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ANCA: Third Annual Anti-Genocide Advocacy Days - April 22-24, 2009

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  • ANCA: Third Annual Anti-Genocide Advocacy Days - April 22-24, 2009

    Armenian National Committee of America
    1711 N Street, NW
    Washington, DC 20036
    Tel. (202) 775-1918
    Fax. (202) 775-5648
    [email protected]
    Internet www.anca.org

    PRESS RELEASE

    March 12, 2009
    Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
    Tel: (202) 775-1918

    THIRD ANNUAL ANCA / GENOCIDE INTERVENTION NETWORK
    CAPITOL HILL ADVOCACY DAYS SET FOR APRIL 22-24, 2009

    -- Drive to "End the Cycle of Genocide" Takes on Added Urgency
    with Emerging Turkey-Sudan "Axis of Genocide"

    WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
    and Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net) have teamed up, once
    again, for the third annual Capitol Hill advocacy campaign to
    encourage Congressional action to end the cycle of genocide.

    The three-day program, titled, "End the Cycle of Genocide:
    Grassroots Capitol Campaign," will take place from April 22nd-April
    24th, coinciding this year with the actual date of worldwide
    commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The effort will kick off
    with a special breakfast briefing on the morning of April 22nd and
    will be followed by three days of Congressional visits to encourage
    U.S. action to stop the genocide in Darfur, to support the adoption
    of the soon-to-be-introduced Armenian Genocide Resolution, and,
    more broadly, to strengthen U.S. resolve to act against all
    instances of genocide.

    "The Grassroots Capitol Campaign is an important opportunity for
    anti-genocide activists to demand that their elected officials take
    action to end the cycle of genocide," said Genocide Intervention
    Network Executive Director Mark Hanis. "Now more than ever, with
    the escalating tide of violence in affected regions around the
    world, we need to ensure that ending mass atrocities is a priority
    for Congress."

    The multi-faceted program will coincide with the annual Armenian
    Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill, organized by the Congressional
    Armenian Caucus, in the historic Canon Caucus Room on April 22nd.
    On April 24th, interested participants are invited to join in the
    annual protest outside the Turkish Embassy urging the Turkish
    Government to deal honestly with its past and end its campaign of
    genocide denial.

    The End the Cycle of Genocide: Grassroots Capitol Campaign is one
    of the nationwide array of anti-genocide activities planned during
    the April 2009, Genocide Prevention Month. This effort is
    organized by the Genocide Prevention Project, which was "founded in
    the Fall of 2008 to build the public will to call on the
    international community to take meaningful actions when 'early
    warning' indicators signal possible onset of mass-scale atrocity
    crimes, and to mobilize resources to avert or halt such ongoing
    crises and protect civilians from mass atrocity crimes." A full
    list of the group's anti-genocide activities may be viewed at
    www.genocidepreventionmonth.org

    "This April, as the world commemorates the Armenian Genocide, the
    Holocaust, the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides - in fact all
    genocides - it is imperative to send a clear message to our elected
    officials that genocide and its denial cannot be tolerated," said
    ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Clear action in the face
    of genocide - by the Administration and Congress - is essential if
    we are to give real meaning to "never again."

    For more information and to register to participate in Advocacy
    Days, activists can visit: http://www.anca.org/stopgenocide.

    Over the past two years, hundreds of activists from some 30 states
    have participated in Advocacy Days, visiting all 100 Senate and 435
    House of Representatives offices, meeting with Members of Congress,
    their staff and sharing information regarding pending Armenian and
    Darfur genocide legislation. Video from the 2008 "End the Cycle of
    Genocide" Congressional reception may be viewed at:
    http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5638C6 9277000822

    The need for continued and expanded advocacy to stop genocide has
    been underscored in recent months by the expansion of the Turkey-
    Sudan "axis of genocide". After the International Criminal Court
    issued an arrest warrant for Sudan's Omar al-Bashir, last week,
    multiple media reports have indicated that Turkey is seriously
    considering delaying or derailing the arrest of the Sudanese
    dictator.

    Over the past year, the Sudan-Turkey relationship has broadened, as
    marked by:

    -- Sudan President al-Bashir's first foreign visit after his
    indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on crimes of
    genocide was to Turkey.

    -- Sudan and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding to
    strengthen military relations and are discussing cooperation on
    military technology transfers and training.

    -- Turkey's Minister of Trade projects that Sudan will soon be
    Turkey's largest trading partner in Africa.

    -- Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has vocally denied the genocide
    in Darfur.

    To learn more about Genocide Intervention Network visit:
    www.genocideintervention.net

    For more information or to register for the Campaign visit:
    www.anca.org/stopgenocide.
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