Armenian Genocide Commemorations List and related articles

[Yervant1]

French Armenian historian ridicules Turkey president statement

11:43, 04.04.2015
Region:World News, Diaspora, Turkey
Theme: Politics


There are numerous similarities between the Turkish authorities'
ideology during the First World War, and the German authorities'
ideology during the Second World War.

The aforesaid topic was discussed at a conference, which was held
recently in Paris, and among historians who had arrived from Armenia,
Turkey, several other European countries, and the US, Le Monde
reported.

"We have responded to Turkish President, Mr. [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan's
instructions, and set up a commission of historians to study the
Armenian Genocide," French Armenian researcher and historian Raymond
Kévorkian noted with ridicule.

As per the historians, the same inhuman logic of social Darwinism--that
is, the creation of a human race that is "free from the Armenian and
Jewish bacteria"--was applied by both the Young Turks and the German
Nazis.

In addition, there is a lot in common between the executioners of the
Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s, and the
extermination of the Tutsis in Rwanda. Accordingly, large numbers of
people living in rural areas were exterminated in a short period of
time in both cases, the scholars also noted.


http://news.am/eng/news/260363.html

[Yervant1]

Dutch MFA: Most scholars are unanimous on Armenian Genocide issue

11:07, 04.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics


Is what happened to the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire genocide in
legal terms? The Government of the Netherlands is not the addressee of
this question.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Bert Koenders,
responded in the aforesaid manner to a question posed by Dutch MP
Pieter Omtzigt.

The FM's responses are posted on the official website of the
Government of the Netherlands.

Omtzigt, in his queries, noted that the vast majority of the world's
scholars, including the International Association of Genocide
Scholars, recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

And to the question on the Dutch government's view with respect to the
genocide of Armenians and other Christian nations in the Ottoman
Empire, Koenders responded: "Most scholars are unanimous on this
issue. [but] one way or another, the [Dutch] government's opinion on
the acceptance of this term will not impact, at this time, the need to
choose their future and bring meaning to it by the two countries [i.e.
Armenia and Turkey]."


http://news.am/eng/news/260358.html

[Yervant1]

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
A columnist of Turkish Radikal newspaper: "Although the Armenians
forgive us, God will not forgive us"


Turkish columnist Redvan Shahin in an article in the columns of
Radical Turkish newspaper writes about the Armenian genocide that
"even if the Armenians forgive us, God will not forgive us." The
reporter continued , "when it comes April 2, my heart sank, my
conscience hurts me, I am ashamed to be a human ... when it comes to
April 2 in front of me parading women fell on the road, dead children
from starvation, forced mothers to leave their house (...) April 2 in
Van is celebrated every year the liberation of the city. He is 97
years old were promised paradise to those who killed at least 7
Armenians. Part of Van Armenians were deported and another part
attaching one behind the other, it was pulled them trying to kill
several at a ball. Savagely they were killed (...) to make disappear
the traces of Armenians, we even invented false stories. " R. Shahin
continues "Hey, Muslims, how long will you continue to tell these
false stories, this denial? Let the grandchildren of the Young Turks
defend the errors of their grandparents, do not be complicit in these
sins (...) yes, a number of Armenians helped the enemy. A number of
Armenians resorted to banditry, but the role of the state is to catch
and punish the perpetrators of the facts and not to drive their land
routes to the death of thousands of children, adolescents and innocent
elderly. " And Radikal columnist concluded "Today we must study the
truth and make efforts to retrieve and strong proclaim this truth. "
Addressing the Armenians he wrote"Forgive us our grandparents could
not defend your grandparents. We apologize. "

Krikor Amirzayan

[Yervant1]

Large protest "1915-2015: 100 Years of Denial: It's Enough" to be held in Bern

13:05, 4 April, 2015


BERN, 4 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. On April 24, the Swiss city of Bern will
hold a large protest against denial of the Armenian Genocide. As
"Armenpress" reports, citing Nouvelles d'Armenie, the protest will be
held with the title "1915-2015: 100 Years of Denial: It's Enough".

The protest will be dedicated to the recognition of the genocides of
the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks and the commemoration of
the victims.


http://armenpress.am/eng/news/800453/large-protest-%E2%80%9C1915-2015-100-years-of-denial-it%E2%80%99s-enough%E2%80%9D-to-be-held-in-bern.html

[Yervant1]

Fresno Bee, CA
April 3 2015

Fresno County Supervisor Poochigian urges President Obama to recognize
Armenian genocide

By Andrea Castillo


Fresno County Supervisor Debbie Poochigian wrote a letter to President
Barack Obama last month urging him to reverse the U.S. stance and
recognize the Armenian genocide.

April 24 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of the genocide. By
its end in 1923, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians -- two-thirds of
the population -- were dead, many children left orphans.

Turkey rejects the term genocide. The United States government has yet
to officially label it as such.

In the March 18 letter, Poochigian said it's ironic that while the
government sees recognition of the genocide "as an annoyance,"
American newspapers are filled with eyewitness accounts of what
happened at the time. She pointed to President Ronald Reagan's 1981
statement about the Holocaust, comparing it to the "genocide of
Armenians before it."

"But since that time, the United States' apparent policy has been to
countenance Turkish lobbying to withhold official acknowledgment," she
wrote.

Poochigian said she had wanted to write the letter for a long time.
She has since written similar letters to Secretary of State John
Kerry, Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner and
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Poochigian
has not received any response, but said she'd much rather have them
act than write her back.

"There are very few survivors left," she said. "Once the survivors are
gone then it's maybe easier for people to deny."

The letter also details personal accounts of the experience
Poochigian's family endured.

Her grandmother was stabbed and knocked unconscious by Turkish
soldiers, and was surrounded by bodies when she came to. She was
nursed back to health by a physician who hid her in a basement with
other victims. She later walked across Russia and eventually ended up
in San Francisco, where she met Poochigian's grandfather and started a
new family.

"Until her death in 1957, she was haunted by memories of the loss of
her three children and first husband and never knowing if any of them
had survived," Poochigian wrote.

Poochigian said the experiences of her family members are just like
thousands of other Armenian survivors who became productive, patriotic
Americans. It is in their memory, she said, that recognizing the
genocide remains a worthy cause.

"Every year we hear, 'Now is not the right time to recognize what
happened,' " she said. "The time is now. Why wait?"


http://www.fresnobee.com/2015/04/03/4459591/fresno-county-supervisor-poochigian.html

[Yervant1]

Journal Times, WI
April 4 2015

Prayer vigil planned for victims of Armenian genocide


RACINE -- The Racine Interfaith Coalition (RIC) will hold a prayer
vigil at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at Monument Square, Main and Sixth
streets, in remembrance of the 1.5 million Armenians killed in the
Genocide between 1915 and 1923. This April marks the 100th anniversary
of the event.

The public is welcome to gather and remember those who willingly
sacrificed their lives because of their Christian faith and pray for
those who still suffer persecution today because of their faith.

As an interfaith justice organization, RIC is committed to building
bridges of understanding and trust between people of differing faith
traditions.


http://journaltimes.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/prayer-vigil-planned-for-victims-of-armenian-genocide/article_1d854db6-f2a8-57fe-a4a9-ba46f570fd63.html

[Yervant1]

 

Agasi Vartanyan for the next 55 days. He will start his fasting tomorrow 10:30 am, if you have the time go support him, there will be lots of new media and Guinness World Record. He will be live 24/7 on Cahna.Org website. Agasi is doing this for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. I wish him best of luck, hope he stays healthy and archives his goal.

Los Angeles Daily News, CA

April 3 2015

 

Man attempts to fast for 55 days to draw attention to Armenian Genocide

 

By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News

Posted: 04/03/15, 8:41 PM PDT |

 

 

Agasi Vartanyan sits on his cot as he starts a 55-day fast in a glass

enclosure at St. Leon Armenian Cathedral in Burbank, Friday, April 3,

2015, to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. (Photo by

Michael Owen Baker/L.A. Daily News)

 

After a few last words and a blessing by a priest, Agasi Vartanyan

stepped into a glass enclosure outside a Burbank church Friday

morning, where he aims to survive for nearly two months on nothing but

water and willpower.

 

It's no David Blaine-like stunt or magical illusion. Instead,

Vartanyan's 55-day public fast is about casting global attention on

what he calls an injustice to the 1.5 million Armenians who were

killed by the Ottoman Turks starting a century ago.

 

"I will not eat for those who were tortured, raped, abused, sent on

death marches, dehumanized and killed," said the Glendale man in a

statement through a translator. "I will not eat to bring awareness to

a genocide that modern-day Turkey still refuses to recognize as well

as for the genocides still taking place today."

 

* VIDEO: Agasi Vartanyan will fast for 55 days at Burbank church

 

Vartanyan's efforts are supported by the nonprofit Crimes Against

Humanity -- Never Again (CAHNA), which formed to raise global awareness

on genocides past and present.

 

Armenians mark April 24, 1915, as the date their nation's

intellectuals were rounded up, arrested and later executed by Turkish

soldiers as part of a movement to "Turkify" the region. The killings

led to what Armenians call a systematic cleansing of their collective

existence from the region, where Assyrians and Pontic Greeks were also

affected.

 

But neither Turkey nor the United States has classified the events as

a genocide. Locally, Rep. Adam Schiff has taken up the cause, hoping

to push the Obama administration and the Turkish government to

officially acknowledge the genocide.

 

The lack of recognition and accountability are why ethnic cleansings

continue, said CAHNA's president Harut Sassounian, who lost relatives

to the genocide.

 

"Our purpose is to raise awareness of genocides so that they never

happen again. As you can see, they are still happening in Iraq and

Syria," he said, referring to mass killings and rapes of ethnic

minorities by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

 

* PHOTOS: Fasting for 55 days to draw attention to Armenian Genocide

 

Built on a high platform outside St. Leon Armenian Cathedral in

Burbank, the nearly 12-by-12-foot glass enclosure allows the public to

see Vartanyan day and night. He's been given 55 gallons of water, a

few clothes, a lounge chair and a television. There's also a live

stream at cahna.org.

 

Vartanyan said he chose 55 days because he is 55 years old and he

wants to break his own record. Several years ago, he survived without

food and only water 50 days.

 

"I thought about this for many years," he said. "I'm positively

inclined to carry this out."

 

 

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20150403/man-attempts-to-fast-for-55-days-to-draw-attention-to-armenian-genocide

 

[Yervant1]

Daily Pilot
April 3 2015

UCI student leaders condemn denial of Armenian genocide

By Nicole Knight Shine
April 4, 2015


The UC Irvine student legislative council on Monday unanimously passed
a resolution to commemorate the Armenian genocide and "condemn its
denial."

The measure follows similar resolutions passed at UCLA and other state
campuses meant to mark the 100th anniversary of the massacre of about
1.5 million Armenians starting in 1915 amid the chaotic collapse of
the Ottoman Empire.

Over the years, measures put forward in the U.S. Congress to recognize
the killings as genocide have failed in the face of stiff opposition
from Turkey.

Turkey acknowledges that many Armenians died in the fighting but
denies the widely accepted number and the term genocide, which is
nonetheless used by many foreign parliaments and Western historians.

"The cycle of genocide continues with that denial," said Carla
Kekejian, a UCI junior and one of three students who petitioned for
the resolution.

The resolution calls on the campus to set April 24 as the official day
of remembrance for the Armenian genocide. It also "condemns those
attempts made by governments as well as other entities, both public
and private, to distort the historical reality and legal relevance of
the Armenian genocide to the descendants of its survivors and humanity
as a whole."

"When we put in writing like that," Kekejian said, "it ensures that
every year it is going to be remembered and commemorated on campus."


http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-me-0404-uci-resolution-20150404,0,4438017.story

[Yervant1]

Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly adopts statement on Armenian Genocide

20:06 ¢ 31.03.15


The chairpersons of the European regional sections of the
Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie for the European Region
adopted a statement on the Armenian Genocide, the Armenpress news
agency reports.

This is what Head of the Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary
Assembly of La Francophonie, Deputy of the Republican Party of Armenia
Margarit Yesayan told Armenpress.

The statement reads as follows: `We, representatives of the
parliaments of states using French as a common language, gathering at
the conference of sections of the Parliamentary Assembly of La
Francophonie for the European Region on 31 March 2015;

- affirming our obligations for the benefit of peace, democracy, human
rights, security in the territory of La Francophonie and the universal
values thereof;

- encouraging the International Organization of La Francophonie and
the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie to be consistent with
the implementation of actions aimed at preventing crises and conflicts
in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Principles
and Norms of International Law; ¬

- highlighting the inadmissibility of lack of international
recognition of the actions viewed as crime of Genocide to this day and
reminding that such crime has no expiry date;

- we condemn the Genocide perpetrated against the Armenian people in
the Ottoman Empire;

- we commemorate the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915
and express solidarity with Armenia and the Armenian people in the
struggle for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and
the restoration of the rights of persons subject to that genocide;

- we invite Turkey to confront its past and eventually recognize the
Armenian Genocide and voice hope that that recognition will become a
starting point for the reconciliation between the Armenians and
Turks.'


http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/03/31/francophonie/1633664

[Yervant1]

Nevada governor issues Armenian Genocide proclamation

April 1, 2015 - 14:02 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nevada governor Brian Sandoval, issued a
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide, declaring April
19-26 as the "Day of Remembrance of The Armenian Genocide," Massis
Post reports.

Spearheaded by the Armenian Council of America (ACA) Nevada Chapter,
the proclamation condemns the systematic murder and deportations of
1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, highlighting the plight
of the Armenian people and the refuge they sought in the U.S. during
that time.

The proclamation also honors the Armenian-American community in
Nevada, citing that the "thriving community is a proud reminder of
survival and determination even in the face of extreme injustice."

Calling upon the House of Representatives and the President of the
U.S. to recognize the atrocities, the proclamation also reiterates
Turkey's responsibility "to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian
Genocide."

The proclamation says:

WHEREAS, on the night of April 24, 1915, more than 200 leaders in the
Armenian community, in the city known today as Istanbul, were
arrested. Sent to prison, most were executed, beginning a horrible,
systemic killing and forced relocation of the Armenian people that
would last until 1923. During these years, the government of the
Ottoman Empire claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians and forced
500,000 more from their homeland. The Armenian Genocide was a terrible
breach of human rights and an event that has outraged the world; and

WHEREAS, the atrocities carried out against the Armenian people were
grave and unimaginable, as they were subjected to deportation,
abduction, torture, starvation, and more. And as with any violent
conflict, Armenian women and children suffered the worst abuses. The
bulk of the Armenian population that was displaced from their homes
was forced to escape to neighboring as well as faraway countries. Many
fled to the United States; and

WHEREAS, today Nevada is honored to be home to a vibrant growing
Armenian-American population. This thriving community is a proud
reminder of survival and determination even in the face of extreme
injustice; and

WHEREAS, as Americans and Nevadans, it is our duty to raise awareness
of the Armenian Genocide and to participate in the remembrance and
mourning of the loss of innocent lives a century ago; and

WHEREAS, as Americans and Nevadans, we call upon Congress and the
President of the United States to recognize the atrocities committed
against the Armenian people, and call upon the Republic of Turkey to
acknowledge the facts of the Armenian Genocide and work toward a just
resolution;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BRIAN SANDOVAL, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, do
hereby proclaim April 19-26, 2015, as "Days of remembrance of the
Armenian Genocide."

According to a press release by the RA Foreign Ministry press office,
a similar resolution was adopted by the Lieutenant Governor of Nevada,
President of Nevada State Senate Mark Hutchison, who, in turn, called
upon Nevada citizens to raise awareness about the Armenian Genocide
and attend commemoration events honoring the memory of innocent
victims.


http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/190094/

[Yervant1]

Debating Genocide in the German Bundestag

Friday 3 April 2015 - 10:34

German Bundestag.

The German Bundestag will hold a one-hour debate on April 24, the
anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide according to the
German Der Tagesspiegel.

The paper says that a dispute over an appropriate commemoration
shortly before the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide has
surfaced in the Bundestag. While the Green Party and the Left want any
final resolution from that debate to include the word Genocide, the
coalition composed of the socialist SPD and Angela Merkel's CDU
(Christian Democratic Union) have made clear their concerns about
antagonizing Turkey, who continues to deny the Genocide.

An informal working group of politicians representing the
parliamentary groups has been discussing how to deal with the
anniversary. Cem Ozdemir, Chair of the Greens and Petra Pau of the
Left Party have made it clear that their factions will call it a
Genocide. However, the CDU and SPD have said that a resolution passed
by the Bundestag a decade ago in 2005 should be upheld. That
resolution, titled "Remembrance and commemoration of the expulsion and
massacre of the Armenians in 1915 - Turkey must contribute to the
reconciliation between Turks and Armenians" refrained from using the
word genocide.

In a joint text formulated late last week, the word genocide was
included in the title but after the leaders of the factions of the
coalition and the Foreign Office got involved, the word disappeared.
Apparently, the general consensus is that it is an inopportune time
and feared that Turkey would consider this an affront, according to
the German newspaper. Their concern stems from upcoming elections in
Turkey in June and that Turkey's involvement in the fight against the
Islamic State is necessary. The issue will be discussed among the
coalition members on April 21 to agree on a final text.

Turkish-born Cem Ozdemir, has been critical of the federal government
for not having the fortitude to call it a genocide 100 years later. He
said, "The Federal Republic is the legal successor of the German
Empire and at the time,the closest ally of the Ottoman Empire,
therefore shares in the responsibility." He went on to say that as the
Ottoman Empire's military ally, Germany was aware of the deportations
and killings of the Armenians but failed to exercise any pressure on
the Turkish leadership.

In an interview with CivilNet on March 18, Cem Ozdemir had said, "As
you know, Germany was on the same side as the Ottoman Empire at that
time and we somehow became an accomplice. Therefore, we also have
obligations in this regard, to commemorate and pass the memory on to
the next generations."

Dietmar Nietan of the SPD has found his party's position unfortunate.
"Personally, I am disappointed at the lack of courage to say what
really happened," Neitan said and added that he didn't think it was
beneficial to bow to Turkish pressure. "If the German Parliament uses
the word Genocide openly, we would be aiding in strengthening those in
civil society in Turkey."

CDU politician Christoph Bergner said that the Armenian case was
pivotal in the drafting of the UN Convention on Genocide and that
Germany "should try to clearly identify the proper dimension of the
events that took place 100 years ago."

