THOUSANDS IN CALIFORNIA TO DEMAND END TO CYCLE OF GENOCIDE AT TURKISH CONSULATE
armradio.am
21.04.2009 10:45
The United States has the best chance in a generation to help end the
cycle of genocide and recommit the world to the noble and necessary
cause of a future without genocide. Inspired by this fierce urgency
of now, thousands across the state of California will rally at the
Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles (6300 Wilshire Boulevard) on Friday
April 24 to call for an end to over a century of race murder, fueled
by Turkey’s ongoing denial of its genocide against the Armenian people.
Last year, nearly 15,000 activists converged on the Turkish Consulate
amid intensified activity by the Turkish government to prevent the
US House of Representatives from recognizing the Genocide.
"We as Armenian-Americans know that our nation should properly
recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide, and all subsequent
genocides," said Vache Thomassian, the Chairman of the AYF. "Now,
more than ever, we have to rise above political expedience and take
a moral stance against genocide – and I firmly believe Barack Obama
has the integrity to be the leader that does so."
This year’s demonstration converges with global expectations
pertaining to President Obama’s numerous campaign pledges to
reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide. Earlier this
month, President Obama traveled to Turkey and stated, "My vie ws are
on the record and I have not changed views," when asked in a press
conference about his promise to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The
President also referenced the Armenian Genocide in his speech to the
Turkish Parliament where he stated, "History, unresolved, can be a
heavy weight.
Each country must work through its past. And reckoning with the past
can help us seize a better future."
Two weeks ahead of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
on April 24, President Obama commemorated the 15th anniversary of
the genocide in Rwanda by urging the United States and its world
partners to deepen their commitment to ending the cycle of genocide
begun in 1915.
Activists will draw attention to Turkey’s expanding multimillion dollar
campaign to erase all memory and culpability of its crime against the
Armenian people and how it has spawned a string of genocides, from
the Nazi Holocaust to the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur.