ARPI VARTANYAN IS CONFIDENT THE RESOLUTION DENOUNCING HRANT DINK MURDER WILL SUCCEED
Marlena Hovsepyan
"Radiolur"
05.03.2007 17:46
Tomorrow the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will consider the
resolution condemning the murder of Hrant Dink.
The resolution, S.Res.65, is authored by panel’s chairman Joe Biden. It
specifically mentions that Hrant Dink "was prosecuted under Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code for speaking about the Armenian Genocide,"
and urges the Turkish government to repeal this anti-free speech law.
American Armenian activists in the 21 states with Senators on the
Committee are encouraging support for S.Res.65 through phone calls,
faxes, and meetings. They are also reminding the Senate offices that
Hrant Dink’s brutal murder is a wake up call for the US Senate to
pass legislation formally recognizing and commemorating the Armenian
Genocide.
Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Regional Director Arpi
Vartanyan is confident that the hearings in the Foreign Relations
Committee will succeed. "We think that will pass in the Committee
and will be presented to the Senate."
Arpi Vartanyan considers the bill will pass also in the Senate,
since it does not only condemn the assassination of Hrant Dink as
an Armenian, but also denounces the infringements against freedom of
speech, a question that is urgent in the contemporary world.
"I have no doubt that the resolution will be adopted, since what
happened is terrible not only because Hrant Dink was killed for being
Armenian. A journalist was murdered, and silencing a journalist is
a crime widely spread in the world. "
Arpi Vartanyan notes that if this legislation passes, it will mean
adoption of a document which, although indirectly, confirms the reality
of the Armenian Genocide, since once again the word genocide will be
used in official documents.
