Western Queens Gazette, NY
May 7 2008
Hellenic-Americans Join 2008 Armenian Genocide Memorial
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA), together with the
Pan-Pontian Federation USA and CANADA, joined the Armenian Genocide
Commemorations in City Hall and in Times Square, New York in
remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by Turkey.
At the 93rd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 25, some
10 high-ranking representatives of the Pan- Pontian Federation of USA
and Canada came to New York City’s City Hall to stand in support of
an address by Pan-Pontian General Secretary Dimitris Molohides,
grandson of Genocide survivors from Pontus, together with city
dignitaries and Armenian representatives. Molohides addressed the
Armenians as brothers in the struggle for remembrance. He detailed
the murder of Armenians by the Turks and Turkey’s crimes against
civilization in Pontus in 1919, Constantinople in 1955, in Smyrna in
1922, and Cyprus in 1974, ending with the remark, "Time is up." He
called for passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution in
Congress. The Pan- Pontian delegation was warmly greeted in the City
Hall commemorations, and personally acknowledged by keynote speaker
and genocide scholar Professor Henry Theriault, whose presentation
also included details on the Pontic Greek Genocide of 1919.
The historic Armenian Genocide Commemorations in Times Square in New
York City took place on Sunday, April 27. This year, many Pontians
attended, holding banners and flags from Hellas, Cyprus and
Pontus. Molohides was seated in the grandstand with Armenian Genocide
survivors and their families, elected officials and humanitarian,
cultural, religious, educational and community leaders. Distinguished
speakers included U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey);
Congressmember Frank Pallone, Jr. (DNew Jersey), co-chair of the
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues; Carla Garapedian, director
of the award-winning documentary "Screamers", which explores the
history of reoccurrence and denial of genocides in the 20th and 21st
centuries; Mark J. Garagos, an attorney who helped lead
groundbreaking federal class action lawsuits against New York Life
and other insurance companies for insurance polices issued to
Armenians living in Turkey prior to the Armenian Genocide, and
Genocide and Holocaust scholar Alex Hinton, PhD, director of the
study of genocide and human rights at Rutgers University and vice
president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and
Dr. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Hitler’s Willing
Executioners. In 2009, Goldhagen will host the PBS documentary "Worse
Than War", based on his forthcoming book exploring the general
phenomenon of genocide throughout the world. The Commemoration theme
was "We Cannot Forget, We Will Not Forget."
Following the groundbreaking move by the International Association of
Genocide Scholars (IAGS), which in December 2007, voted overwhelmingly
to recognize the genocides inflicted on Assyrian and Greek populations
of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1923, CANA joins with the
Armenian people in solemn remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of
1915, and reaffirms a commitment by Hellenic- Americans of conscience
who, for many years, remain determined to secure full recognition and
justice for Turkey’s crimes.
The 93rd anniversary in Cyprus was marked by a series of events under
the auspices of Cyprus House President Marios Karoyan, who is
Armenian.
Vartkes Mahdessian, another Armenian representative at the Cyprus
House, declared: "The Armenians will continue their struggle until the
final justification, a duty owed to the victims of the genocide. It is
time that the political leadership of Turkey found the courage to
recognize the crimes the previous Turkish governments committed,
justifying the victims of not only the Armenian genocide but of the
Greeks, Cypriots, Kurds, Arabs, Pontic Greeks and other peoples, in
the hope that it will at some point join the European Union."
To view and download pictures of Hellenic-Americans at the Armenian
Genocide commemorations 2008, visit http://cyprus
actionnetwork. org/photosofhellenic-americans
atarmenian_genocide commemorations 2008.
The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass roots,
not-forprofit movement created to support genuine self-determination
and human rights for the people of Cyprus.
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