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04/12/2005
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1) MKR Status Must be Clarified says ARF Faction Rep. Mkrtchian
2) Senator Barbara Boxer’s Statement on 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide
3) California Grandmother in Midst of Walking Record Setting 215 Miles in 19
Days
4) ‘Cultural Genocide’ Exhibition Kicks off

1) MKR Status Must be Clarified says ARF Faction Rep. Mkrtchian

YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–On April 12, ARF parliamentary faction representative
Levon Mkrtchian told his colleagues within the National Assembly that the
conflict over Karabagh cannot be settled without first addressing the
status of
the Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR). The issue, Mkrtchian stressed,
directly impacts Armenia’s national security.
“Let us not forget that the Republic of Armenia’s president is the man who,
during Karabagh’s most critical period, endangered his family’s safety in
order
to lead defense forces,” Mkrtchian told parliamentarians. “This serves to show
that the president and his political allies will not budge on their demand of
resolving the conflict through a ‘package deal.’ There can be no resolution
without clarifying [MKR’s] status.”
Meanwhile, according to a survey conducted by the Armenian Center for
National
and International Studies (ACNIS), a private think-tank, Armenians continue to
consider Armenian control over Mountainous Karabagh non-negotiable, according
to an opinion poll released on Tuesday.
Of the 1,900 people randomly polled across the country, at least 84 percent
believe that Karabagh must either be independent or become an integral part of
Armenia under any peaceful settlement. Only 2.6 percent said they would
support
its return under Azerbaijani rule. The Armenian administration, likewise,
insists that it will never agree to such a solution.
The poll also revealed widespread pessimism about the conflict’s resolution,
with less than a quarter of respondents believing that it will happen in the
next five years. The majority, 56 percent, described external forces,
including
them the United States and Russia, as the number one obstacle to Karabagh
peace, and only 23.8 percent laid the blame on Azerbaijan.
Armenian public opinion appears almost evenly split on the question of the
decade-long status quo in the conflict zone. Almost 40 percent of respondents
believe the dispute should remain “frozen,” while 34 percent said it is not
good for the Armenian side.

2) Senator Barbara Boxer’s Statement on 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As we
commemorate this stain on human history, we must also question how long it
will
take until the world acknowledges the injustice and horror that occurred. We
must question how long it will take for the world to acknowledge that it was
genocide.
Ninety years ago, the Ottoman Turks began their systematic effort to
eradicate
Armenians. From 1915 until 1923, 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in
this intentional and grim act of genocide. Men were separated from their
families and murdered. Women and children were forced to march across the
Syrian Desert without water, food or possessions. Many died of hunger or
thirst or were killed when they lagged behind during the forced marches into
the desert.
The Armenian Genocide was the first of the 20th century. As with later
genocides, some question the accuracy of the historic events, asking whether
they actually happened. In fact, the government of Turkey still has never
admitted that genocide occurred. And, shamefully, our nation has put world
politics over truth and has failed to demand that the truth be told.
As we know, if we ignore injustice, we are likely to see it repeated. In his
justification for the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler said, “Who, after all, speaks
today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
This year to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, hundreds of people will walk
from Fresno to Sacramento in the “March for Humanity.” Although I am
unable to
join the marchers, please know that I am with them in spirit.
I join you in commemorating this anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. As we
remember the unspeakable acts from 90 years ago, let us also know the power we
have in naming these acts for what they are and in reminding the world. By
acknowledging this genocide for what it is, I hope that we are able to help
create a more just and humane world.

3) California Grandmother in Midst of Walking Record Setting 215 Miles in 19
Days

MODESTO (PR Newswire)–Zabel Ekmejian of Moraga, CA, is taking part in a
historical march from Fresno, Calif. to Sacramento. She and more than a dozen
other Armenians are walking 19 days and 215 miles in solidarity with the 1.5
million forgotten victims of the Armenian genocide.
“I took no measures to prepare for the walk. I didn’t change my diet or do
anything that I don’t normally do,” said Ekmekjian. “My strength and
motivation
is with the Lord and with his help I am determined to make it to Sacramento.”
Ekmekjian and the group of young Armenians have already walked more than 130
miles in their first week. They walk whether it’s scorching hot or pouring
rain. They sleep in churches and eat from a lunch truck that travels with
them.

“Ninty years have passed since the Genocide and we still have not received
justice for the millions of lost lives,” said Ekmekjian. “The least I can
do is
to sacrifice myself for a few weeks in an effort to raise awareness about the
Armenian Genocide and the plight of my family.”
Ekmekjian’s father survived the Genocide but she lost many other family
members in the brutal killings between 1915 and 1923. As a result of the
forced
exodus from his home Ekmekjian’s father, Garabed Kassabian, was split apart
from the rest of his family at the age of five.
“I have no pain and with the will of God will be able to walk all the way to
Sacramento,” said Ekmekjian. “What amazes me most is the will of the young
people in our group.”

4) ‘Cultural Genocide’ Exhibition Kicks off

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–An exhibit depicting the destruction of Armenian
cultural
monuments, beginning during the time of the Armenian genocide of 1915, opened
on Tuesday in the courtyard of Yerevan State University.
The exhibit, titled “Cultural Genocide,” is a collection of photos
provided by
the organization Research on Armenian Architecture that depict the destruction
of Western Armenian monuments by foreign forces.
Organizers say the photos reveal the human and cultural genocide that
began in
1915 by the Ottoman Empire, and which continues until now–in an effort to
destroy what has been created by a nation–to effectively erase a great
part of
the cultural heritage of Armenians.
“Cultural genocide is very dangerous, as a whole civilization, history of a
people, centuries-long heritage, and traditions fall victim,” said Tadevos
Charchian, a member of the “Nikol Aghbalian” students’ union, one of the
organizations that put together the exhibit. “A nation or people who does not
have spiritual values is somehow deprived from its past.”
The student council of the Yerevan State University’s History Department also
helped organize the exhibit.

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