conflict. In the end, to save face, all Turkey could do was
seal its border with Armenia as well. This closure has lasted now 22
years, severely disrupting the Armenian economy. And incredibly, while
trying its best to strangle Armenia, Turkey has hypocritically
complained about Israel's blockade of Gaza.

So it is against this background of war, genocide, ethnic cleansing
and ancient hatreds that Nuland called upon Armenian authorities to
make a "humanitarian gesture" and release the murderers. The two Azeri
terrorists were found guilty in a Republic of Artsakh court after an
"open and transparent trial," and received prison sentences of life
and 22 years respectively. One of the charges that formed the
conviction was "murder committed by an organised group motivated by
ethnic hatred." Artsakh security forces killed a third Azeri terrorist
belonging to the group. None of the three, Azerbaijan claims, are
members of its military.

Although Artsakh is recognised by four American state governments, the
most recent being California in 2014, the federal government continues
to deny it diplomatic recognition. As a result, Nuland did not talk
with Artsakh authorities when in Armenia. Instead, she met with the
Armenian foreign minister and visited the Armenian Holocaust memorial
in Yerevan. But Nuland's talks with Armenian officials concerning the
two Azeri terrorists yielded no results.

This was to be expected. Armenians well remember the terrible
injustice and humiliation inflicted on them when the Hungarian
government released early from prison an Azeri military officer, Ramil
Safarov, who had killed Armenian officer, Lt. Gurgen Markarian, in his
sleep with an axe in 2004 in Budapest. Both were attending a North
Atlantic Treaty Organization-sponsored event at the time. Safarov was
released after he had served only six years of a 30 year sentence for
reasons that have yet to be discerned, outraging both Armenians and
Hungarians.

"With their joint actions the authorities of Hungary and Azerbaijan
have opened the door for the recurrence of such crimes," Armenia's
then president, Serge Sarkisian, stated prophetically. "With this
decision they send a clear message to the butchers. The slaughterers
hereafter are well aware of the impunity they can enjoy for murder
driven by ethnic or religious hatred."

Safarov returned home to Azerbaijan on a "special flight" and received
a hero's welcome. For his foul murder, the government rewarded him
with a pardon, eight years back pay, an apartment and a promotion of
two ranks, similar to honours Palestinians bestow on their terrorists
for killing Israelis. Also like the Palestinians, one Azeri member of
the national legislature called Safarov "a national hero." Which shows
the level of Azeri hatred and civilizational development when an axe
murderer is accorded this status.

The reason the Obama administration requested on Azerbaijan's behalf
that the two Azeri murderers be released was probably not a
humanitarian one, as it maintains. Like some Arab countries,
Azerbaijan is very oil rich, while Armenia has no oil. American
companies also have investments in the large Azeri oil industry.
Equally important, Azerbaijan serves as a hub for the Caspian
Sea-Central Asian energy pipelines. As well, both Israel and the
United States view Azerbaijan as an ally in the regional showdown with
Iran. So it is most likely that upholding these business and strategic
interests with Azerbaijan was the real reason behind Nuland's pushing
for the terrorists' release.

This situation resembles the controversial early release by Great
Britain of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan also known as the Lockerbie
Bomber, who was responsible for 259 deaths when a Pan Am flight was
destroyed by a terrorist bomb over Scotland in 1988. It was later
revealed that the British oil company, British Petroleum, had lobbied
for his release, which greatly helped it obtain a $900 million oil
exploration contract from Muamarr Gaddafi.

But Armenia is not Great Britain. The murder of Lt. Markarian in
Budapest and the two civilians in Artsakh are symbolic of the hatred
and homicidal fate the surrounding Turkic populations have in store
for the Armenian people, much like the Arabs have for Israel. Also
like Israel, Armenians cannot allow the lives of their people to be
sold cheaply. They have already suffered one holocaust. Granting early
release to the two Azeri terrorists would send a wrong, and very
dangerous, message, one that would likely be interpreted as weakness
in one of the world's rougher neighbourhoods where only strength is
respected.

Besides, some Armenians view Nuland's request as hypocritical. Would
the United States, for example, release Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to Russia as
"a humanitarian gesture" to better relations with an Islamic country
or with Putin, they ask? Or free early other imprisoned foreign
terrorists with American blood on their hands?

If the State Department truly wants "to reduce tensions and build
trust" in the region, it should first tell Azerbaijan and Turkey to
lift their blockades and open their borders with Armenia, ending the
crippling of the Armenian economy. This is the humanitarian gesture it
should be pursuing and not the release of two murderers.

The border openings would not only be a good start to solving the
other outstanding regional issues, it would also serve to lessen the
Armenian fear that their Muslim neighbours simply want to finish the
extermination project they started in 1915. It would also constitute a
very fitting gesture of friendship and reconciliation, especially by
Turkey, to Armenians worldwide on the centenary of the horrific event
that serves as the well-spring of so much of their pain.

But instead of a adopting a principled position that would help lessen
that pain, the Obama administration appears to have taken one of
unprincipled pragmatism."


20.03.15, 12:08
http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2015/03/20/Frontpage-Obama-administration-insults-memory-of-Armenian-Holocaust/922443

[Yervant1]

House of Commons to discuss Armenian Genocide Centennial on 23 March

17:30, 21 March, 2015


YEREVAN, 21 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. MPs of the House of Commons of the UK
Parliament will discuss the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide on
March 23rd. As "Armenpress" reports, this is mentioned in the Week
Ahead section of BBC. "On Monday, The Commons meets at 2.30pm for Home
Office questions - after which the prime minister will make a
statement on the outcome of the latest European Council. Any further
statements or urgent question will be taken when he is done. Then the
Lib Dem former health minister, Paul Burstow, will launch a ten minute
rule bill on Tobacco Manufacturers Producer Responsibility. A
consultation on a tobacco levy was announced by the Chancellor, George
Osborne, in the 2014 Autumn Statement, and this is part of a
cross-party campaign to direct the money - perhaps as much as £500m -
to pay for a programme of tobacco control measures including Stop
Smoking Services currently funded by local councils. The bill's
supporters view it as an important way of boosting funding for
preventive health measures. MPs will move on to the final stage of the
Budget debate - where the chosen theme is jobs, pensions and savings -
which suggests the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith,
will be facing Labour's Rachel Reeves. And the day will end with an
adjournment debate on the centenary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide -
led by Labour MP Stephen Pound," as BBC reports.

[Yervant1]

100th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide to be held in
Times Square on April 26

By MassisPost
Updated: March 21, 2015


NEW YORK, NY - The 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will be
held in Times Square (43rd St. & Broadway) on Sunday, April 26 from
1:45 pm - 4:30 pm. This historic event will pay tribute to the 1.5
million Armenians who were massacred by the Young Turk Government of
the Ottoman Empire and to the millions of victims of subsequent
genocides worldwide.

Prof Taner Akcam

Distinguished United States Senators, Congresspersons, and governors
will be on hand to speak in favor of Armenian Genocide recognition, as
well as noted academic Dr. Taner Akcam and Dr. Stephen Smith,
Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation, who will serve as the
keynote speaker. Guest musician is Sebu Simonian of the acclaimed Los
Angeles-based indie pop band "Capital Cities."

The Divine Liturgy and Times Square program will begin with church
services at 10:00 am at St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, located at 630
Second Avenue at 34th Street. His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian
will serve as celebrant and His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan
as homilist. The procession to Times Square will start at 11:50 am and
the program, which will feature speakers from the political, media and
scholarly fields, will begin at 1:45 pm. The Areni Choir will be
singing the Armenian and American national anthems as well as God
Bless America.

For parishes organizing transportation to New York, buses should drop
off passengers at Second Avenue and park on 35th Street (between First
and Second Avenues). Buses will depart for Times Square following
services and park on 42nd Street (between 6th Avenue and Broadway).
Passengers will be picked up from Times Square (at 43rd Street and
Broadway, between 4:30 pm and 5 pm). Sandwiches will be available
after services. All events will move forward, rain or shine.

Dr Stephen Smith

For more information on the procession, buses, floats and volunteers,
please contact: Edward Barsamian (procession), 347-556-2666, Leo
Manuelian (buses), 917-418-3940, Sona Manuelian (buses), 551-427-8763,
Edward Boladian (floats) 917-885- 0221, Tigran Sahakyan (volunteers)
212-444-8003

The 2015 Genocide Commemoration in Times Square is organized by the
Mid-Atlantic Knights and Daughters of Vartan in affiliation with the
Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America (Eastern Region).


http://massispost.com/2015/03/100th-anniversary-commemoration-of-the-armenian-genocide-to-be-held-in-times-square-on-april-26/

[Yervant1]

Targeted News Service
March 20, 2015 Friday 2:44 AM EST

Visiting Professor to Explain WWI Armenian Genocide

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.


Slippery Rock University issued the following news release:

Steven Usitalo, associate professor of history at Northern State
University, will present "The Armenian Genocide: Origins, Nature and
Consequences" at 6 p.m., March 26, in Slippery Rock University's Smith
Student Center Ballroom.

The presentation is part of the SRU history department's yearlong
examination of World War I at its 100th anniversary.

Usitalo, a Russian history expert, authored the 2013 "The Invention of
Mikhail Lomonosov: A Russian National Myth." He co-edited "Russian and
Soviet History." His doctorate degree in Russian history is from
McGill University.

The genocide, traditionally called the "great crime" by Armenians, was
the Ottoman government's extermination of its minority Armenian
subjects living within the present-day Turkey. The total number of
people killed has been estimated at 1 and 1.5 million, according to
Wikipedia.

"During the First World War, the leadership of the Ottoman Empire
executed a series of decisions that resulted in the deaths of more
than a million Armenians-many deaths also occurred among other subject
peoples of the empire," Usitalo said. "This was the first
state-organized genocide. It resulted directly from the rise in
organic nationalism, and population engineering that made the First
World War a watershed in ushering in a era of state sponsored,
popularly-driven and supported ethnic cleansing by regimes of targeted
populations."

Historians consider April 24, 1915, as the start date of the Armenian Genocide.

Ottoman authorities arrested 240 Armenian intellectuals in
Constantinople. According to Wikipedia, the killing of people was
carried out during World War I in two phases. Men were massacred in
forced labor camps. Women, children and the elderly were marched to
their deaths in the Syrian Desert.

At the height of its powers, in the 17th-century, the Ottoman Empire
contained 32 provinces in southeast Europe, Southwest Asia (Anatolian
peninsula), the Caucasus, the Arab Middle East, and North Africa. The
empire collapsed during World War I and its aftermath and dissolved in
1922.

Usitalo also teaches on the history of science and film.

Usitalo's presentation is the second focusing on the political
activities of the Ottoman Empire. An earlier speaker explained how
World War I ended the empire. Other guest professors have talked about
black soldiers in the war.

World War I, centered in Europe, resulted in 10 million military
personnel deaths and seven million civilians, according to Wikipedia.

Usitalo's lecture is made possible by the Campus Outreach Lecture
Program of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Jack, Joseph and
Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, support by the
Jerome A. Yavitz Charitable Foundation, Inc. and Arlyn S. and Stephen
H. Cypen.

Contact: K.E. Schwab, 724/738-2199, karl.schwab@sru.edu

[Yervant1]

Quad-Cities Online, IL
March 21 2015

Recalling another reason to 'never forget'

By Jonathan Turner, jturner@qconline.com qconline.com


DAVENPORT -- Raelene Ohanesian-Pullen is proud to be Armenian and will
share her family's history with the area in several events marking a
somber anniversary.

The Davenport native, who is development director for the Figge Art
Museum, will play a key role in a documentary showing today at the
Figge, an interfaith prayer service Tuesday at St. Ambrose University,
and a talk Wednesday at Augustana College, all to mark the 100th
anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide during World War I.

"The genocide defines Armenian people. Because we have such a rich
culture and rich history, it would be a shame to say a people are
defined by something that historically happened," Ms. Pullen said. "By
the same token, there is some definition, there is some strength,
there is some thing that causes us to have something different in our
hearts. I think it's a gratefulness.

The Armenian genocide began April 24, 1915, carried out by the Turkish
government against the entire Armenian Christian population of the
Ottoman Empire and killed more than 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to
1923, according to armenian-genocide.org. Armenians were subjected to
deportation, abduction, torture, massacre and starvation.

Two victims were Ms. Pullen's maternal great-grandparents. Her
maternal grandparents came to this country as orphans, settling
separately in Chicago. She didn't know her father's parents (also
Armenians) well, partly since her paternal grandfather died before she
was born, and her parents divorced.

"We have suffered a lot, as a Christian nation in a heavily Muslim
part of the world," Ms. Pullen said. "Things that have happened to our
people happened because of our faith. It's really a miracle for us to
be here today."

Through the help of an older Armenian woman at Ellis Island, her
grandmother and another Armenian girl were brought to Chicago, and
raised as sisters. Ms. Pullen still is close to that other family.

"One of the things about Armenian people, once you find another
Armenian, they become a member of your family," she said. "The reason
for that is because we've lost so much of our family, and we feel
close to other people."

Her grandparents had an arranged marriage in 1920 and her mother was
born in 1930. Ms. Pullen's grandparents were married for 77 years. She
visited them often in Chicago.

"My grandmother was the most amazing woman I have ever known," she
said. "She took such pleasure in having events that were fun for
everyone and meaningful. Every Sunday at her house. She was an amazing
cook."

After church, they had big dinners, and people would perform music and
recite poetry. "One of the things I learned most from her as a child,
they really believed in celebrating life," Ms. Pullen said.

"They felt very fortunate to be alive. They felt a lot of guilt
because they had seen a lot of people die around them. They had so
much tragedy in their life. For my grandmother, it made her such a
strong Christian, because she felt our faith is what gets us through."

An Armenian priest from the Chicago she attended is speaking at the
Tuesday and Wednesday events. Because there's no Armenian church in
the Quad-Cities, Ms. Pullen and her husband, Scott, attend Trinity
Episcopal Church in Davenport.

For a social hour before the interfaith prayer service (including
representatives of Islam and Judaism), she's preparing Armenian food
such as pahklava, a sweet pastry, and cheese boereg, a kind of pie.
There also will be Armenian music.

Armenia was a Soviet republic from 1920 until it became independent in
1991. There are 11 million Armenians worldwide, including about
483,000 in the U.S. Los Angeles has the biggest Armenian-American
population.

Ms. Pullen, who has visited Armenia several times, hopes the public
will learn about its rich culture and history, and need to prevent
further genocide around the world.

"It's embarrassing we have genocide to this day, in Darfur," she said.
"To think that what happened to the Armenian people had to happen, and
as a world we're not any smarter for it. The Holocaust happened after
that, and it continues to happen."

Ms. Pullen serves on a 12-member Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Committee of the Quad Cities, which formed last fall as an offshoot of
the area's Holocaust Education Committee.

Group chairman Maxine Russman said Adolf Hitler used the Armenian
genocide as partial justification for his planned extermination of
Jews in Europe.

She said Hitler was quoted as saying, "Who still talks nowadays about
the extermination of the Armenians? The world didn't do anything, and
he was right," she said of the Armenian genocide.


http://www.qconline.com/news/local/recalling-another-reason-to-never-forget/article_0507cc83-b1d6-53c9-819d-adc24c4341b7.html

[Yervant1]

EVENT IN LEBANON DEDICATED TO THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

13:20, 23 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On March 20, a conference on the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide was organized with joint efforts of leadership of "Notre Dame"
University and Lebanese Centennial Central body, in cooperation with
the Embassy of Armenia in Lebanon.

Ministers, parliamentarians, clergymen, leaders of political
parties, intelligentsia, journalists and students participated at
the conference, live streamed on Lebanese "OTV" TV channel.

In her remarks, Dr. Nata Saat Saper at "Notre Dame" University
mentioned that this year marks 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, and that Turkey continues denial policy, despite undeniable
historical facts and evidence.

Chairperson of Lebanese Centennial Central Body Seda Khtshyan briefed
about history of the Armenian Genocide. She mentioned that this event
is organized not only to commemorate the victims, but also to celebrate
victory, expression of power and will to life of our people.

Summarizing her speech, Chairperson noted, that the Armenian people
is to continue to restore justice and truth, creating and passing
down its rich history on the world.

Vice-President of the University Souhail Matar reflected on history of
the Armenian people and Armenian Genocide, speaking about massacres
committed in the Ottoman Empire, stressing the policy pursued by
Young Turks, and then by Ataturk. Dr. Matar summarized his speech
with following words, "Let the 100th anniversary open new doors to
the Armenian people for peace and justice."

In his remarks, Ambassador of Armenia to Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan
touched upon rich culture and history of the Armenian people, the
people, that having endured numerous deprivations and losses, always
fought for preservation of language, religion and values. Ambassador
thoroughly presented history of cross-stones, that are of great
historic value, as well as facts of genocide of culture against
historic-cultural values of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire
and in Azerbaijan.

He attached importance to the Pan-Armenian Declaration on the
100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide - the result of unity
and consolidation of the Armenian people. Ambassador highlighted,
that the Armenian people, walking heroic and glorious path of rebirth
and liberation, celebrates victory of life over death. Summarizing,
Ambassador mentioned that the Armenian people will continue fight
for restoration of justice, international recognition, condemnation
and elimination of all the consequences of the Genocide.

After the official speeches participants of the conference attended
cross-stone (dedicated to the Centennial) installation ceremony in
the garden of the University.

Sponsor, initiator of cross-stone installation, Sargis Budaqyan
mentioned that patriotism and loyalty for the Homeland united all
the people working on the initiative. He stressed that cross-stone
is gratitude expressed by the Armenians to the Lebanese people who
received with open arms and lent helping hand to the Armenian refugees.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/03/23/event-in-lebanon-dedicated-to-the-armenian-genocide-centennial/

[Yervant1]

PUTIN'S CHOICE: ARMENIA SAYS RUSSIAN LEADER'S ABSENCE FROM YEREVAN ON APRIL 24 WOULD BE "INCOMPREHENSIBLE"

ANALYSIS | 23.03.15 | 10:53
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/61650/armenia_president_serzh_sargsyan_genocide

Photo: www.president.am/Archive photo

By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent

Late last week Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan made a very
significant statement that, according to some observers, may be the
beginning of major changes in the region.

Speaking about Armenian-Russian relations on France 24, a Paris-based
international news and current affairs television channel, the
Armenian leader said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin does
not arrive in Yerevan on April 24 - the day when Armenians will
mark the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman-era Genocide - it would be
"incomprehensible".

"Russia has recognized the Genocide, we are strategic allies, and if
on April 24 the head of the Russian state is not with the Armenian
people that would be impossible to understand," Sargsyan emphasized,
stressing that French President Francois Hollande has publicly
announced that he will take part the commemorative events in Yerevan.

"That is something very moving to us," Sargsyan said, referring to
Hollande's step.

Behind this statement is not just the indignation of Armenia over the
fact that it may turn out that the president of Russia - a strategic
ally of Armenia - will not come to Yerevan for the commemoration of the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Some analysts assume the
statement also contains a kind of threat - if Putin does not arrive in
Yerevan on April 24, Sargsyan may decide not to go to Moscow for May 9,
which is to be marked as the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great
Patriotic War. Putin is known to be seeking to turn Victory Day into a
triumph of his "imperial policy". And Yerevan's decision not to attend
the celebrations could certainly affect Armenian-Russian relations.

And there are reasons for doubts regarding Putin's arrival on
April 24. After a telephone conversation between Putin and Sargsyan
earlier in March it was confirmed that Putin will visit Armenia,
but the Russian president's spokesman later said that the date of the
visit has not yet been clarified. And it happened after Putin got a
telephone call from his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Media are full of "analytical" assumptions that Armenian-Russian
relations are thus on the verge of breaking. This is primarily due to
the fact that Russia is facing a choice between Turkey and Armenia, but
the atmosphere this time is such that unlike in the early 20th century
Moscow cannot betray the interests of Armenia in favor of Turkey.

Oddly enough, the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide has created
unique favorable conditions for Armenia to get out of Russian imperial
influence and fully integrate into the global politics and market. The
West, which has been pursuing a policy of 'dual containment' of Russia
and Turkey in recent years, is ready to defend Armenia. But for this
Yerevan needs the courage to set demands to Russia first.

Apparently, the Armenian government has started this process.

Answering a question from a Russian journalist during a major
international media forum in Yerevan last week, President Sargsyan
rather harshly accused Russia of supplying Azerbaijan with arms. In
doing so, he hinted that continued Russian arms deliveries to Armenia's
military arch-foe may affect the Armenian-Russian relations.

Besides, on March 20, Sargsyan did not go to the Astana summit of
the big Eurasian "troika" - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Still
before the summit Putin said that it is time to think about forming
a common Eurasian monetary union, but the Central Bank of Armenia
immediately replied that it did not consider such an option. As
a result, in Astana, it was stated that a monetary union could be
established only by three states - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

Russia's Putin is really facing a difficult choice: his refusal to
come to Armenia for the April 24 commemorations would endanger the
future of Russian-Armenian relations and Russian continued dominance
in the Caucasus. His arrival in Yerevan on the day is fraught with
damaged relations with Turkey: in Yerevan on April 24 there are
obviously going to be demands for the Moscow (1920) and Kars (1921)
Russo-Turkish treaties to be ruptured as it was under those treaties
that after the genocide of the Armenian people Russia and Turkey
divided the Armenian lands between themselves.

[Yervant1]

Keghart.com

 

Consul's Denial Shell Game

Aram Hagopian, Toronto, 18 March 2015

The Turkish consul-general of Toronto once again dabbles in digression, excuses, half-truths, and obfuscations (Keghart.com, March 1). Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels’ big lie pales in comparison with what the Turkish government, its representatives, and hired guns have been fabricating for decades as they deny the Armenian Genocide. The consul general's denial reminds one of Orson Welles’ hall of mirrors in “Lady From Shanghai,” where a single image is reflected ad infinitum, without adding anything new.

The consul-general states: “Turks were also killed and massacred before, during and after the First World War.” The two losses are not related. The Armenians had nothing to do with Turkish deaths, but the Turks had everything to do with Armenian deaths. Turkish losses were the result of war (Turkey was an ally of Germany and Austria) against France, Britain, Russia and later America. Turkey's dead were combat casualties. The Armenian civilian losses were the result of a government sponsored extermination. Even pro-Turkish writer Michael M. Gunter rejects such comparison. Mr. Gunter wrote: “That even more Turks (than Armenian) also died during World War I is both true, but largely irrelevant to the argument here because most of the many Turkish deaths resulted from hostilities against the Allies, not the Armenians.”

In regard to the legal definition of the word ‘genocide’ and its applicability to the Armenian case, the Turkish diplomat states: “...there is no such court decision”. Apparently the envoy suffers from amnesia. The Turkish courts-martial of 1919–20 sentenced the masterminds of the Genocide: Talat, Enver, Cemal and others to death in absentia. If the envoy's memory fails and he cannot remember the early days of the Republic of Turkey and its court-martial verdicts, how about the 2011 Argentinian court ruling which stated that “the systematic killings of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-1923 amounted to a crime of genocide by the Turkish state.” How about the U.S. High Court decision to decline a hearing to force the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to include Armenian Genocide denial material in its education curriculum? Last but not least the decision of Judge Donovan W. Frank of the U.S. District Court in St. Paul to dismiss a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota for teaching materials using the word Genocide to describe the Armenian killings.

The consul-general cites the same half-dozen historians and writers to back his allegation that “there is no consensus… among academics” about the Genocide of Armenians. Practically everyone listed on the Turkish so-called academics roster has taught history at institutions where their chairs have been funded by the Turkish government. These historians have close relationships with the government of Turkey and have privileged access to Turkish historic archives and are provided with all-expense paid trips to Turkey. The publication of their books is often funded by the government of Turkey. Many genocide scholars have questioned the credibility of these half-dozen historians.

Hundreds of respected historians and scholars, in addition to 120 Holocaust experts and statesmen have studied the relevant facts related to the “events of 1915” and have concluded that the massacre of the Armenians constituted genocide. Indeed, every single independent panel of experts convened to review the facts of these events has also so concluded. The consul-general doesn’t want to talk about this fact.

What happened to the Armenians was not the result of “civil strife”, “rebellion” or “military necessity,” as Turkish diplomats have claimed. The Armenian Genocide was a state-sponsored and a state-sanctioned plan. At a 1910 conference in Salonika, the Young Turks leader Talaat ***** stated: “There can be no question of equality [for minorities] until we have concluded our task of Ottomanizing the empire.” Three months later the Young Turks leadership approved Talaat’s plan at a secret meeting.

The historical reality of the Armenian Genocide is well documented. It is not what the “Armenians say” but what international historians, statesmen of repute, and genocide experts have said repeatedly.

Re the consul general’s allegation that Armenians have turned the cold shoulder to Turkish overtures of peacemaking, I would like to point out numerous attempts made by the Armenian government and the Armenian Diaspora to engage in dialogue with the Turkish government. These attempts have failed because of the Turkish government’s intransigent and unreasonable conditions. The Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC) is a prime example. Turkish and Armenian members of TARC agreed to submit the arbitration of the Armenian Genocide issue to a third party—the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). But when the ICTJ’s report concluded that what happened to the Armenians in Ottoman Turkey was a classic case of genocide and fulfilled four out of five conditions set by the UN Genocide Convention, the Turkish government pulled the plug on TARC by asking its Turkish members to withdraw from the commission.

Immediately after the signing of the Protocols, the Turkish Government started setting preconditions and new demands to ratify the Protocols and open the border. It was obvious that Ankara was not sincere in its efforts to normalize its relation with Armenia. Furthermore, the Turkish government’s intention was to deceive the international community and stop the Armenian Genocide recognition's momentum.

Howard Berman, US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, in an April 13, 2010 letter to his House colleagues stated: “The protocols have been gathering dust in the Turkish parliament since they were signed in October, and particularly in light of the preconditions established by the Turkish leadership, there is little likelihood that they will be ratified any time soon.”

The Turkish government’s manipulative offer of creating “joint historical commission” is akin to the neo-Nazis’ suggestion of an independent, objective historical commission to determine whether the Holocaust took place or the Flat Earth Society’s offer to hold an academic dialogue with 'National Geographic' about the true shape of the Earth.

The proposal for the creation of a “joint historical commission” is like reinventing the wheel. After 100 years and the publication of numerous history books, government documents (British, French, United States, and even then-Turkish allies Germany and Austria), photographs by war correspondents, massive coverage by Western journalists, missionaries and NGOs, and documentary films, it is redundant to try to prove what has been proven irrefutably countless times. Would anyone demand that a “joint historical commission” be formed to question whether the Holocaust took place?

Astonishingly, the consul-general claims that the Armenian Genocide is not “taboo in Turkey.” It is the height of hypocrisy for him to profit from the hard work and sacrifices of many courageous and righteous individual Turks and organizations, such as the Human Rights Association and Center for Truth Justice Memory. Any attempt made in the Turkish civil society to break down the “taboo” in Turkey was due to the hard work of these honorable individuals and groups.

Successive Turkish governments, including his current bosses in Ankara, did nothing to break the Armenian Genocide “taboo” in Turkey. On the contrary they persecuted and harassed everyone who dared to challenge the government line including the few brave Turks who called the Armenian Genocide for what it is. Conveniently, the consul-general forgot to mention Article 301 of the Turkish penal code which punishes anyone who dares to use the word Genocide.

It is surreal to read the consul-general sensitivity to the “denialism” label. If he wants to eliminate the “unfair” description of “denialism”, he can advise his government to make a clear-cut statement recognizing what their predecessors did to the Armenians, instead of playing a shell game with cynical, callous, and meaningless “condolence” statement such as the one Erdogan sent last year to Armenians.

According to the Turkish representative in Toronto, the Turkish government is providing an “opportunity for Armenia to become” a mature nation by attending the Gallipoli centennial on April 24. How about the maturity of the Turkish government? Jack Nusan Porter, Genocide scholar and the author of a number of books, including “Genocide and Human Rights” and “The Genocidal Mind,” recently wrote the following in the ‘Boston Globe’: “It would take a psychiatrist schooled in political psychology to understand Turkey’s motives [in denying the Armenian Genocide]. Sadly, Turkey has a deep inferiority complex, especially its leaders, who have brainwashed their people into believing all this. Germany is a strong country that knows that you first have to admit an evil to yourself in order for you to mature as a nation. Turkey, in short, needs to grow up. Sadly, as it becomes more and more fundamentally Islamic, it will be less likely to recognize someone else’s pain.”

“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” In the future the Turkish consul-general should remember the proverb before advising other nations how to behave.

Armenians do not bear any animosity towards the Turkish people. On the contrary, we sympathize with the Turkish people. They have been misled for too many years by their own government. We are confident that once the Turkish government halts its campaign of falsification of history and focuses on the Genocide issue without hysteria and paranoia, the Turkish people will be able to acknowledge the misdeeds of their predecessors and extend a hand of friendship to the Armenian people.

As genocide scholars have said, the last act of genocide is the denial of that act. It is because of the Turkish government’s refusal to face its dark past that the process of healing, which is essential to peace, has not begun for Armenians. Reconciliation and forgiveness cannot take place without healing.

[Yervant1]

4TH DIGITAL EXHIBIT 'ICONIC IMAGES OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE' LAUNCHED

March 23, 2015 - 17:17 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Institute (ANI), Armenian
Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), and Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly) announced the launch of a fourth digital exhibit entitled
'Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide' that brings together as a
single collection key images recording the brutal mistreatment of the
Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire and the utter destruction
of their historic communities.

The exhibit is designed to serve as an easily accessible educational
tool that can be displayed in the classroom in digital or print format.

As more and more photographs of the Armenian Genocide are uncovered,
and as the 'Iconic Images' exhibit illustrates, the general outline
of the main events that defined the genocide can now be illustrated
with compelling and dramatic images that survive from that era. Many
of the images were taken in the teeth of a strictly enforced ban on
photography by the Ottoman authorities. Other photographs capture
the aftermath of the atrocities as witnessed by third parties.

Many invaluable pictures were destroyed during the war years and what
remain are today scattered across continents. In view of how much was
lost, these photographs are also survivors, many waiting for the time
when they would be identified and reconnected to the events to which
they attest.

These scattered images are now gathered and organized into a narrative
exhibit that reconstructs many episodes of the Armenian Genocide.

Together they recreate a sense of the terror exercised by the Young
Turk regime and reveal the extent of the dispossession and decimation
of the Armenian people in their historic homeland.

The photographs were collected from numerous repositories, sources
and individuals, including the US National Archives, Library of
Congress, Near East Foundation, Oberlin College Archives, University
of Minnesota Library, California State University Fresno Armenian
Studies Program, Republic of Armenia National Archives, Armenian
Genocide Museum-Institute, AGBU Nubarian Library, Armenian Assembly of
America, Armenian National Institute collections, Maurice Kelechian,
and National Geographic photographer Alexandra Avakian.

"The exhibit creates a panoramic view of the entire duration of the
Armenian Genocide," stated ANI Director Dr. Rouben Adalian. "All
facets of the genocide that the photographic record allows, ranging
from the deportations, executions, massacres, murders, starvation,
extermination and destruction, are reconstructed panel by panel."

"The exhibit also documents the immediate aftermath of the atrocities,
attesting to the catastrophic ruination of Armenian society in the
Ottoman Turkish Empire," added Dr. Adalian. "With panels displaying
photographs of survivors, rescued women, homeless children and
refugees, the scale and depth of the uprooting of the Armenian people
is revealed."

Among the iconic images are also the rare pictures of concentration
camps where deportation and extermination became synonymous. The
postwar refugee camps where survivors gathered are hauntingly
reminiscent in appearance of these concentration camps. In the
refugee camps, however, located beyond the borders of modern-day
Turkey, a generation of Armenians scarred by the atrocities began
life anew in exile, making their locations the beginning points of
the Armenian Diaspora.

The exhibit recalls as well the humanitarian activities of
American philanthropists who organized critically needed relief,
especially on behalf of the tens of thousands of orphans who were
gathered, housed, fed, and educated in orphanages operated by the
Congressionally-chartered Near East Relief organization.

The principal perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide, the Young Turk
triumvirate of Enver, Talaat, and Jemal, are also included, and
their infamy contrasted with the moral voice of those who condemned
the massacres, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Morgenthau, and
James Bryce.

The exhibit concludes with prominent memorials to the Armenian Genocide
as a reflection of the commitment of the Armenian people the world over
to remember and honor the victims of genocide. Concluding the exhibit
are pictures of the memorial chapel of Deir ez-Zor, in present-day
Syria, before and after its destruction, as a reminder that the
legacy of the Armenian Genocide remains unresolved and continues to
be violently challenged.

"With a symbolic 100 images in all, across 20 panels, and a map,
'Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide' illustrates the scale of the
Young Turk program to eradicate the Armenian people from its homeland,
while reconstructing the multiple facets and lasting consequences of
the deportation, massacre, and exile of the Armenians," continued Dr.

Adalian.

"By gathering and organizing these key photographs a comprehensive
picture of the Armenian Genocide has been reconstructed," said Adalian,
"that will serve educators as an instructional guide for teaching
about human rights and the consequences of their violation as applied
to an entire people in the form of genocide."

"The exhibit," stated ANI Chairman Van Z. Krikorian, "was created to
honor the exemplary figures in the United States diplomatic service
whose conscientious reporting remains a permanent testament to the
horrors of the Armenian Genocide, among them Jesse B. Jackson, U.S.

Consul in Aleppo; Leslie A. Davis, U.S. Consul in Harput; Oscar Heizer,
U.S. Consul in Trebizond; George Horton, Consul-General in Smyrna;
and in Constantinople, Gabriel Bie Ravndal, Consul-General; Hoffman
Philip, Charge d'Affaires; Abraham I. Elkus, Ambassador; and Henry
Morgenthau, Ambassador."

"The response to the prior exhibits has been greatly encouraging,
and their widespread use is exactly what we intended by making these
materials accessible for free," Krikorian said. "We are pleased to
add this latest installment to the series. I especially commend the
staff of the Armenian National Institute and the Armenian Assembly
of America, in particular Dr. Adalian, Joseph Piatt, and Aline
Maksoudian," concluded Krikorian.

'Iconic Images of the Armenian Genocide,' is the fourth in a series
of online exhibits released jointly by ANI, AGMA, and the Assembly
and issued for worldwide distribution free of charge.

http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/189712/

[Yervant1]

RUSSIA CAN NOT PAY NO ATTENTION TO CENTENARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE, AMBASSADOR

YEREVAN, March 23. / ARKA /. Russia is Armenia's strategic ally,
and therefore, it can not pay no attention to the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide, which Armenians around the world are going
to mark on April 24, Russian ambassador to Armenia, Ivan Volynkin,
said in an interview with Sputnik-Armenia radio-station.

He said the centenary of the first genocide of the 20th century will
bring many visitors to Armenia, including heads of states and high
level government officials, including Russian parliament and Senate
members as well as president Vladimir Putin, 'whose visit to Armenia
will raise the level of the event. "

Asked whether Putin's visit to Armenia to remember the victims of the
genocide may affect Russian-Turkish relations Volynkin said Russia
has common interests with Turkey, which are 'of pragmatic nature'.

"Our relations with Turkey are pragmatic, and Russian participation
in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
should not affect our relations with Turkey," said Volynkin.

The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the twentieth century.

According to Armenian and many other historians, up to 1.5 million
Armenians were killed starting in 1915 in a systematic campaign by
the government of Turkey. Turkey has been denying it for decades.

The Armenian genocide was recognized by tens of countries. The first
was Uruguay that did so in 1965. Other nations are Russia, France,
Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden,
Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina,
42 U.S. states. It was recognized also by the Vatican, the European
Parliament, the World Council of Churches and other international
organizations. -0

http://arka.am/en/news/politics/russia_can_not_pay_no_attention_to_centenary_of_armenian_genocide_ambassador/#sthash.K5o6WnPa.dpuf

[Yervant1]

EXHIBITION IN MUNICH DEDICATED TO THE CENTENNIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

18:16, 23 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

Erol Gurian's "Terra Armenia" photo exhibition was opened at Munich's
famous "Gasteig" concert hall on March 17. The event was organized
by directorate of the Munich National High school and was dedicated
to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

Representatives of the Munich Municipality, Armenian community
of Munich, as well as artists and scholars, public figures and
politicians, diplomats and journalists attended the event.

Director of "Gasteig" concert hall P. Gerschner and Director of the
Munich National high school Dr. Susanne Meier, Charge d'affaires of
Armenia to Germany Ashot Smbatyan delivered welcoming speeches.

In order to create his collection of photos Erol Gurian visited
Armenia, Artsakh and different countries over the world, where he
met the representatives of Armenian communities. Family story of the
person shown in the photo was attached to each portrait.