The German Foreign Office has said, however that a "culture of memory"
should not be imposed from outside. Michael Roth, the German Minister
of State for Europe said that they welcome the fact that it is no
longer a taboo to talk about the "infinite suffering resulting from
the deportation and murder of Armenians" in Turkey.


http://civilnet.am/2015/04/03/armenian-genocide-german-bundestag-centenary

[Yervant1]

Seminar in Costanta devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

19:56, 03.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia
Theme: Politics, Society

Seminar named "Armenians between life and death: 100th Anniversary of
Armenian martyrdom" was held in Constanta City Odivius University,
Romania on Friday within the framework of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide. The seminar was organized by the local committee
of Romania and the Armenian Embassy in Romania, as well as by
Constanta branches of Romanian Armenians Union and Armenian diocese.

The speakers of the seminar were the Ambassador of Armenia in Romania
Hamlet Gasparian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Romania Bishop
Tatev Hakobyan, and the representative of Archbishop Teodosie of
Tomis.

Speaking about the Armenian Genocide and the denial policy of the
Turkish government, as well as the unacceptability of that policy,
Ambassador Gasparian noted the necessity of uniting internationally
with the view of preventing genocides and struggling against their
denial. With this respect he highly commended the significance of the
European Parliament, UN Human Rights Council, as well as the clear and
specific resolutions of EPP.

The speeches were followed by discussions with the participation of
the representatives of Romanian academia and Armenian community.


Armenia News - NEWS.am
http://news.am/eng/news/260339.html

[Yervant1]

Banner on Treasure Island commemorates Armenian Genocide

09:03 * 02.04.15


Drivers taking the Bay Bridge to San Francisco will get some history
with their commute in the form of a sign for the month of April,
Abc7news.com reports.

Armenians around the world are remembering the genocide against them
on its 100th anniversary. This was the first genocide of the 20th
century.

They put up signs, memorials, even one on Yerba Buena Island. A sign
like this hasn't been seen in this area until now.

"And it will be on Muni trains and BARTs and on the 101 and off the
Bay Bridge. You'll be seeing in the next week," Armenian-American Kim
Bardakian said.

Bardakian is one of 30,000 local members of the Armenian community,
many of whom pitched in to pay the Treasure Island Development
Authority $10,500 for the prime ad space, one that is supposed to be
non-political.

"We did not evaluate it to be political, but more of a memorial of
historic events," Treasure Island Development Authority spokesperson
Robert Beck said.

"They were killed in the deserts and by starvation and by gruesome
acts of violence," Bardakian said.


http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/04/02/treasure-island-banner/1635005

[Yervant1]

Remembering Susan Wealthy Orvis

By Contributor on April 2, 2015 in Featured, Headline, Special Reports

A Missionary Who Saved 3,000 Orphans during the Genocide

By Kamo Mailyan and Wendy Elliott
Special for the Armenian Weekly


"We're very proud of my great aunt Susan," said Nancy Moore of
Toronto. "She saved thousands of Armenian and Greek children from
massacre, but few people even know her name." On the eve of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Nancy and her husband Eric are
eager to change that. From archival papers in Harvard University,
Ohio's Oberlin College, the Rockefeller Archive Center, and their own
collection of personal letters, they have pieced together the
remarkable story of Susan Wealthy Orvis.

Susan Wealth Orvis

Beginning in 1902, Orvis traveled the world as a missionary for the
American Congregational Church, and later the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions. At the start of World War I, she
was asked to go to Gesaria (now Kayseri), Turkey, by the Near East
Relief Orphanages. Within a year, she found herself in Tiflis, Russia
(now Tbilisi, Georgia). "In the Turkish Empire we were going to try to
help the Christian people who had escaped massacre and death by
deportation, and had taken refuge in Russia," she wrote in her
manuscript, Through Russia in 1917. "The number of these Armenian
refugees was several hundred thousand... In Tiflis only we provided
15,000 orphans with clothing. Other missionaries were unable to arrive
on the account of Kurds around the foot of Mount Ararat. They were at
Igdir, where there was more trouble than at other places."

The condition of the refugees was very distressing to Orvis. "We
helped 'home orphans,' too, who were children that had lost their
fathers in the massacres; many of them were with their mothers but
destitute. Old people were even more pitiful than the children because
they were so cold and miserable and sick and lonely and neglected.
Perhaps more forlorn than these 'old people' were the 'blind' who were
being cared for." Orvis's frequent references to the "blind," in
quotation marks, throughout her writings were likely coded references
to the horrific practice of the Ottomans of gouging out prisoners'
eyes.

It is estimated that one and half million Armenians perished between
1915 and 1923, but their supporters were not treated kindly either.
Orvis lived under constant fear of having her belongings checked by
the authorities, and perhaps being deported, so she self-censured her
words. "It was so depressing to see such utter misery and wretchedness
and squalors and need," she wrote, "and not to know any way to relieve
it."

Her mission was soon forced to move from Tiflis to Alexandropol
(currently Gyumri, Armenia) for a short time. "In Alexandropol we
tried to care for thousands of refugees who had no other means of
existence but only the relief we were able to give. People were dying
on the streets every day. I began with looking after the milk depot,
and we increased the number of babies fed till we had 300 on our
list."

Soon, they were "ordered out of Alexandropol because the Turks were
advancing from Kars. All Armenians had to flee. Many were massacred
there and on the way out. They were such helpless people so they were
with no friends able to save them from being cut to pieces--men, women,
and children."

"Aunt Susan and her fellow missionaries returned to the Gesaria region
in 1919," Nancy Moore said. "Of course, their aim was to help the
orphaned children, but since Gesaria itself was not recognized by
other countries, it was hard to get relief supplies in, or to feel any
sense of security. She was almost like a prisoner, living for four
years under the strict and suspicious supervision of the local
government."

"For months I had my suitcase packed," Orvis wrote, "and carried money
with me, not knowing what might happen any minute. Our great fear was
that we might be deported and the thousands of Christian orphan
children under our care would then be sent out on the roads to die of
starvation and cruel treatment as we saw many others were being
treated."

Our great fear was that we might be deported and the thousands of
Christian orphan children under our care would then be sent out on the
roads to die of starvation and cruel treatment as we saw many others
were being treated.

By now Susan Orvis was accustomed to the harsh conditions of
post-World War I refugee camps. But her greatest challenges were yet
to come, starting with the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922.

Smyrna was an important financial and cultural city at the eastern end
of the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Turkey. It was roughly
divided into three quarters: the upper portion was Muslim and Jewish,
and the port area was Christian, inhabited by Greeks and Armenians.
Since the end of World War I, and what was the beginning of the
short-lived Greco-Turkish War, Greece controlled the city. On Sept. 9,
1922, the Turks invaded Smyrna and immediately targeted the Christian
district, looting their shops and homes, separating the men from their
families, and sexually assaulting the women. Within days the port
district was set on fire. It burned for four days, but the systematic
destruction of people and buildings went on for two weeks. More than
10,000 Greeks and Armenians, and visiting foreign nationals, were
killed. Many people were rescued by offshore foreign navies who did
not have the authority to intervene, and who witnessed the massacre of
many more on shore.

Orvis raced to Smyrna with the goal of saving as many children as she
could. "On my way I met a great company of Greek women and girls who
were being deported to Gesaria from the Smyrna region, and who were
dropping dead along the road from starvation. I was too much overcome
to think of much else. The greatest Thanksgiving dinner I ever shall
see was when I was able to try to feed that mob of humanity that was
like wild beasts because of hunger. They went crazy at the sight of
food. But we fed them out there at the foot of the mountain. And I
took some of them with me, but many were beyond help." This is not
surprising because the distance they walked between Smyrna and Gesaria
was 800 kilometers.

In November, Orvis organized transportation for 3,000 orphans from
Gesaria, south through Tarsus, to get them out of Turkey and into
Syria and Greece. Fifteen caravans of covered wagons crossed the
mountains to the Baghdad Railway. "It took each caravan five days to
get there," wrote Orvis. "I had charge of all of them to see that they
had food and a place to stop where they would be safe at night. I rode
back and forth along the line in a R.E.O. truck, and kept track of
them on the road."

One incident stood out for her. "Lifting garments, I uncovered 2
little girls about 12 years old. They were white, staring skeletons,
so close to death they could not move... We succeeded in reviving them
and obtained permission from the authorities to place them in our
orphan caravan. After four and a half days we reached Ouloukishla on
the Baghdad railway, where we paid full fare for our children to ride
in six inches of snow in open freight cars to Mersine. My last moments
in Ouloukishla were devoted to making the strongest representations to
the authorities for protection against soldiers who tried to carry off
our oldest girls." Of course, here she used "carry off" as a euphemism
for the opportunistic and systematic rape and sexual abuse of women
and girls during the mass deportations and massacres.

As Nancy Moore leafed through the letters and photographs of her
aunt's family, she said that Orvis had written an article for the
February 1923 edition of "The New Near East," and had encapsulated her
experiences in two sentences: "I have never in my whole experience in
the Near East witnessed such human sorrow, distress, and death, as
caused by this vast flight, which is depopulating one of Turkey's
richest provinces. It was like a march of terror."

I have never in my whole experience in the Near East witnessed such
human sorrow, distress, and death, as caused by this vast flight,
which is depopulating one of Turkey's richest provinces. It was like a
march of terror.

One particular letter in Moore's collection summed things up. "Aunt
Susan wrote to a friend that she was happy to report that, of the
3,000 children she had helped rescue from Ottoman Empire, not one had
died on the way. All of them were saved. She was 48 years old at the
time. Isn't that remarkable? I'd like everyone to know her name."

Susan Wealthy Orvis died in 1941 in Ohio at the age of 67.

The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by Canada, Switzerland,
France, and many other countries; however, it still remains
unrecognized by others, including the United States, mainly for
political reasons. Nevertheless, every year on April 24 Armenians
around the world lay flowers at genocide memorials to remember. They
may not know who their ancestors were or who saved their lives, but
they honor the dead and the saviors.

Kamo Mailyan is a graduate of the Genocide and Human Rights University
Program of the International Institute for Genocide & Human Rights
Studies (IIGHRS), a division of the Zoryan Institute.

Wendy Elliott is the author of The Dark Triumph of Daniel Sarkisyan, a
young adult novel about a boy and his sister, both survivors of the
Armenian Genocide.


http://armenianweekly.com/2015/04/02/remembering-orvis/

[Yervant1]

GERMAN MILITARY ARCHIVES IMPORTANT FOR ARMENIANS - RUBEN SAFRASTYAN

11:02 * 06.04.15

The military archives of Germany, which was Turkey's military ally
during World War I, are of high importance for all that pertains to
the Armenian Genocide.

The archives are considered lost, but attempts to find them continue,
Ruben Safrastyan, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies,
told Tert.am.

Germany largely directed the Turkish army's actions during World War I.

"For example, Germans were chief of the Joint Staff of the Turkish
armed forces throughout the war. About 17,000 German officers served
in the Ottoman army, and some of them witnessed the Armenian Genocide.

Evidence is available that some of them were involved in the Armenian
Genocide and took advantage of confiscation of Armenians' property.

Therefore, Turkish military archives are of paramount importance for
us, but, regrettably, they are still unavailable," Mr Safrastyan said.

Part of German military archives is considered lost, and many
scholars say that the files covering some periods are missing from
Germany archives. They are believed to have been either destroyed
or taken to the United States during World War II, when the allies
entered Germany. Attempts to find the archives in Germany or in the
USA continue, and if they are found, it will prove collaboration in
committing the Armenian Genocide.

In his earlier comment on Turkish President Recep Erdogan's statement,
calling the on Armenian Diaspora to open archives, Mr Safrastyan
pointed out a most important role of the archives of Turkey's Cadaster
and of parties, which are considered destroyed as well. Turkish
special services played a serious role in this process by "cleaning"
the archives.

Elaborating on German archives, Mr Safrastyan said that Germany's
political archives are actually the Foreign Ministry's archives,
which were first made public by Johannes Lepsius in 1919.

"But in that work Lepsius did his best to avoid showing Germany's
involvement. And he made certain changes in documents," Mr Safrastyan
said.

