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PRESS RELEASE
June 12, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434
Web: www.aaainc.org
TURKEY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES ACCOUNTABILITY ACT SCHEDULED FOR COMMITTEE VOTE
House Foreign Affairs Committee Scheduled to Consider H.R. 4347 on
Wednesday, June 18th
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed
Royce (R-CA) announced that a hearing and vote on H.R. 4347, the Turkey
Christian Churches Accountability Act, has been scheduled for Wednesday,
June 18th, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). Earlier
this week, Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI) and Adam Schiff
(D-CA) cosponsored H.R. 4347, adding momentum for the House to act on this
important international religious freedom legislation.
A similar `sense of the House resolution,' H. Res. 306, was adopted by the
full House of Representatives on December 13, 2011. This new measure,
however, goes further than the one adopted in 2011, as it `require[s] the
Secretary of State to provide an annual report to Congress regarding United
States Government efforts to survey and secure the return, protection, and
restoration of stolen, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned Christian
properties in the Republic of Turkey and in those areas currently occupied
by the Turkish military in northern Cyprus.'
Earlier this year, the Armenian National Institute (ANI), Armenian Genocide
Museum of America (AGMA) and the Assembly jointly, and in cooperation with
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
in Yerevan, and the Republic of Armenia National Archives, announced the
release of a major exhibit consisting of 20 panels with over 150 historic
photographs documenting the role of the Armenian Church during the Armenian
Genocide.
Titled 'The First Refuge and the Last Defense: The Armenian Church,
Etchmiadzin, and The Armenian Genocide,' the exhibit explains the
importance of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin during the Armenian
Genocide. It also examines the vital leadership role played by the clergy
during the Armenian Genocide, especially the intervention of His Holiness
Catholicos Gevorg V Sureniants in alerting world leaders about the
massacres, effectively issuing the first `early warning' of an impending
genocide.
As part of its many findings, H.R. 4347 states that `Christian churches and
communities in the Republic of Turkey and in the occupied areas of Cyprus
continue to be prevented from fully practicing their faith and face serious
obstacles to reestablishing full legal, administrative, and operational
control over stolen, expropriated, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned
churches and other religious properties and sites. In many cases the
rightful Christian church authorities, including relevant Holy Sees located
outside Turkey and Turkish-occupied territories, are obstructed from
safeguarding, repairing, or otherwise caring for their holy sites upon
their ancient homelands, because the properties have been destroyed,
expropriated, converted into mosques, storage facilities, or museums, or
subjected to deliberate neglect.'
`The Armenian Assembly strongly supports swift passage of the Turkey
Christian Churches Accountability Act and calls on all Members of Congress
to stand with those who seek to protect religious freedom,' stated
Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. `The continued destruction of Christian
heritage in Turkey is a glaring reminder of one of the many consequences of
Turkey's state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide,'
Ardouny said.
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: # 2014-035
Available online: http://bit.ly/1oYEQgA
From: Baghdasarian
June 12, 2014
ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
Contact: Taniel Koushakjian
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 393-3434
Web: www.aaainc.org
TURKEY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES ACCOUNTABILITY ACT SCHEDULED FOR COMMITTEE VOTE
House Foreign Affairs Committee Scheduled to Consider H.R. 4347 on
Wednesday, June 18th
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed
Royce (R-CA) announced that a hearing and vote on H.R. 4347, the Turkey
Christian Churches Accountability Act, has been scheduled for Wednesday,
June 18th, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). Earlier
this week, Reps. Jim Costa (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI) and Adam Schiff
(D-CA) cosponsored H.R. 4347, adding momentum for the House to act on this
important international religious freedom legislation.
A similar `sense of the House resolution,' H. Res. 306, was adopted by the
full House of Representatives on December 13, 2011. This new measure,
however, goes further than the one adopted in 2011, as it `require[s] the
Secretary of State to provide an annual report to Congress regarding United
States Government efforts to survey and secure the return, protection, and
restoration of stolen, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned Christian
properties in the Republic of Turkey and in those areas currently occupied
by the Turkish military in northern Cyprus.'
Earlier this year, the Armenian National Institute (ANI), Armenian Genocide
Museum of America (AGMA) and the Assembly jointly, and in cooperation with
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
in Yerevan, and the Republic of Armenia National Archives, announced the
release of a major exhibit consisting of 20 panels with over 150 historic
photographs documenting the role of the Armenian Church during the Armenian
Genocide.
Titled 'The First Refuge and the Last Defense: The Armenian Church,
Etchmiadzin, and The Armenian Genocide,' the exhibit explains the
importance of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin during the Armenian
Genocide. It also examines the vital leadership role played by the clergy
during the Armenian Genocide, especially the intervention of His Holiness
Catholicos Gevorg V Sureniants in alerting world leaders about the
massacres, effectively issuing the first `early warning' of an impending
genocide.
As part of its many findings, H.R. 4347 states that `Christian churches and
communities in the Republic of Turkey and in the occupied areas of Cyprus
continue to be prevented from fully practicing their faith and face serious
obstacles to reestablishing full legal, administrative, and operational
control over stolen, expropriated, confiscated, or otherwise unreturned
churches and other religious properties and sites. In many cases the
rightful Christian church authorities, including relevant Holy Sees located
outside Turkey and Turkish-occupied territories, are obstructed from
safeguarding, repairing, or otherwise caring for their holy sites upon
their ancient homelands, because the properties have been destroyed,
expropriated, converted into mosques, storage facilities, or museums, or
subjected to deliberate neglect.'
`The Armenian Assembly strongly supports swift passage of the Turkey
Christian Churches Accountability Act and calls on all Members of Congress
to stand with those who seek to protect religious freedom,' stated
Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. `The continued destruction of Christian
heritage in Turkey is a glaring reminder of one of the many consequences of
Turkey's state-sponsored denial of the Armenian Genocide,'
Ardouny said.
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: # 2014-035
Available online: http://bit.ly/1oYEQgA
From: Baghdasarian