PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Americans in Armenia and Friends
Yerevan, Armenia
Contact e-mail: [email protected]
19 April 2006
Yellow Ribbon Campaign to Protest
Recall of Ambassador Evans and Genocide Denial
In the end, we will remember not the words
of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Yerevan, Armenia – In response to the imminent recall of U.S.
Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans for publicly acknowledging
the Armenian Genocide, a “Yellow Ribbon Campaign” has been planned
for April 24, 2006. The campaign is also in response to a number of
recent instances in which high-ranking foreign diplomats in Armenia
have denied the Armenian Genocide.
Organized by Armenian-Americans in Armenia and Friends, a newly
created, ad-hoc group based in the Armenian Republic, the grassroots
campaign will take place at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to the
Armenian Genocide in Yerevan. The monument is dedicated to the 1.5
million victims of the Genocide of the Armenians perpetrated by the
Ottoman Turkish Empire between 1915 and 1923.
On April 24, 2006, when hundreds of thousands of marchers will
converge on the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in commemoration of the
victims of the Genocide, the Yellow Ribbon Campaign will commence by
participants tying yellow ribbons on 100-meter long ropes stretched
along the walking path leading to the Genocide Monument.
“During the last number of years, we have witnessed public denials of
the Armenian Genocide by several diplomats,” said Paula Devejian, a
member of the group. “Such politically motivated actions are offensive
and insulting. By attempting to dismiss the indisputable fact of the
Armenian Genocide, those engaged in denial insult the memory of the
victims, their descendents and the Armenian nation as a whole. In
our present-day reality of a free and independent Armenian Republic,
Armenians throughout the world feel the pain of denial even more when
it’s perpetrated by representatives or leaders of countries that are
otherwise acknowledged as friends and allies of Armenia.”
According to Devejian, the Yellow Ribbon Campaign was put into motion
following what is widely regarded as the Bush Administration’s
retribution against Ambassador Evans for publicly labeling the
events in Ottoman Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century as
“genocide”. Soon after the Ambassador’s comments, (made in statements
to Armenian-American leaders in February 2005), the U.S. State
Department forced Evans to publicly retract his statements and
apologize, then coerced the American Foreign Service Association into
an unprecedented move of rescinding the prestigious “Constructive
Dissent” award he was granted, and now subsequently, the Ambassador
is being recalled from his post and forced into early “retirement”.
“It is difficult to see a great ally and friend of Armenia like the
U.S. as an objective and unbiased mediator in the Nagorno-Karabagh
peace process and Armenian-Turkish relations when our government is
subject to Turkish pressure and blackmail, and resorts to censorship.
We are amazed that the United States would allow a third country
to affect the bilateral relations between itself and Armenia.” said
Devejian.
“We believe that the American Government must be the standard bearer
of free speech and human rights, and we are concerned that its actions
against Ambassador Evans amount to less than an adequate commitment
to these principles.”
The newly formed group also cited examples of foreign diplomats
denying the Armenian Genocide while holding posts in Armenia,
including Israeli Ambassador Rivka Cohen, who in 2002 dissociated
the Armenian Genocide from the Jewish Holocaust, thereby questioning
the fact of the Genocide; and U.K. Ambassador Thorda Abbott-Watt, who
in 2004 denied the Genocide, causing outrage in Armenia and Armenian
communities throughout the world.
“Such disrespectful acts against the Armenian people and nation will
continue if we do not put an end to the complacent acceptance of such
politically motivated diplomatic denial by these countries. States
have an obligation to understand that the promotion of democratic
values, principles and true freedom come through their own actions
and examples,” Devejian explained. “The Yellow Ribbon Campaign is
an expression of protest against Genocide denial and punishment of
free speech. It is an impassioned, peaceful call by Armenians from
all walks of life for fairness and justice, in both political and
humanitarian terms.”
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