PATRIARCH MUTAFYAN’S SPEECH CANCELLED BY DECISION OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.09.2007 12:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "The decision to postpone the speech by Patriarch
Mesrob II Mutafyan, religious leader of Turkish Armenians was taken
by the Georgetown University administration after a meeting with the
Armenian community," Armenian National Committee of America Executive
Director Aram Hamparian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"We shared with Georgetown our concern that – as a leading American
center of learning – it should not allow itself to be used as a
platform for the Turkish government’s hateful campaign of the Armenian
Genocide denial," Mr Hamparian underscored.

Patriarch Mesrob II, who arrived in the U.S. capital last week,
was scheduled to deliver a speech called "The Impasse between Turks
and Armenians Must Be Broken" at Georgetown University’s Woodstock
Theological Center.

The Turkish Daily News reported that "the event had been cancelled
following pressure on the university by U.S. Armenian groups over
Partiarch’s opposition to the Armenian Genocide Resolution."

A Turkish diplomat said the event did not take place because "the
Armenian lecturer doesn’t share the opinion of the Armenian community
of the U.S."

Asked by reporters if his speech was canceled because of U.S. Armenian
pressure, the patriarch said, "it may have been."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress