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CHAIRMAN SMITH ASKS OBAMA ADMINISTRATION FOR REPORT ON AID TO SYRIAN ARMENIANS
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/724144/chairman--smith-asks--obama-administration-for-report-on-aid-to-syrian-armenians.html
12:00, 27 June, 2013
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS: Republican and Democratic members of a
key U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee joined with the panel's
Chairman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), in voicing growing Congressional
concern for the welfare of Armenians, other Christians, and all
religious minority communities in Syria, reports Armenpress citing
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
"We want to thank Chairman Chris Smith for holding yesterday's hearing
about religious minorities in Syria, and would also like to share our
special appreciation with all his colleagues who joined with him in
using this important national platform to raise concerns about the
welfare of at-risk and refugee Armenians, other Christians, and all
Syrian minorities," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We
are particularly grateful for Chairman Smith's formal request of the
Obama Administration to share with Congress the specific steps that
our government is taking to ensure that U.S. aid programs provide
needed assistance to vulnerable Armenians in Syria, as well as for
those who have left Syria and found refuge in Armenia. We very much
look forward to sharing the work of our State Department and USAID
on this matter of urgentconcern to all Armenian Americans."
The hearing, titled: "Religious Minorities in Syria: Caught in the
Middle," featured testimony from a State Department human rights
official, Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor, as well as from a number of experts:
Nina Shea, Director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious
Freedom; Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom; Rev. Majed El Shafie, Founder of One
Free World International, and; John Eibner, Ph.D., CEO of Christian
Solidarity International, USA.
Concerns about the Armenian population and the broader plight of
religious minorities in Syria were spotlighted throughout the hearing.
Chairman Smith, referencing a hearing on the Armenian Genocide
Resolution that he had chaired in 1996, asked what specific steps
the Obama Administration had taken to assist the Armenian refugees
who have fled Syria. Deputy Assistant Secretary Melia noted that U.S.
officials have been in touch with Armenian Church and community leaders
but would get back to the Subcommittee with a detailed response.
During her testimony, Ms. Shea offered specific examples of the
targeting of Christians, including the Armenian population, and noted
overall that "Though no religious community has been spared suffering,
Syria's ancient Christian minority has cause to believe that they
confront an 'existential threat,' according to a finding of the UN
Human Right Council's Commission of Inquiry on Syria, last December.
And this group, in contrast to Syria's Alawites, Shiites and Sunnis,
has no defender."
Dr. Eibner drew a chilling parallel between the Syrian crisis and
efforts to bring democratic reform to the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century. "One cannot help but look back to the days of the
Ottoman Empire, when in 1908 there was a great revolution, we might
call it the Ottoman Spring where members of all religious communities,
ethnic minorities were dancing in the streets to celebrate freedom
and within a decade there is genocide and Anatolia is completely
cleared of its religious minorities. It can happen. It can happen
today, this year. It can happen next year and the United States has
an international obligation to try to prevent genocide...
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/724144/chairman--smith-asks--obama-administration-for-report-on-aid-to-syrian-armenians.html
12:00, 27 June, 2013
YEREVAN, JUNE 27, ARMENPRESS: Republican and Democratic members of a
key U.S. House Foreign Affairs subcommittee joined with the panel's
Chairman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), in voicing growing Congressional
concern for the welfare of Armenians, other Christians, and all
religious minority communities in Syria, reports Armenpress citing
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
"We want to thank Chairman Chris Smith for holding yesterday's hearing
about religious minorities in Syria, and would also like to share our
special appreciation with all his colleagues who joined with him in
using this important national platform to raise concerns about the
welfare of at-risk and refugee Armenians, other Christians, and all
Syrian minorities," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We
are particularly grateful for Chairman Smith's formal request of the
Obama Administration to share with Congress the specific steps that
our government is taking to ensure that U.S. aid programs provide
needed assistance to vulnerable Armenians in Syria, as well as for
those who have left Syria and found refuge in Armenia. We very much
look forward to sharing the work of our State Department and USAID
on this matter of urgentconcern to all Armenian Americans."
The hearing, titled: "Religious Minorities in Syria: Caught in the
Middle," featured testimony from a State Department human rights
official, Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy,
Human Rights, and Labor, as well as from a number of experts:
Nina Shea, Director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious
Freedom; Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., a Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom; Rev. Majed El Shafie, Founder of One
Free World International, and; John Eibner, Ph.D., CEO of Christian
Solidarity International, USA.
Concerns about the Armenian population and the broader plight of
religious minorities in Syria were spotlighted throughout the hearing.
Chairman Smith, referencing a hearing on the Armenian Genocide
Resolution that he had chaired in 1996, asked what specific steps
the Obama Administration had taken to assist the Armenian refugees
who have fled Syria. Deputy Assistant Secretary Melia noted that U.S.
officials have been in touch with Armenian Church and community leaders
but would get back to the Subcommittee with a detailed response.
During her testimony, Ms. Shea offered specific examples of the
targeting of Christians, including the Armenian population, and noted
overall that "Though no religious community has been spared suffering,
Syria's ancient Christian minority has cause to believe that they
confront an 'existential threat,' according to a finding of the UN
Human Right Council's Commission of Inquiry on Syria, last December.
And this group, in contrast to Syria's Alawites, Shiites and Sunnis,
has no defender."
Dr. Eibner drew a chilling parallel between the Syrian crisis and
efforts to bring democratic reform to the Ottoman Empire in the
early 20th century. "One cannot help but look back to the days of the
Ottoman Empire, when in 1908 there was a great revolution, we might
call it the Ottoman Spring where members of all religious communities,
ethnic minorities were dancing in the streets to celebrate freedom
and within a decade there is genocide and Anatolia is completely
cleared of its religious minorities. It can happen. It can happen
today, this year. It can happen next year and the United States has
an international obligation to try to prevent genocide...