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TURKISH OFFICIALS OPPOSE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT IN PASADENA
Pasadena Star News
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_21418476/turkish-officials-oppose-armenian-genocide-monument-pasadena?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com
Aug 28 2012
CA
PASADENA -- A Turkish deputy consul general visited Pasadena City
Hall earlier this month to convey concern about a planned Armenian
Genocide Memorial in a city park.
The Pasadena Armenian American Coalition announced in April that the
community is raising funds and working with an architect to erect a
monument in Memorial Park in time for the 100th anniversary of the
genocide in 2015.
Some 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed from 1915
through 1923 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. California is among
43 states that formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
A prepared statement by the Consulate General of Turkey in Los
Angeles said the proposed monument "deeply offends" the Turkish people
and the Turkish American community in Pasadena and the greater Los
Angeles area.
"Our Consulate General (in Los Angeles) got in contact with Pasadena
City authorities to convey the message that the events of 1915 is
a highly debated issue by academics, historians and Turkish and
Armenian communities," the Consulate General of Turkey said in a
prepared statement to the Star-News.
"It is clear that adapting (sic) one side's approach and erecting a
`genocide memorial' without paying attention to the other's will
actually damage the ongoing efforts for a just solution to the issue
and the hope for establishing the suitable conditions for current
and future generations to live together friendly."
While most historians assert that the mass killings of Armenians
that started in 1915 was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey -
a strong U.S. ally - has long denied there was a systematic campaign
to kill Armenians.
Attorney and former Mayor William Paparian, speaking on behalf of the
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, said he considered the
recent visit of Deputy Turkish Consul General Arif Celik to City Hall
"a diplomatic intrusion by the Turkish government."
For more than 30 years, the City Council has issued an annual
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, amended
its Affirmative Action ordinance to make Armenian-Americans a protected
class and even has a sister city in Armenia, he said.
"The proposed Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will have to
fulfill the strict requirements of the City of Pasadena in order to
win approval," Paparian said in a statement. "No foreign government
should be allowed to intervene in that process."
Pasadena Star News
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_21418476/turkish-officials-oppose-armenian-genocide-monument-pasadena?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com
Aug 28 2012
CA
PASADENA -- A Turkish deputy consul general visited Pasadena City
Hall earlier this month to convey concern about a planned Armenian
Genocide Memorial in a city park.
The Pasadena Armenian American Coalition announced in April that the
community is raising funds and working with an architect to erect a
monument in Memorial Park in time for the 100th anniversary of the
genocide in 2015.
Some 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed from 1915
through 1923 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. California is among
43 states that formally recognizes the Armenian Genocide.
A prepared statement by the Consulate General of Turkey in Los
Angeles said the proposed monument "deeply offends" the Turkish people
and the Turkish American community in Pasadena and the greater Los
Angeles area.
"Our Consulate General (in Los Angeles) got in contact with Pasadena
City authorities to convey the message that the events of 1915 is
a highly debated issue by academics, historians and Turkish and
Armenian communities," the Consulate General of Turkey said in a
prepared statement to the Star-News.
"It is clear that adapting (sic) one side's approach and erecting a
`genocide memorial' without paying attention to the other's will
actually damage the ongoing efforts for a just solution to the issue
and the hope for establishing the suitable conditions for current
and future generations to live together friendly."
While most historians assert that the mass killings of Armenians
that started in 1915 was the 20th century's first genocide, Turkey -
a strong U.S. ally - has long denied there was a systematic campaign
to kill Armenians.
Attorney and former Mayor William Paparian, speaking on behalf of the
Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, said he considered the
recent visit of Deputy Turkish Consul General Arif Celik to City Hall
"a diplomatic intrusion by the Turkish government."
For more than 30 years, the City Council has issued an annual
proclamation commemorating the Armenian Genocide on April 24, amended
its Affirmative Action ordinance to make Armenian-Americans a protected
class and even has a sister city in Armenia, he said.
"The proposed Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial will have to
fulfill the strict requirements of the City of Pasadena in order to
win approval," Paparian said in a statement. "No foreign government
should be allowed to intervene in that process."