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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 3 2012
Armenian group hails 2011 as year of success
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Ümit Enginsoy
The head of the largest and most influential U.S. Armenian group has
declared 2011 as a year of great progress for the Armenian cause
against Turkey while requesting more donations from Armenian-Americans
to bolster the cause.
There were a number of pro-Armenian developments inside and outside
the U.S. Congress last year, Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA), said in a statement released
over the weekend.
`The historic adoption by the U.S. House of H. Res. 306, demanding
Turkey return stolen Christian churches, sounded our call for
reparations loud and clear,' he said. `The high-profile failure of the
president's deeply flawed nomination of Matt Bryza challenged the
State Department's `business-as-usual' approach to Azerbaijan's
alarming march toward war. And, across the Atlantic, the adoption last
week by the French Parliament of an anti-Armenian Genocide denial law
set the stage for a renewed worldwide push in 2012 for a truthful and
just resolution of this crime against humanity.'
H. Res. 306, a non-binding resolution approved last year by the House
of Representatives, Congress's lower chamber, calls for the return of
properties confiscated from Turkey's Christian minorities over the
past century. U.S. Armenians had accused Bryza, who was nominated by
President Barack Obama as ambassador to Baku in 2009, of being overtly
pro-Turkish. Two pro-Armenian senators had placed a hold on him, and
the Senate failed to organize a vote on him last year, forcing him to
quit his job.
Late last month, the lower house in the French Parliament passed a
bill criminalizing the denial of what Armenians and their supporters
call the `Armenian genocide.' The French Senate may hold a vote on
that bill later this month despite Turkish warnings that the bill's
adoption would lead to a deterioration in ties in a major and lasting
way. Armenians describe the World War I-era killings of their kinsmen
in the Ottoman Empire as `genocide.' Turkey rejects the claim and says
Turks and Muslims were also killed in ethnic strife in eastern
Anatolia toward the end of the war.
Hachikian also urged U.S. Armenians to donate funds to ANCA to
contribute the fight against Turkey.
`With your faith and renewed financial support, we will do so much
more,' he said. `Will you consider giving $60, $100, $250 or more to
empower us to fight for our rights? Any amount makes a difference,
even a gift of $10.'
January/03/2012
Jan 3 2012
Armenian group hails 2011 as year of success
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
Ümit Enginsoy
The head of the largest and most influential U.S. Armenian group has
declared 2011 as a year of great progress for the Armenian cause
against Turkey while requesting more donations from Armenian-Americans
to bolster the cause.
There were a number of pro-Armenian developments inside and outside
the U.S. Congress last year, Ken Hachikian, chairman of the Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA), said in a statement released
over the weekend.
`The historic adoption by the U.S. House of H. Res. 306, demanding
Turkey return stolen Christian churches, sounded our call for
reparations loud and clear,' he said. `The high-profile failure of the
president's deeply flawed nomination of Matt Bryza challenged the
State Department's `business-as-usual' approach to Azerbaijan's
alarming march toward war. And, across the Atlantic, the adoption last
week by the French Parliament of an anti-Armenian Genocide denial law
set the stage for a renewed worldwide push in 2012 for a truthful and
just resolution of this crime against humanity.'
H. Res. 306, a non-binding resolution approved last year by the House
of Representatives, Congress's lower chamber, calls for the return of
properties confiscated from Turkey's Christian minorities over the
past century. U.S. Armenians had accused Bryza, who was nominated by
President Barack Obama as ambassador to Baku in 2009, of being overtly
pro-Turkish. Two pro-Armenian senators had placed a hold on him, and
the Senate failed to organize a vote on him last year, forcing him to
quit his job.
Late last month, the lower house in the French Parliament passed a
bill criminalizing the denial of what Armenians and their supporters
call the `Armenian genocide.' The French Senate may hold a vote on
that bill later this month despite Turkish warnings that the bill's
adoption would lead to a deterioration in ties in a major and lasting
way. Armenians describe the World War I-era killings of their kinsmen
in the Ottoman Empire as `genocide.' Turkey rejects the claim and says
Turks and Muslims were also killed in ethnic strife in eastern
Anatolia toward the end of the war.
Hachikian also urged U.S. Armenians to donate funds to ANCA to
contribute the fight against Turkey.
`With your faith and renewed financial support, we will do so much
more,' he said. `Will you consider giving $60, $100, $250 or more to
empower us to fight for our rights? Any amount makes a difference,
even a gift of $10.'
January/03/2012