Tweet
PRESS RELEASE
April 23, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434
Web: www.aaainc.org
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA WELCOMES AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE STATEMENT
URGING TURKEY TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly)
gratefully welcomed the statement by David Harris, Executive Director
of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), calling on Turkey to `address
the realities' of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Assembly.
`In a month of solemn remembrance of the atrocities of the last century -
from the 20th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide to the
annual commemoration in Israel and the United States of the Holocaust =80` we
pause in mournful tribute to the memories of the estimated 1.5 million
victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of Armenians, committed in the
final years of the Ottoman Empire,' the AJC statement reads in part.
`On behalf of the Armenian American community, we welcome the significant
statement by David Harris and the AJC,' said Assembly Board Member
Van
Krikorian. `This is not the first time David has publicly used the
term
`Armenian Genocide' as he has not only been a friend but a
principled voice
for universal values for decades now. This statement is truly significant
considering the timing, and reflects the painful experience shared by the
Armenian and Jewish peoples in the last century, reminding us today that
the failure to address genocide and its denial is to condone it. We all
deeply appreciate it and look forward to the trend continuing with other
groups, governments, and increasingly among Turks and their government,'
Krikorian remarked.
A full transcript of the AJC statement is available below.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.
###
NR#: 2014-024
AJC PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEMORIES OF VICTIMS OF THE MEDS YEGHERN
April 23. 2014 - New York - In a month of solemn remembrance of the
atrocities of the last century - from the 20th anniversary of the start of
the Rwandan genocide to the annual commemoration in Israel and the United
States of the Holocaust - we pause in mournful tribute to the memories of
the estimated 1.5 million victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of
Armenians, committed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
AJC calls on the government of Turkey, a republic founded years after the
empire's dissolution, to not only provide at long last full access, as the
government has pledged, to the historical record of that dark period of
mass murder, forced relocation, death marches, sundering of families, and
other abuses - but to address the realities the records reveal. The process
of healing of this nearly century-old wound can only begin when the truth
of that sorrowful era is confronted.
`As our organization has testified and written on various occasions, the
atrocities committed against ethnic Armenians under Ottoman rule were an
unspeakable crime against humanity,' said AJC Executive Director David
Harris. `For the often-invoked but too-seldom-fulfilled phrase `Never
again' to have real meaning, the full details of that period must be
acknowledged.'
`We identify with the core message of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A
Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, by then-Harvard
University Professor, and now U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
Samantha Power that history must be faced, the dictates of conscience
heeded - or we are doomed to endless brutalities by the powerful against
the weak,' Harris added.
`As successive horrors painfully remind us,' Harris concluded, `we each
bear the obligation of remembrance as a necessary step toward preventing
such acts in the future. We stand in solidarity with people of good will
everywhere in marking the 99th anniversary of the onset of the Meds
Yeghern - the first, and not the last, instance of ethnic massacre and
genocide of the 20th century.'
DATE: 4/23/2014 12:00:00 AM
Available online at: http://bit.ly/1tEfGrr
From: Baghdasarian
April 23, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434
Web: www.aaainc.org
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA WELCOMES AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE STATEMENT
URGING TURKEY TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly)
gratefully welcomed the statement by David Harris, Executive Director
of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), calling on Turkey to `address
the realities' of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Assembly.
`In a month of solemn remembrance of the atrocities of the last century -
from the 20th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide to the
annual commemoration in Israel and the United States of the Holocaust =80` we
pause in mournful tribute to the memories of the estimated 1.5 million
victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of Armenians, committed in the
final years of the Ottoman Empire,' the AJC statement reads in part.
`On behalf of the Armenian American community, we welcome the significant
statement by David Harris and the AJC,' said Assembly Board Member
Van
Krikorian. `This is not the first time David has publicly used the
term
`Armenian Genocide' as he has not only been a friend but a
principled voice
for universal values for decades now. This statement is truly significant
considering the timing, and reflects the painful experience shared by the
Armenian and Jewish peoples in the last century, reminding us today that
the failure to address genocide and its denial is to condone it. We all
deeply appreciate it and look forward to the trend continuing with other
groups, governments, and increasingly among Turks and their government,'
Krikorian remarked.
A full transcript of the AJC statement is available below.
Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest
Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and
awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
membership organization.
###
NR#: 2014-024
AJC PAYS TRIBUTE TO MEMORIES OF VICTIMS OF THE MEDS YEGHERN
April 23. 2014 - New York - In a month of solemn remembrance of the
atrocities of the last century - from the 20th anniversary of the start of
the Rwandan genocide to the annual commemoration in Israel and the United
States of the Holocaust - we pause in mournful tribute to the memories of
the estimated 1.5 million victims of the Meds Yeghern, the Genocide of
Armenians, committed in the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
AJC calls on the government of Turkey, a republic founded years after the
empire's dissolution, to not only provide at long last full access, as the
government has pledged, to the historical record of that dark period of
mass murder, forced relocation, death marches, sundering of families, and
other abuses - but to address the realities the records reveal. The process
of healing of this nearly century-old wound can only begin when the truth
of that sorrowful era is confronted.
`As our organization has testified and written on various occasions, the
atrocities committed against ethnic Armenians under Ottoman rule were an
unspeakable crime against humanity,' said AJC Executive Director David
Harris. `For the often-invoked but too-seldom-fulfilled phrase `Never
again' to have real meaning, the full details of that period must be
acknowledged.'
`We identify with the core message of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A
Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, by then-Harvard
University Professor, and now U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
Samantha Power that history must be faced, the dictates of conscience
heeded - or we are doomed to endless brutalities by the powerful against
the weak,' Harris added.
`As successive horrors painfully remind us,' Harris concluded, `we each
bear the obligation of remembrance as a necessary step toward preventing
such acts in the future. We stand in solidarity with people of good will
everywhere in marking the 99th anniversary of the onset of the Meds
Yeghern - the first, and not the last, instance of ethnic massacre and
genocide of the 20th century.'
DATE: 4/23/2014 12:00:00 AM
Available online at: http://bit.ly/1tEfGrr
From: Baghdasarian