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04/27/2005
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1) Pallone and Schumer Call for Justice for Armenian Genocide at Time Square
Rally
2) EU to Press Turkey on Recognizing Armenian Genocide
3) Armenian Genocide Remembered across Europe
4) His Holiness Aram I Calls For Justice from Der Zor
5) Schwarzenegger Visit May be Terminated

1) Pallone and Schumer Call for Justice for Armenian Genocide at Time Square
Rally

“There must be recognition; there must be restitution; there must be
reparations for the Armenian genocide.”

— Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), speaking at the Time Square Rally marking 90th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide

NEW YORK–Speaking before a crowd of over eight thousand at an April 24 Times
Square rally marking the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide,
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NY) and Senator
Charles Schumer (D-NY) issued powerful calls for international recognition and
justice for the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA). Moving remarks were also offered by Rep. Anthony Weiner
(D-NY),
as well as His Eminence Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, Eastern US and His Eminence Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the
Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, Eastern US.
“Armenian Americans from around the nation welcome the principled remarks of
Senator Schumer and Congressman Pallone in support of full US recognition and
Turkish acceptance of responsibility for the Armenian Genocide, and–most
significantly–a just resolution of this crime that restores to the Armenian
nation, to the extent possible, what was so brutally taken during the Genocide
and in the years that have followed,” said ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian.
Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairman Frank Pallone, in remarks welcomed
by sustained applause, argued forcefully for the recognition of the Armenian
genocide and the just resolution of the crime committed against the Armenian
nation. The New Jersey Congressman closed his remarks with the following
statement:
“I was reading the New York Times that the Turkish envoy said that not only
did the Genocide never occur, but he suggested that the reason why Armenians
want to recognize the Armenian Genocide today–want the Congress and the other
countries to be on record–is because they wanted restitution and they wanted
reparations. And I say to that ‘Yes, we do!’ It is important not only to
recognize the genocide but we have to make it clear that those who
committed it
pay restitution. There has to be reparations because if there is no pain, if
there is no consequence of genocide recognition, then that all would be
futile.
There must be recognition, there must be restitution, there must be
reparations
for the Armenian Genocide.”
In moving remarks to Armenians gathered in New York from around the nation,
Sen. Schumer stressed: “The persecution of Armenia continues today, in part
because we do not recognize that Genocide. There is still a Turkish
blockade of
Armenia. There are continued desecrations of Armenian buildings and
churches in
the occupied lands. But what rubs salt in the wounds of those who have
suffered
is the refusal of the world to recognize their suffering and to recognize that
a ‘genocide’ occurred. That is the ultimate indignity.”
The New York Senator went on to note the importance of ensuring that the
victims of genocide receive justice: “If despots in the dark corners of the
world think that they can commit atrocity with out fear of punishment, then
they will be encouraged to commit those atrocities. And so I say to all of
you, we must prick the conscience of our nation and the world. We must never
rest until the Armenian Genocide is recognized.”

2) EU to Press Turkey on Recognizing Armenian Genocide

(dpa/Cyprus Mail)–European Union foreign ministers meeting their Turkish
counterpart in Luxembourg this week will insist on Ankara’s recognition of the
1915 Armenian genocide, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Monday.
Though recognition of the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
Turks between 1915-1923 is not a formal condition for Turkish membership of
the
EU, Barnier insisted the EU would raise the issue during membership
negotiations with Turkey set to open in Brussels in October this year. Ankara
would have to respond, he said. The entire EU project was founded on the
principle of reconciliation, said Barnier.
“That is what the Germans and the French did and that is what Turkey has to
do… that is the challenge for Turkey…” to “reassess its past concerning the
Armenian genocide,” Barnier added.
Turkey has always insisted that there was no Armenian genocide.
The ministers also called for an early signing of an agreement extending
Turkey’s customs union with the EU to all new member states, saying it
would be
“an important step towards normalization of the relations between Turkey and
all EU member states, including the Republic of Cyprus.”
They also expressed concern about the lack of progress on religious freedom
and minority rights, and called on the Ankara government to ensure full
civilian control of Turkey’s powerful military.
EU leaders agreed last December to open talks with Turkey on October 3, but
also set firm conditions for starting negotiations, saying Turkey had to see
through reforms to ensure it met the bloc’s standards on democracy, rule of
law
and civil liberties.
EU and Turkish ministers hold regular talks today to discuss Ankara’s
progress
towards membership of the 25-nation bloc.
In a paper outlining what Turkey needs to do, the EU expressed “serious
concerns” about cases of torture still occurring and called on Prime Minister
Tayip Erdogan’s government to enforce a zero-tolerance policy to eradicate
ill-treatment.

3) Armenian Genocide Remembered across Europe

PARIS (Combined Sources)–The Armenian community in France, nearly 350,000,
and
elsewhere in Europe held solemn masses, marches, and memorials on Sunday to
mark the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Turks.
The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris hosted a requiem mass on Sunday and many
other gatherings took place across the city. The mass was followed by a
meeting
at the Gomidas monument, dedicated to the victims of the Genocide, where
French
President Jacques Chirac and President Robert Kocharian laid a wreath Friday
commemorating the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
President Chirac welcomed Kocharian at the Elysee Palace with a hug. The two
held talks for an hour before driving to the nearby monument inaugurated in
2003 on the banks of the Seine River.
The French parliament officially recognized the killings as a genocide in
2001, one of several moves that strained ties between Paris and Ankara. Last
year, Chirac told Turkey it would have to recognize the mass killings as
genocide if it wanted to become a member of the European Union, insisting the
French would otherwise vote Turkey out in a referendum.
The Armenian community in Paris hailed Friday’s ceremony as an “extremely
important” gesture recognizing the Armenian genocide, according to a statement
by the Committee for the Defense of the Armenian Cause.
Chirac urged on Friday also urged Armenia to improve its ties with Turkey.
“The president asked President (Robert) Kocharian (of Armenia) about the
development of his dialogue with Turkey” in particular on the genocide
issue, a
French presidential spokesman said after a meeting between the two leaders.
Chirac “hoped that Armenia would develop this dialogue with Turkey with a
view
to improving relations” with Ankara, the spokesman said, and encouraged
Kocharian “to look for elements of improvement with Turkey.” He pointed out
that French support for Turkish membership of the European Union was
conditional on Ankara’s sharing the values of the EU, and membership
“naturally
required a duty of remembrance” on the genocide issue, the spokesman said.
The talks also touched on the Karabagh conflict, where long simmering
tensions
have flared recently, sparking fears that the escalation of hostilities
along a
ceasefire line between Armenian and Azeri forces could lead to a new war.
Chirac said that “France was very attached to a lasting solution of the
problem and supports the principles of settlement that have been worked out,”
the spokesman said. The two presidents also discussed the idea of staging an ”
Armenian cultural year in France” in 2007.
French Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande told the gathering of 3,000
that he would propose a law in parliament to penalize those who deny the
Genocide.
“The Armenian genocide was the first of the 20th century, but, alas, not the
only one. The Armenian cause is not only for Armenians, but for all those who
are committed to human rights and the recognition of genocide,” Hollande
said.
The protesters later marched to the capital’s Champs Elysees Avenue and the
nearby Turkish embassy.
“This is a protest march against Turkey, which continues to reject it was a
genocide,” said Alain Saboundjian, a spokesman for an Armenian group in
France.

In the Mediterranean port of Marseille–home to some 80,000 Armenians–the
cornerstone of an Armenian monument due to be inaugurated next year was put in
place Sunday. The stone includes written messages from some of the region’s
Armenian children.
“We had to wait until 2001 for France to recognize the Armenian genocide. How
long will it be before Turkey does?” said regional politician Michel
Vauzelles,
who addressed the crowd of several thousand gathered for the occasion.
A requiem mass and a march to a proposed site of a genocide memorial took
place in the central city of Lyon, while a wreath was placed at a war memorial
in the northeastern city of Strasbourg.
Armenian religious and community leaders headed a procession of around 1,000
people in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv carrying candles and red
carnations.
“We want Turkey and other countries who have not already recognized the
genocide to do so,” said Karapiet Bagratouni, one of 3,000 Armenians in the
city.
Greece recognized the Armenian genocide in 1997 when it named April 24 as
“The
memorial day of the genocide of Armenians by the Turkish regime.” In Athens on
Sunday a crowd of 500 including diplomats and Greek officials placed a wreath
at a war memorial.
The matter of the Armenian genocide has embarrassed Turkey as it nears
European Union accession talks later this year.
In Germany this week, members of parliament from across the political
spectrum
appealed to Turkey to accept the genocide of Armenians as part of its history,
saying this would help its EU aspirations.
On Tuesday, Poland joined a list of 15 countries that have officially
acknowledged the killings as genocide. Russia, the UN and the European
parliament all recognize the massacres as genocide.

4) His Holiness Aram I Calls For Justice from Der Zor

ANTELIAS–Addressing thousands of Armenian pilgrims who gathered in the desert
of Der Zor from throughout the world on April 24, His Holiness Aram I said, “I
address my first greeting to one-and-a-half million martyrs–to those who have
fallen in this desert. It is plain fact that the Armenian genocide, the first
genocide of the 20th century was carefully planned and systematically executed
by Ottoman Turkey. The relics that are displayed in this church and in the
Chapel not far away from this place, as well as hundreds thousands of relics
that were found in the sands of this dessert are indeed eloquent and tangible
evidence of massacres that were committed in this very place by the Ottoman
army under the pretext of exodus and deportation.”
“As the son of a people who went through the terrible experience of Genocide,
and as the Spiritual leader engaged in the service of a people who survived a
major Genocide, I call for justice.”
Catholicos Aram I expressed his gratitude to all nations, states, churches
and
international organizations who have formally recognized the Armenian
genocide.
He said, “Any attempt to exterminate a nation is a genocide; and genocide is a
crime against humanity. Hence, the international community and particularly
the
United Nations must not remain silent about this crime.” His Holiness reminded
that the Armenian genocide was followed by other genocides in Africa, in Asia,
and in the Middle East with different names, forms and scope, and he strongly
appealed for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide as “to prevent new
genocide against humanity.”
His Holiness concluded his strong message by making a direct appeal to Turkey
“which continues, through political and diplomatic means and by using all of
its information power to deny the Genocide. We don’t consider Turkey as an
enemy; nations must coexist on the basis of mutual respect and trust. But, how
is it possible to achieve such a coexistence when justice is still denied for
the Armenians, and their fundamental human rights are still violated. Do we
not
have the right and the obligation, as the sons of a people who were subjected
to a genocide, to demand justice for our martyrs? Do we not have the right to
constantly remind Turkey, its people, its government and particularly its
youth
that a genocide was perpetrated by their forefathers against our forefathers
and that a day, therefore, they have the obligation to duly recognize it?”
The message of His Holiness was preceded by two acts full of profound
symbolism and spiritual appeal. Leading thousands of people His Holiness
prayed
for the Armenian martyrs on the sands of Der Zor, which in his words are
“imbued with the blood and faith of the Armenian Martyrs.” His Holiness also
baptized one boy and one girl with the participation of thousands of pilgrims,
in the river of Euphrates, as the symbol of the resurrection of the Armenian
people. He said: “This river in 1915 became a symbol of the death of the
Armenian People, where thousands of Armenian children were killed even before
without being baptized thrown. Today the same river becomes the place of the
renaissance of the Armenian people.”

5) Schwarzenegger Visit May be Terminated

ANKARA (AP/AFP/Milliyet)–Turkish Press.com, in an article bearing the headline
“Meeting with Arnie to be Reconsidered,” reported that Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reconsidering meeting with California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger, during a scheduled trip to the US in June, after Schwarzenegger
signed legislation that designates April 24 a day to commemorate the Armenian
genocide.
A Turkish group uniting hundreds of businesses and organizations demanded
Tuesday that that Governor Schwarzenegger’s movies be banned from Turkish
television to protest the California governor’s use of the term genocide to
describe the massacre of Armenians by Turks in 1915.
Schwarzenegger, a former actor best known for his role in “The Terminator,”
declared April 24 a “Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.” California
has one of the largest populations of diaspora Armenians.
An umbrella organization grouping some 300 Ankara-based associations, unions
and businesses and led by the Ankara Chamber of Commerce said it launched a
petition to have the governor’s films banned in Turkey.
“We condemn and protest movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who declared April
24 a day to commemorate the Armenian genocide and accused Turks of genocide by
acting under the influence of the Armenian lobby, and without researching
historical truths,” read a statement from Sinan Aygun, head of Ankara Chamber
of Commerce. “We don’t want his films shown in Turkey,” said the statement.
In a related move, Turkey said on Monday it would fight mounting
international
pressure to recognize as genocide the mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire, urging public agencies and civic groups to launch an “all-out
effort” against the damaging allegations.
“It has become inevitable for all state institutions and NGOs, for everybody
to (work to) disprove those baseless allegations all over the world,” the
government spokesman, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, said after a cabinet
meeting. “There was no genocide. An all-out effort is needed to expose the
lies
of those who say it happened,” he said.
The cabinet discussed what strategy Turkey should pursue to counter the
Armenian genocide and decided to set up, if necessary, a special agency to
coordinate such efforts, Cicek said.

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