AYF TARGETS CORPORATE COMPLICITY IN GENOCIDE DENIAL WITH LAUNCH OF CHEVRON PROTEST CAMPAIGN

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July 27, 2009

WASHINGTON-The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) joined with Armenian
Americans and human rights activists in kicking off a nationwide
campaign to raise awareness about Turkish government coercion
of energy giant Chevron and some five multinational corporations
currently lobbying against Armenian Genocide legislation.

The protest began on July 22 at the Chevron headquarters in San Ramon,
Calif. and local stations across the U.S., in conjunction with an
online letter writing campaign to Chevron CEO Dave O’Reilly urging the
company to publicly apologize for profiting from genocide denial. (For
details, visit ). Over 1,000 activists are already
part of a Facebook group taking action on the initiative.

"No company-however big or powerful-should be allowed to profit from
genocide or its denial," said AYF Eastern Region chairwoman Lauren
DaSilva. "Chevron and its partners must be exposed for their outrageous
actions and breach of their own stated corporate code of conduct."

According to their website (),
the corporation prides itself on running the company the "Chevron
Way"-responsibly, ethically, and with respect to human rights. However,
on June 13, the Associated Press revealed that Chevron and five other
multinational energy and defense corporations, including BAE Systems,
Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, United Technologies, and Goodrich,
had filed disclosure forms with the Senate and House "quietly"
lobbying against H.Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, among
a wide array of legislation. In the first quarter of 2009 alone,
the six firms had spent some $14 million in Congressional lobby
efforts. This is in addition to the over $3 million spent annually
by the government of Turkey to block U.S. affirmation of the Armenian
Genocide, a cornerstone of their foreign policy priorities.

The firms would not respond to press inquiries regarding their
opposition to the House resolution.

"Clearly, Turkey will spare no expense to cover up its dark past," said
AYF Western Region chairman Vache Thomassian. "Coercing corporations
like Chevron to do its dirty deeds is just the latest tactic in
exporting genocide denial to our neighborhoods, one gas station at
a time."

Spearheaded by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), George
Radanovich (R-Calif.), and Congressional Armenian Caucus co-chairs
Frank Pallone and Mark Kirk, House Resolution 252 specifically
"1) calls upon the President to ensure that the foreign policy of
the United States reflects proper understanding and sensitivity
concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and
genocide documented in the United States record relating to the
Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to realize a
just resolution; and 2) calls upon the President in the President’s
annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about
April 24, to accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate
annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the
proud history of United States intervention in opposition to the
Armenian Genocide."

The resolution has the support of over 125 co-sponsors, including
majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Foreign Affairs Committee chairman
Howard Berman (D-Calif.), and Republican whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress