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REP. SCHIFF: TURKEY WANTS THE WORLD TO FORGET ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE (VIDEO)
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/155728/
April 24, 2013 - 20:45 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Today, on April 24, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA),
the lead sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress,
delivered his remarks in Armenian on the House Floor to honor the
more than one and a half million Armenian men, women and children
who were murdered by the Ottoman government.
In a historic first in the Congress, Representative Schiff said in
his Armenian address, "I speak to you from the floor of the House
of Representatives in the language of your grandparents and your
great grandparents - the language they used to speak of their hopes,
their dreams, their lives and their loves in the years before 1915
... I speak to you in the language of sons who watched their fathers
murdered ... I speak to you in the language of the girls begging the
gendarmes for mercy. Throughout the Ottoman Empire, tens of thousands
were to be killed outright. Families were force marched through desert
heat as the Ottoman government sought to destroy a people. I speak you
in the language of the children begging for a drop of water. By the
time it was over in 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women
and children were dead. It was the first genocide of the 20th Century.
I speak to you in the language of the mothers who died with their
babies in their arms. A nation was scattered around the world... To
the Middle East, to Europe and to America. I speak to you in the
language of the survivors who came to America for freedom and made a
new life. For almost a century, Turkey has denied the genocide. In the
face of overwhelming evidence - much of it from American diplomats and
journalists - Ankara has denied that the genocide ever happened. They
want the world to forget. I speak to you in the language of those
who were lost. Their voices drift across the decades - begging us
to remember.
I am not a descendant of the fallen, but I speak to you in their
beautiful language because on this day, we are all Armenian. And
not just on this day. Whenever we speak out against mass murder,
whenever we refuse to be cowed into silence, we are all Armenian.
For many years I have sat with you and listened - to the stories of
those who were lost in the genocide and those who survived. I speak
to you in their language to thank you for sharing your history with me.
And I speak to you from this place, this House, because Americans
have always shown the courage to look horror in the eye and speak
its name, and I look forward to the day when its leaders will do
the same. And because I know that day will come. May it come soon,
so the last of the survivors may hear its awesome sound," he said.
http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/155728/
April 24, 2013 - 20:45 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Today, on April 24, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA),
the lead sponsor of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress,
delivered his remarks in Armenian on the House Floor to honor the
more than one and a half million Armenian men, women and children
who were murdered by the Ottoman government.
In a historic first in the Congress, Representative Schiff said in
his Armenian address, "I speak to you from the floor of the House
of Representatives in the language of your grandparents and your
great grandparents - the language they used to speak of their hopes,
their dreams, their lives and their loves in the years before 1915
... I speak to you in the language of sons who watched their fathers
murdered ... I speak to you in the language of the girls begging the
gendarmes for mercy. Throughout the Ottoman Empire, tens of thousands
were to be killed outright. Families were force marched through desert
heat as the Ottoman government sought to destroy a people. I speak you
in the language of the children begging for a drop of water. By the
time it was over in 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenian men, women
and children were dead. It was the first genocide of the 20th Century.
I speak to you in the language of the mothers who died with their
babies in their arms. A nation was scattered around the world... To
the Middle East, to Europe and to America. I speak to you in the
language of the survivors who came to America for freedom and made a
new life. For almost a century, Turkey has denied the genocide. In the
face of overwhelming evidence - much of it from American diplomats and
journalists - Ankara has denied that the genocide ever happened. They
want the world to forget. I speak to you in the language of those
who were lost. Their voices drift across the decades - begging us
to remember.
I am not a descendant of the fallen, but I speak to you in their
beautiful language because on this day, we are all Armenian. And
not just on this day. Whenever we speak out against mass murder,
whenever we refuse to be cowed into silence, we are all Armenian.
For many years I have sat with you and listened - to the stories of
those who were lost in the genocide and those who survived. I speak
to you in their language to thank you for sharing your history with me.
And I speak to you from this place, this House, because Americans
have always shown the courage to look horror in the eye and speak
its name, and I look forward to the day when its leaders will do
the same. And because I know that day will come. May it come soon,
so the last of the survivors may hear its awesome sound," he said.