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Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
September 15, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
RE: HEARING FOR GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE SET FOR MONDAY 9/18
Washington, DC - On Monday, September 18, a motion to dismiss a lawsuit
filed by a Turkish group and others seeking to rewrite history with
respect to the Armenian Genocide, will be heard in U.S. District Court
in Boston, Massachusetts.
The lawsuit, filed last year by the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations (ATAA), asserts that the Massachusetts Department of
Education's decision to remove denialist materials in the school
curriculum amounts to "censoring" and therefore would be a violation of
the First Amendment. The Armenian Assembly immediately responded when
the suit was filed, hiring a first-rate legal team that includes Irwin
Chemerinsky of Duke University and co-counsel Arnie Rosenfeld of the
firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, to fight against this
latest assault waged by revisionists seeking to deny the Armenian
Genocide.
The ATAA lawsuit is part of an ongoing Turkish campaign to deny the
historical truth. Having failed to insert their denialist materials into
the state curriculum, the ATAA brought the suit, arguing a tired and
discredited position that contradicts the current trend in Turkish
society to understand its past.
The Assembly, joined by like-minded Armenian-Americans, filed a series
of pleadings, including an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in
support of the Massachusetts Attorney General's position defending the
rights of the Department of Education to teach the facts of the
genocide. The state's curriculum ensures that the lessons of the
Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, Irish Famine and other crimes against
humanity are not forgotten and thus taught in classrooms. The Armenian
Assembly will also be participating in oral arguments on Monday.
The hearing will be held at the John Joseph Moakley U. S. Courthouse,
located at 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, Massachusetts at 2:30 pm., 5th
floor, courtroom 10. The Honorable Mark L. Wolf will be presiding.
Editor's Note: Armenian Assembly Board of Trustees Members including
President Carolyn Mugar, Counselor and Vice Chair Robert Kaloosdian,
Counselor Van Krikorian and Executive Committee Member Anthony
Barsamian, will be attending the proceedings. Attorneys Rosenfeld and
Krikorian will also be available for background and on-the-record
comments.
For more information, please contact Christine Kojoian in the Assembly's
Public Affairs Department in Washington at 202.393.3434 x246 or
202.368.0608.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR#2006-081
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.armenianassembly.org
September 15, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
RE: HEARING FOR GENOCIDE DENIAL CASE SET FOR MONDAY 9/18
Washington, DC - On Monday, September 18, a motion to dismiss a lawsuit
filed by a Turkish group and others seeking to rewrite history with
respect to the Armenian Genocide, will be heard in U.S. District Court
in Boston, Massachusetts.
The lawsuit, filed last year by the Assembly of Turkish American
Associations (ATAA), asserts that the Massachusetts Department of
Education's decision to remove denialist materials in the school
curriculum amounts to "censoring" and therefore would be a violation of
the First Amendment. The Armenian Assembly immediately responded when
the suit was filed, hiring a first-rate legal team that includes Irwin
Chemerinsky of Duke University and co-counsel Arnie Rosenfeld of the
firm Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, to fight against this
latest assault waged by revisionists seeking to deny the Armenian
Genocide.
The ATAA lawsuit is part of an ongoing Turkish campaign to deny the
historical truth. Having failed to insert their denialist materials into
the state curriculum, the ATAA brought the suit, arguing a tired and
discredited position that contradicts the current trend in Turkish
society to understand its past.
The Assembly, joined by like-minded Armenian-Americans, filed a series
of pleadings, including an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in
support of the Massachusetts Attorney General's position defending the
rights of the Department of Education to teach the facts of the
genocide. The state's curriculum ensures that the lessons of the
Holocaust, Armenian Genocide, Irish Famine and other crimes against
humanity are not forgotten and thus taught in classrooms. The Armenian
Assembly will also be participating in oral arguments on Monday.
The hearing will be held at the John Joseph Moakley U. S. Courthouse,
located at 1 Courthouse Way, Boston, Massachusetts at 2:30 pm., 5th
floor, courtroom 10. The Honorable Mark L. Wolf will be presiding.
Editor's Note: Armenian Assembly Board of Trustees Members including
President Carolyn Mugar, Counselor and Vice Chair Robert Kaloosdian,
Counselor Van Krikorian and Executive Committee Member Anthony
Barsamian, will be attending the proceedings. Attorneys Rosenfeld and
Krikorian will also be available for background and on-the-record
comments.
For more information, please contact Christine Kojoian in the Assembly's
Public Affairs Department in Washington at 202.393.3434 x246 or
202.368.0608.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
NR#2006-081