The exhibition will run through May 25.

http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/03/23/exhibition-in-munich-dedicated-to-the-centennial-of-the-armenian-genocide/

[Yervant1]

ARMENIA SHOWCASED 200 BOOKS AT PARIS BOOK FAIR

17:48, 23 March, 2015

YEREVAN, 23 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
participated in the 35th Paris Book Fair (Salon du livre) on 20-23
March, presenting the best publications that attracted the attention
of foreign readers.

For four consecutive days, delegations of 50 countries presented
the culture and literature of their respective countries. Among
the participants were thousands of writers, translators, academics,
publishers and literary critics. The President and Minister of Culture
of France also visited the gallery.

As the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute reports to "Armenpress",
the Paris International Book Fair ended with a roundtable discussion on
"The Role of Intellectuals in the Prevention of Genocides" with French
and Armenian intellectuals, including Director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan and Deputy Minister of Culture of the
Republic of Armenia Nerses Ter-Vardanyan, historians Raymond-Harutioun
Kevorkian, Michael Nishanian, Yves Ternon, psychoanalyst Janine
Altounian, journalist Gaïdz Minassian and others.

The Ministry of Culture reports that the Armenian delegation was
led by Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Armenia Nerses
Ter-Vardanyan and that the Armenian pavilion showcased nearly 200 books
published by state order and by private publishing houses in Armenia.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/798827/armenia-showcased-200-books-at-paris-book-fair.html

[Yervant1]

Commentary
Ten Reasons Why Pres. Obama
Should Travel to Armenia on April 24

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan has invited several world leaders
to Yerevan on April 24 to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian
Genocide.
The Presidents of France, Russia, Poland and Belarus have already
accepted Pres. Sargsyan's invitation. The White House has yet to make
a public statement on whether Pres. Obama plans to travel to Armenia
on this most solemn occasion.
A century ago, Henry Morgenthau, US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire,
described the systematic annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as `The
Murder of a Nation.' Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, told CBS
that he coined the term genocide based on the mass crimes committed
against Armenians during WWI and Jews during WWII.
Here are 10 reasons why Air Force One should make an auspicious
landing in Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport on April 24.
1. Pres. Obama would pay tribute to hundreds of thousands of
compassionate American citizens for having raised over $117 million --
today's equivalent of over $2 billion -- to aid destitute Armenians in
the aftermath of the Genocide. Initiated by Amb. Morgenthau and
supported by Pres. Woodrow Wilson, Near East Relief helped rescue and
care for 132,000 Armenian orphans. This massive charitable effort was
the first international humanitarian outreach in U.S. history.
2. By visiting Armenia on this occasion, Pres. Obama would be
reaffirming the longstanding US acknowledgment of the Armenian
Genocide -- a settled historical fact recognized as genocide by:
-- The US Government in a document submitted to the World Court in
1951;
-- The House of Representatives in 1975 and 1984;
-- Pres. Ronald Reagan in a Presidential Proclamation issued on April
22, 1981;
-- 43 out of 50 U.S. states;
-- Two dozen countries, including France, Italy, Russia, Canada,
Holland, Vatican, Switzerland, Sweden, Argentina, Lebanon, Greece,
Cyprus, Poland, and Venezuela;
-- Several international organizations, including the UN
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities; the European Parliament; and the International Association
of Genocide Scholars.
3. The Centennial could well be Pres. Obama's last opportunity to
regain the trust of the Armenian-American community by honoring his
solemn pledge as Senator and Presidential candidate to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide.
4. Pres. Obama could lay the foundation for improved Armenian-Turkish
relations based on truth and justice, in line with a pending
resolution in the House of Representatives, and his previous April 24
statements, declaring that `a full, frank, and just acknowledgement of
the facts is in all of our interests.' Pres. Obama's visit would also
encourage Turkish human rights activists to continue their arduous
task of assisting the Government of Turkey to reckon with the darkest
pages of its past.
5. The U.S. President could take advantage of this visit to urge
Turkey to lift the blockade of Armenia, while taking a glimpse at the
biblical Mount Ararat just across the closed border.
6. In response to mounting attacks by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh
(Artsakh), Pres. Obama could stress Washington's strong support for a
peaceful settlement of this thorny conflict.
7. Pres. Obama's visit would help balance Armenia's relations with the
West, particularly after its membership in the Russian-led Eurasian
Economic Union, and in view of Putin's planned trip to Yerevan on
April 24. Armenia has enjoyed close relations with Western Europe and
the United States, and has participated in international peacekeeping
forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Lebanon. More recently, the
appointment of former Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan as Ambassador to
Washington, underscores the importance Yerevan attaches to its
relations with the United States.
8. Since Pres. Obama, due to the Ukraine crisis, is not planning to
travel to Moscow to take part in the World War II Victory Day
celebrations on May 9, he would have the opportunity to meet with
Pres. Putin in Yerevan, in a less conspicuous atmosphere.
9. Pres. Obama's visit to Armenia would be a significant gesture of
goodwill toward the Armenian-American community. Last week, 16 major
Armenian-American organizations sent a joint letter to the President
urging him to participate in the Armenian Genocide Centennial events
in Armenia.
10. Pres. Obama would be making a historic first US presidential trip
to Armenia, preceded by several high-ranking American officials:
Secretary of State James Baker III in 1992; Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld in 2001; and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in
2010 and 2012, when she laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide
Memorial in Yerevan, as all U.S. Ambassadors have done on every April
24, since the country's independence in 1991.