WAIS Document Retrieval
[Congressional Record: April 27, 2005 (Extensions)]
[Page E777]
>From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr27ap05-9]

90TH COMMEMORATION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

______

speech of

HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

of illinois

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide and to place in the Record a portion of an opinion
article written by Lee Enokian.

Armenian Genocide Victims Are Not Forgotten

(By Lee Enokian)

Today is the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Between 1915 and 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenians were
murdered or forcibly exiled because they were the wrong
religion and ethnicity. The world community memorializes the
anniversary annually as Armenian Martyrs Day.
Thousands of Armenians were offered their lives in exchange
for their conversion to Islam. They refused and died as a
result. Their steadfast faithfulness to the Christian faith
is not surprising. Armenia was the first Christian nation and
remains the only Christian nation in the Middle East.
Various Turkish people invaded southwest Asia during the
Middle Ages and carved an empire for themselves from lands
occupied by the indigenous Semitic and Indo-European
inhabitants.
Turkish nationalism grew relentlessly during the following
centuries. In the years preceding World War I, they actively
sought to Turkify the Ottoman Empire and strengthen their
rule by eliminating fractious ethnic minorities.
The western two-thirds of Anatolia was once inhabited by
Greeks and other Indo-European peoples. It is now primarily
occupied by Turks.
The eastern third of modern Turkey was once Armenian with
an Assyrian minority, but is now populated by Turks and
Kurds.
Modern Armenia survived only because it was the single
province controlled, and protected, by the Russian Empire.
The rest of the territory within its historical borders is
almost wholly devoid of ethnic Armenians.
The organized depopulation of Christians and non-Turks from
Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire is one of the worst incidents
of racism and religious intolerance documented in the world.
The Genocide was master-minded by the ultra-nationalist
“Young Turk” government of Ottoman Turkey. Mehmet Talaat
Pasha was the Minister of the Interior and architect of the
Armenian Genocide. He was rewarded by being elevated to the
position of Grand Vizier in 1917. Pasha fled to Germany as
his empire collapsed in 1918. He was convicted of capital
crimes, including massacring the Armenians. The post-war
Ottoman government sentenced him to death in absentia.
Just-minded federal, state and local governments throughout
the world continue to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
Illinois is no different. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has
continued the practice of his predecessors by remembering the
plight of the Armenian people. Part of his annual
proclamation reads: “The Armenian community, as well as the
global community, remembers the Armenian Genocide, which
occurred 90 years ago; and during this tragic historical
period between the years of 1915 and 1923, Armenians were
forced to witness the genocide of their loved ones, and the
loss of their ancestral homelands; and this extermination and
forced relocation of over 1.5 million Armenians by the
Ottoman Turks is recognized every year.”
Sadly, the modern state of Turkey denies the Genocide ever
occurred. It restricts the ability of ethnic Armenians, Kurds
and Assyrians to enter and travel within the country. In
fact, Turkey has done its best to remove every trace of the
Armenian people from their ancestral homeland. These efforts
still don’t change history.
Blagojevich concluded his proclamation with the fact that
we must remember hateful events like the Genocide to help
prevent their future institution.
“Both recognition and education concerning past atrocities
such as the Armenian Genocide is crucial in the prevention of
future crimes against humanity.”
Evil wins when good men turn a blind eye.