ARF YOUTH UNIONS WILL RALLY TO URGE EU MEMBER STATES TO RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

18:17, 25 Mar 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan

On Thursday, March 26, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Youth and
Student organizations of Armenia will rally in front of the Office of
the EU Delegation to Armenia. On the same day the ARF Youth Unions
will rally in front of EU Offices in different countries of the
world and will hand over petitions. The initiative aims to unite the
young people in Armenia and Diaspora and raise the voice of Armenians
worldwide. The petition reads:

“April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

As we approach the centennial, we, the descendants of the survivors
of the Armenian Genocide, stand ever resolute for the international
recognition of this crime against humanity and the reinstatement of
historical justice for the one and a half million innocent victims
it claimed.

The Republic of Turkey continues to profit from the spoils of the crime
committed by its predecessor regimes. Furthermore, Turkey continues
the genocidal policies by denying the reality of the Genocide and
by waging an international campaign of distortion of historical
truth. Ankara’s record of hiring political lobbyists and its tactics
of political blackmail have long been exposed.

As Armenian youth, we welcome and support the European Parliament’s
recent call on the European Union member states to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide.

We regard this position as a reiteration of the European Parliament’s
historic 1987 decision, which recognized the Armenian Genocide and
posited that “the Armenian question and the question of minorities in
Turkey must be resituated within the framework of relations between
Turkey and the Community.”

We call upon the leadership of the European Union, namely, the
European Council, the Council of the European Union and the European
Commission to uphold the moral standard set by the European Parliament
by recognizing and condemning the Armenian Genocide.

We urge the leadership of the European Union to encourage its member
states to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to criminalize its
denial.

We demand that the European Union pressures Turkey to unequivocally
acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and initiate steps that would
conclude by reparations for all material and non-material losses and
by restoration of the historical rights of the Armenian nation.

We regard that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey and
the restitution of justice and restoration of historical rights of
the Armenian nation must be set as preconditions for the membership
of Turkey to the European Union.

On the eve of the Armenian Genocide centennial, we, the descendants
of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, declare, that we remain
ever resolute for the just cause of the Armenian Genocide victims
and the timeless rights of the Armenian Nation.”