This is the reason why German scholar Wolfgang Gust undertook the
initiative to publish documents of the German foreign office and
received the Armenian president's award for his great contribution
to international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/04/06/safrastian/1638171

[Yervant1]

WOMAN'S HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL SONG OF PEACE IN AN ANCIENT ARMENIAN CHURCH HITS THE PERFECT NOTE

April 6, 2015

Liftbump.com - It's not necessary to have any background or history
to enjoy the beautiful voice of this woman singing in an ancient and
abandoned cathedral. But knowing a little more about where she is
and what she's singing makes the moment even more spellbinding.

Watch vidoe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAT_ncnhqJQ

The church is the Amernian Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Turkey.

According to Wikipedia, the church was built in 915 by King Gagik I
Artsruni of Vaspurakan.

An important site for the faithful of Armenia for centuries,
the cathedral was looted in 1915 and sat empty for decades before
being converted into a museum and tourist attraction by the Turkish
government.

Architecturally, the cathedral is known for the relief carvings that
adorn the outer walls.

As for the song being sung, one Reddit user identifies it as "Der
Voghormia," the Armenian version of "Lord Have Mercy" (or "Kyrie
Eleison").

http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/65077

Edited April 6, 2015 by Yervant1

[Yervant1]

Pasadena Armenian Genocide
Memorial Unveiling Set for April 18

PASADENA, CA - On the eve of the 100th Commemoration of the Armenian
Genocide, Pasadena will unveil on April 18 at 3 p.m., an inspirational
memorial to the first Genocide of the 20th Century.
The public is invited to join the solemn unveiling that will include music,
poetry and a cultural experience from the proud and thriving Armenian
American Community in Pasadena. The event will culminate with the official
unveiling of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena's
Memorial
Park.
The memorial is the culmination of three years of work of the Pasadena
Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, a non-profit set up to raise private
funds to build and maintain the Memorial. The Memorial completes the
vision of Catherine Menard, an Pasadena Art Center College of Design
graduate who won the highly competitive and coveted responsibility of
designing the Pasadena Memorial. The Memorial features a 16 foot tripod
that forever captures the image of the structures used by the Turks to hang
artists and leaders 100 years ago. It also features the strength and hope
personified by the Armenian people by a tear drop falling into the eternity
symbol prized by Armenians throughout the world.
The Memorial was unanimously approved by the Pasadena City Council and is
currently finishing construction under the supervision of Sinanian
Construction of Tarzana.
`Our ancestors can never be replaced. Beginning on April 18, their
descendants will have a powerful and solemn place to properly remember them
and to celebrate the survival and successes of Armenian American's
in
Pasadena and throughout California. I am proud and humbled to be part of
the project,' commented Robert Kalunian, Board Co-Chair.
Former Pasadena Police Chief Melekian is the Board's other co-chair. The
Pasadena Genocide Memorial Committee is composed of retired Federal Court
Judge Dikran Tevrizian, Levon Filian, Gary Jerjerian, Avo Kechichian,
Sandra Siraganian, Shoghig Yepremian, Sgt. Greg Afsharian, David George
Gevorkyan, and retired State Assemblymember Anthony Portantino. Filian and
Jerjerian are Co-chairing the April 18 event.
The Memorial is located in Pasadena Memorial Park on the North East corner
of Walnut Street and Raymond Avenue. Anyone wishing to make a donation to
help complete the memorial can make contributions payable to The Community
Foundation of the Verdugos/PAGMC and mail contributions to 111 E Broadway,
#200, Glendale, CA 91205. The PAGMC is a non-profit, 501© (3), and
contributions are tax deductible. For additional information please go
to: pagmc.org

[Yervant1]

TWIN CITIES TO 'REMEMBER THE ARMENIANS'

The Sun Current, MN
April 6 2015

By Sun Current
April 6, 2015 at 9:00 am

This spring, Armenians in Minnesota and around the world solemnly
recall the crime against humanity known as the Armenian Genocide.

Beginning on April 24, 1915, more than 1.5 million Armenians - 75
percent of the entire population of Armenians in the world at that
time - were massacred by the Ottoman Turks in a state-sponsored policy
of extermination.

Despite copious documentation, scholarly consensus and international
recognition, the Armenian Genocide is still actively denied by the
present-day Republic of Turkey.

Minnesotans took part in national efforts to provide life-saving
humanitarian assistance to survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Some
found safe haven in Minnesota, where their descendants continue to
play a vital, productive role in community life.

One of the free public events in the Twin Cities that will honor
'Remember the Armenians' is in Edina. "Days of Remembrance: From the
Armenians to the Holocaust," is scheduled for 1-3:30 p.m. Sunday,
April 19, at Edina City Hall.

The event will feature lectures by World Without Genocide Executive
Director Ellen Kennedy and Holocaust survivor Dora Zaidenweber,
followed by a play, "Upstanders: Saving Armenians and Jews."

http://current.mnsun.com/2015/04/twin-cities-to-remember-the-armenians/

[Yervant1]

FREITAG: GENOCIDE IS A CONFIRMED FACT, EVEN IF DENIED BY ALL TURKS

00:26, 07.04.2015
Region:World News, Armenia, Turkey
Theme: Politics, Analytics

100 years have already passed since the Armenian massacres committed
in the Ottoman Empire - a slaughter watched with the silent approval
of Turkey's ally Germany. In the country of Germany's friend, Turkey,
it is uncommon to speak or write about the Armenian Genocide. At best,
one can go to prison for that or sometimes be killed, reports the
German newspaper Der Freitag, touching upon Germany's silence before
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

However, in Germany it is possible to not only write and speak about
the Armenian Genocide, but also not be afraid of being heard or read.

Unfortunately, only Switzerland, Slovenia and Greece have adopted
laws criminalizing the denial of the Genocide.

"Germany refuses to criminalize the denial of the Armenian Genocide
because of the significance of the Turkish community. Even Israel
continues to refuse criminalizing the Armenia Genocide, despite
knowing that the latter paved the way for the Nazi to commit the
Holocaust. Of course, the important role here belongs to the close
relations between Israel and Turkey," Der Freitag reports.

According to the newspaper, the United States refuse to criminalize
the denial of the Armenian Genocide for strategic reasons. "Turkey
is an important ally for the United States; accordingly, they don't
want to spoil their relations with Turkey because of the events that
took place in the past. Besides, on the basis of their own experience,
the Americans have developed their perspective on the question of the
extermination of indigenous people. The Armenians settled in Asia
Minor many thousand years ago, long before the first Turk stepped
there. The same is true for the Americans, who settled on the land
belonging to the Indians," the newspaper notes.

But why does Turkey still deny the Armenian Genocide? "The Turks
cannot ground this by any fact. The Armenian Genocide is an examined
and confirmed fact, even if all the Turkish governments deny it. From
moral perspective, Turkey must compensate the living generations of
the Genocide victims," Der Freitag writes.

http://news.am/eng/news/260585.html

[Yervant1]

18:16 08/04/2015 » POLITICS

Armenian President to pay official visit to Italy and the Vatican

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will travel to Italy for an official visit on Wednesday evening. He will meet with the country’s top officials, the presidential press service reported.
On Friday, the President will visit the Vittoriano Museum Complex in Rome, where he will watch the exhibition titled 'Armenia: People of Ark' dedicated to the Armenian Genocide centennial.
On Saturday, Serzh Sargsyan will attend the Mass that will be celebrated by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Cardinal Sepe at the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Church in Naples. He will participate in the unveiling and consecration ceremony of the copy of one of the cross-stones of Jugha dedicated to the Armenian Genocide.
In Italy, the Armenian leader is expected to meet with the head of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
On Sunday, President Sargsyan will visit the Vatican, where he will attend a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Pope Francis will celebrate to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

12:06 08/04/2015 » SOCIETY

Lessons not learned: The Armenian genocide

Below, we present an article by Emily Schrader, a freelance writer and the social media director for an Israeli non-profit organization, published in The Jerusalem Post.
Adolf Hitler is believed to have stated in 1939, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” Likely unknowingly, Hitler demonstrated an important lesson that remains as relevant today as it was at the time: a failure to confront evil, enables evil.
Understandably, we don’t like to recognize evil, and never have. It is an uncomfortable, almost “religious” concept that cannot be explained by the rational.
As human beings, we want to believe that we’ve evolved beyond it, that “evil” is simply a cultural misunderstanding, or a concept which exclusively belongs to a distant past. Yet evil is a part of reality – and a part of human nature that we have seen so clearly time and time again. By not recognizing it, and not standing against it, we allow it to flourish.
This month marks 100 years since the official commencement of the Armenian Genocide – a dark chapter of human history which sadly we have yet to come to grips with. Despite overwhelming evidence, there are still those who deny that the Armenian Genocide occurred at all. 100 years later, no one has held the Ottomans – and their direct successor, Turkey – accountable for the unconscionable barbaric acts they committed. Shockingly, even countries such as Israel and the United States have yet to recognize this horrific event in human history that nearly eliminated the entire Armenian population.
Where is the “Never Again” for the Armenian people? We cry out against the horrors of the Holocaust – and we rightly demand reparations. We demand justice for the genocide in Rwanda. We still take steps to repair the appalling treatment of blacks in the United States until far too recently. We protest the mass murders in Darfur – and we prosecute those responsible. We do our best to expose and to stop the sickening acts of Islamic terror committed by Islamic State and similar groups against Muslims, Christians, Jews and other minorities. We’ve established international institutions like the United Nations (partially for the precise purpose of preventing acts genocide from ever occurring again).
We look back in history and say, “how could we not have known?” And yet, atrocities continue to occur all over the world, and these international bodies remain silent before the tyranny and human oppression in places like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, or Iran.
Why? Because we do not want to accept that evil exists – and even more so, that many human beings have an affinity for it. Evil is an unpleasant problem to address, as evidenced by the failure, for one hundred years, to recognize the evil of the Armenian Genocide.
April 24, 1915 is known as the beginning of the Armenian Genocide – yet just as in the case of the Holocaust, the persecution began before that. No one paid attention when the systematic persecution of Armenians began decades before. Nobody cared about the land seizures, the forced conversions, and the general abuse which was rampant in the Ottoman Empire in the mid 1800s.
In the 1890s there were brutal pogroms against Armenians. It is estimated that under Sultan Abdul Hamid, 100,000- 300,000 Armenians were murdered.
Still the world was silent. When 250 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up and killed on April 24, it was the beginning of one of the most horrific atrocities the world had ever seen.
Following the implementation of Tehcir Law, Armenians were deported en masse – sent on death marches into the Syrian desert, and denied food and water. Their land and all belongings were confiscated, and if they survived the death march they were sent to concentration camps, or otherwise “disposed of.” Witnesses recorded that nearly 50,000 men, women and children were tossed into the Black Sea and left to drown.
An estimated 1-1.5 million Armenians were brutally robbed, raped, starved and murdered by the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1918 for no other reason other than that they were Armenian.
Is it too much to ask, 100 years later, for recognition from the world’s major powers? Is it too much to demand that Turkey, which actually outlaws referring to the Armenian Genocide as a genocide, be held accountable for these unconscionable crimes against humanity? This refusal to own up to our mistakes only enables evil to flourish.
It enabled it in Kristallnacht, and it enables evil to thrive today. One cannot help but wonder: if we had recognized evil when the persecution of Armenians began in the 1800s, would things have been different in 1914 for the Armenians? Would things have been different when we witnessed Kristallnacht? Would things have been different when American Jews were screaming at the top of their lungs at the mass-murder of Europe’s Jewry in the 1940s? Would things have been different when more than 20 million were killed under Stalin, or when an estimated 45 million were killed by Mao Zedong’s “great leap forward” in China? When 800,000 were murdered in Rwanda, or when tens of thousands were killed in Darfur? When millions are still being murdered and tortured and starved to death in North Korea? We cannot stamp out evil for good.
But we can stand up for what is morally right; whether it concern the past or the future. Though we may not want to believe in this day and age that any person or government is capable of such egregious crimes, we must always remember that evil is a very real threat – more than we can imagine.
After all, who would have thought that enlightened German society, and pinnacle of liberal European culture, would end up murdering nearly 11 million people? As Judea Pearl – the UCLA Professor and father of the late Daniel Pearl – has emphatically stated, “We Westerners fail to understand that half of mankind today is aroused by cruelty.”
In order to stop this cruelty, in order to make it right, we must first recognize it for what it is: evil. We must recognize the Armenian Genocide and hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes against humanity.
Never Again, for Armenians too.

Source: Panorama.am

[Yervant1]

MILLIONS TO SEE 'ORPHANS OF THE GENOCIDE' AS IT BEGINS RUN ON KCET, LINKTV

Tuesday, April 7th, 2015
http://asbarez.com/133785/millions-to-see-%E2%80%98orphans-of-the-genocide%E2%80%99-as-it-begins-run-on-kcet-linktv/

Oprhans of the Genocide

First broadcast on KCET Los Angeles slated for Wednesday, April 8 at
9 p.m.

LOS ANGELES--Millions of television viewers across Southern California
and around the country will have a chance to see the award-winning
documentary by "Orphans of the Genocide," produced by Bared Maronian.

The national broadcast of the documentary will kick off on Wednesday
at 9 p.m. on KCET Channel 28, LA's independent station. The program
will repeat on April 12 at 5 p.m. and April 25 at 4 p.m.

"Orphans of the Genocide" will also air on the nationwide LinkTV
channel and online service available via satellite providers DirectTV
and Dish Network. LinkTV will broadcast the program on Thursday April
23 at 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern); Saturday April 25, 5 a.m.

Pacific (8 a.m. Eastern); and on Sunday April 26, 3 p.m. Pacific
(6 p.m. Eastern).

"Orphans of the Genocide" weaves historical archives with interviews
and memoirs of Armenian orphans to establish irrevocable proof
of the Armenian Genocide. An emotional, visual journey through
never-before-seen archival footage and memoirs of orphans who lived
through the last century's first, fully documented and least recognized
genocide in 1915, "Orphans of the Genocide" features insightful
interviews with such prominent figures and scholars as British
journalist Robert Fisk, Clark University's Director of Strassler
Family Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Professor Debora
Dwork, and Armenian-American Dr. Jack Kevorkian among others.

Over the last several years, "Orphans of the Genocide" has been
broadcast on PBS stations nationwide, reaching over 12 million
viewers. Additionally, the documentary has been invited to participate
at various events and film festivals throughout the U.S., Canada,
Europe, as well as in the Middle East and South America, earning
numerous awards.

[Yervant1]

"AGHET: A GENOCIDE" PREMIERES AT THE BOE

Boulder Jewish News
April 6 2015

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HYE ADVOCATES is pleased to announce the April 12th,
1:00 pm Colorado premiere of "Aghet: A Genocide" at the Boedecker
Theatre in Boulder. This admission-free event is in partnership
with The Dairy and the Museum of Boulder. Boulder Councilman George
Karakehian will host a talk back. Please go to this Dairy link to
reserve your ticket/s as you will need to present this paper receipt
at the door for admission.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HYE ADVOCATES is proud to sponsor this award winning
documentary, "Aghet: A Genocide.'" This showing is part of a world-wide
series of commemoration events honoring the first genocide of the
20th century - the Armenian Genocide.

The film debuted on German public television and depicts the
annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 -1923. It details the
effects of the Turkish government's international campaign of genocide
denial on international policy -- a policy that remains in place.

News reports this month reveal that Turkey's purchase of a
multi-billion dollar air-defense system will be awarded on the basis
of bidding countries [France and U.S.] withholding recognition of
the Armenian Genocide.

Award-winning director Eric Friedler and his cast bring to life the
original texts of German and U.S. diplomatic eyewitness accounts that
constituted the Armenian Genocide. The 90 minute film, in English,
features German actors depicting the roles of non-Armenian witnesses
of the Genocide [e.g. diplomats, medical, and military personnel]
reciting memoirs of the events in Anatolia during 1915-1916. Adding
to the film's poignancy is never-before-seen footage of the genocide
and its political aftermath.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HYE ADVOCATES extends it appreciation to the Tom
Kooyumjian Trust and the Armenian National Committee of America for
their support in making this event possible.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HYE ADVOCATES ['HYE' translates as Armenian] is
dedicated to fostering Armenian Genocide awareness and promoting
policy recognition amongst our Colorado Congressional Delegation.

http://boulderjewishnews.org/2015/aghet-a-genocide-premieres-at-the-boe/

[Yervant1]

CYPRUS PRESIDENT TO VISIT TSITSERNAKABERD WITH A REPRESENTATIVE DELEGATION

17:37, 8 April, 2015

NICOSIA, 8 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades
will be accompanied by Members of the Parliament of Cyprus and
representatives of the Cypriot-Armenian community during his April
22-25 visit to Armenia. As a representative of the office of Armenian
Member of the Parliament of Cyprus Vartkes Mahdessian said in an
interview with "Armenpress", the President will be accompanied
by members of the country's three major political parties at
Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex. "Member of
the Parliament of Cyprus, leader of Tisi Party and chair of the
Cyprus-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group Averof Noephytou,
secretary of Akel Party of Nicosia Stefanos Stefanou and former leader
of Cyprus's TICO Party and former parliamentary speaker, current
Member of Parliament Marios Garoyian will also be participating in
the ceremonies commemorating the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide
to be held in Armenia on 22-25 April," as reported from Nicosia.

Armenian Member of the Parliament of Cyprus Vartkes Mahdessian will
also be joining the President on his visit to Armenia.

http://armenpress.am/eng/news/800891/cyprus-president-to-visit-tsitsernakaberd-with-a-representative-delegation.html

[Yervant1]

14:12 17/04/2015 » IN THE WORLD

German Jewish leader calls for recognition of Armenian Genocide

The Central Council of Jews in Germany has called on the German government to recognize the World War I mass murder of over one million Armenians in what was then the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, the World Jewish Congress reports.
"One hundred years ago, the government of the Ottoman Empire ordered the deportation of one million Armenians. They were murdered directly, or died of starvation and dehydration in the desert,” Central Council President Josef Schuster told the newspaper ‘Der Tagesspiegel.’ He added: “These terrible events should be called what they were: a genocide.”
Schuster said the Armenian genocide later served Adolf Hitler and his Nazis as a blueprint for the Holocaust.
The main German parties, CDU and SPD, have so far been reluctant to use the term genocide because they fear a conflict with Turkey.

Source: Panorama.am