ANCA: Third Annual Anti-Genocide Advocacy Days – April 22-24, 2009

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
[email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE

March 12, 2009
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

THIRD ANNUAL ANCA / GENOCIDE INTERVENTION NETWORK
CAPITOL HILL ADVOCACY DAYS SET FOR APRIL 22-24, 2009

— Drive to "End the Cycle of Genocide" Takes on Added Urgency
with Emerging Turkey-Sudan "Axis of Genocide"

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
and Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net) have teamed up, once
again, for the third annual Capitol Hill advocacy campaign to
encourage Congressional action to end the cycle of genocide.

The three-day program, titled, "End the Cycle of Genocide:
Grassroots Capitol Campaign," will take place from April 22nd-April
24th, coinciding this year with the actual date of worldwide
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. The effort will kick off
with a special breakfast briefing on the morning of April 22nd and
will be followed by three days of Congressional visits to encourage
U.S. action to stop the genocide in Darfur, to support the adoption
of the soon-to-be-introduced Armenian Genocide Resolution, and,
more broadly, to strengthen U.S. resolve to act against all
instances of genocide.

"The Grassroots Capitol Campaign is an important opportunity for
anti-genocide activists to demand that their elected officials take
action to end the cycle of genocide," said Genocide Intervention
Network Executive Director Mark Hanis. "Now more than ever, with
the escalating tide of violence in affected regions around the
world, we need to ensure that ending mass atrocities is a priority
for Congress."

The multi-faceted program will coincide with the annual Armenian
Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill, organized by the Congressional
Armenian Caucus, in the historic Canon Caucus Room on April 22nd.
On April 24th, interested participants are invited to join in the
annual protest outside the Turkish Embassy urging the Turkish
Government to deal honestly with its past and end its campaign of
genocide denial.

The End the Cycle of Genocide: Grassroots Capitol Campaign is one
of the nationwide array of anti-genocide activities planned during
the April 2009, Genocide Prevention Month. This effort is
organized by the Genocide Prevention Project, which was "founded in
the Fall of 2008 to build the public will to call on the
international community to take meaningful actions when ‘early
warning’ indicators signal possible onset of mass-scale atrocity
crimes, and to mobilize resources to avert or halt such ongoing
crises and protect civilians from mass atrocity crimes." A full
list of the group’s anti-genocide activities may be viewed at

"This April, as the world commemorates the Armenian Genocide, the
Holocaust, the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides – in fact all
genocides – it is imperative to send a clear message to our elected
officials that genocide and its denial cannot be tolerated," said
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "Clear action in the face
of genocide – by the Administration and Congress – is essential if
we are to give real meaning to "never again."

For more information and to register to participate in Advocacy
Days, activists can visit:

Over the past two years, hundreds of activists from some 30 states
have participated in Advocacy Days, visiting all 100 Senate and 435
House of Representatives offices, meeting with Members of Congress,
their staff and sharing information regarding pending Armenian and
Darfur genocide legislation. Video from the 2008 "End the Cycle of
Genocide" Congressional reception may be viewed at:
9277000822

The need for continued and expanded advocacy to stop genocide has
been underscored in recent months by the expansion of the Turkey-
Sudan "axis of genocide". After the International Criminal Court
issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir, last week,
multiple media reports have indicated that Turkey is seriously
considering delaying or derailing the arrest of the Sudanese
dictator.

Over the past year, the Sudan-Turkey relationship has broadened, as
marked by:

— Sudan President al-Bashir’s first foreign visit after his
indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on crimes of
genocide was to Turkey.

— Sudan and Turkey have signed a memorandum of understanding to
strengthen military relations and are discussing cooperation on
military technology transfers and training.

— Turkey’s Minister of Trade projects that Sudan will soon be
Turkey’s largest trading partner in Africa.