ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO WORK CLOSELY WITH CONGRESSMEN TO ENSURE THAT GENOCIDE DENIAL HAS NO PLACE IN U.S.
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.08.2008 15:26 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of the Armenian National Committee of America
– Western Region (ANCA-WR) met with long time friend and supporter
Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA-28) on August 5, 2008 to discuss
current issues relating to the Armenian American community. Congressman
Berman serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
(HCFA), ANCA told PanARMENIAN.Net.
"The Armenian American community deeply appreciates Chairman Berman’s
keen awareness of and respect for human rights," stated ANCA-WR
Executive Director Andrew Kzirian. "We shall work closely with the
Chairman in the future to ensure that genocide denial has no place
in the United States," he added.
During the meeting the ANCA-WR expressed their appreciation to Berman
regarding the two hour hearing that he led on June 18, 2008, which
included over a dozen members of Congress questioning Assistant
Secretary Dan Fried on the U.S. policy of complicity in Armenian
Genocide denial, Turkey’s blockade, and Azerbaijan’s escalating threats
of war. The meeting set the tone for intense questioning of Fried by
Congresswoman Diane Watson (D-CA-33) over the Armenian Genocide.
The hearing also served as prelude to a recent letter from the
U.S. State Department stating that the Ottoman government was
responsible for the acts of 1915. Additionally, the letter stated
that a joint project of archivists would be initiated from Armenia
and Turkey to study the history and preserve documents describing
the Armenian Genocide as it occurred by eyewitnesses and not to
study whether genocide occurred. This correspondence from the State
department was sent in response to requests from US Senators Boxer
and Biden over the nomination of Ambassador Yovanovitch to be the
next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia.
Attendees also shared their thoughts regarding the Turkish government’s
recent infiltration of American institutions of higher education. The
meeting participants discussed the Southern Poverty Law Center’s
recent feature on this phenomenon. Furthermore, the Institute of
Turkish Studies in Washington also was discussed as the institute’s
director resigned after the Turkish Ambassador reportedly threatened
to cut off funding for the program because the director acknowledged
the Armenian Genocide in a book review.
Among those present at the meeting were ANCA-WR Chairman Vicken
Sonentz-Papazian, ANCA-WR Board Member Avo Ovayan, ANCA-WR Executive
Director Andrew Kzirian, as well as ANCA-WR Interns Amy Kaladzhyan,
Shant Karnikian and Mikael Kourinian. Berman represents northern
areas of Hollywood, the eastern half of the San Fernando Valley
and the city of San Fernando. In 2007, Berman served as a strong
supporter of H. Res. 106, authoring a powerful dear colleague letter
espousing the Armenian Genocide resolution. The letter discussed the
classification of the Armenian Genocide as historically accurate by
the International Association of Genocide Scholars and called for
Turkey to recognize this crime against humanity. On October 10, 2007,
the HCFA passed H. Res. 106 by a vote of 27-21, including supportive
remarks by then-second ranking Democrat Berman.
Berman has served in the House of Representatives since 1983
representing the 28th Congressional district of California. Born in
Los Angeles and educated at the University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA), Berman was a lawyer and a member of the California State
Assembly from 1972-1983.