Armeni Genocide must be acknowledged before it can be stopped

January 9, 2016 By administrator

By Kathryn Jean Lopez
The Herald

A sign with a flower outside a cathedral at what has to be one of Manhattan’s busiest intersections on 34th Street and Second Avenue stands as a subtle reminder of genocide. One wonders how many diplomats on the way to and from the United Nations headquarters, tourists and commuters have passed it this year without noticing the banner for the centennial year of the Armenian genocide outside St. Vartan Cathedral.

2015 marked the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, even as the massacre still goes unacknowledged throughout the world. As Philadelphia archbishop Charles J. Chaput put it in a speech: “Starting in 1915, Turkish officials deliberately murdered more than 1 million members of Turkey’s Armenian minority. The ethnic and religious cleansing campaign went on into the 1920s. [The victims] were overwhelmingly Christian. Turkey has never acknowledged the genocide. It’s one of the worst unrepented crimes in history.”

And there could be other such crimes on the way. By way of a brief tour, Chaput said: “Today we have our own tragedies, from church bombings in Pakistan to the beheadings of Christians in North Africa. More than 70 percent of the world now lives with some form of religious coercion. Tens of thousands of Christians are killed every year for reasons linked to their faith.”

I was heartened to see President Obama issue a statement just before Christmas recognizing “brutal atrocities” being committed against Christians in Iraq and Syria. “In some areas of the Middle East where church bells have rung for centuries on Christmas Day, this year they will be silent; this silence bears tragic witness to the brutal atrocities committed against these communities by [ISIS].”

In the weeks preceding Christmas, it was reported that the White House soon would issue a statement labeling the slaughter of the Yazidi people in Iraq genocide. While applauding that move, an ecumenical coalition urged that the administration include Middle Eastern Christians in the designation.

As the letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry signed by pastors, scholars and activists put it: “We have extensive files supporting a finding that ISIS’ treatment of Iraqi and Syrian Christians, as well as Yazidis and other vulnerable minorities, meets this definition. They include evidence of ISIS assassinations of church leaders; mass murders; torture; kidnapping for ransom in the Christian communities of Iraq and Syria; its sexual enslavement and systematic rape of Christian girls and women; its practices of forcible conversions to Islam; its destruction of churches, monasteries, cemeteries and Christian artifacts; and its theft of lands and wealth from Christian clergy and laity alike.”

In testimony before Congress shortly thereafter, Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, which has an emergency aid campaign supporting church efforts in the region, urged: “The United States is rightly viewed as the world’s leading defender of vulnerable minorities, and it is critically important that the State Department consider the best available evidence before issuing a statement that would exclude Christians. An official government declaration of genocide is an opportunity to bring America’s religious communities together to pursue the truth, to support victims, and to bear witness to the noble principle of ‘Never Again.’”

The White House could listen to its own ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Rabbi David Saperstein. He was in Rome in December, where he said that the West “cannot remain silent” about what is happening to Christians, who are in danger of being “wiped out.” President Obama, not for the first time, said something beautiful about religious freedom. Acknowledging the fact of genocide against Christians in the world today would put some teeth to his words.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA.

Lebanon Armenian: Genocide recognition is anachronism

January 8, 2016 By administrator

Armenian genocide demond Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party member, Lebanese Armenian Yervant Pamboukian, believes that Armenian Genocide recognition is now an anachronism.

“We [i.e. Armenians] are only spiritually comforted when we hear that a country has recognized the Genocide,” Pamboukian told Armenian News-NEWS.am. “It’s important that Turkey, US, [and] Great Britain recognize the Genocide, since the state sources of these very countries have documents on the Genocide. The ambassadors of these very countries were the first to gather the materials of that period.

“But we know that they will never recognize the Genocide. [And] the recognition by other countries will not give us anything.”

In the ARF member’s words, Armenians need to move ahead and demand not solely financial reparations, but also the lands they have lost.

“Today, the Armenian authorities and the [Armenian] diaspora organizations need to develop and submit a [respective] joint resolution,” Yervant Pamboukian added. “Otherwise, the rest is a consolation of a burned heart.”

Alper Öktem: Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

January 7, 2016 By administrator

Alper Öktem, Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide

By Hambersom Aghbashian,

Dr.Alper Öktem (born on 11 March 1954 in Dikili- Turkey) is a Radiologist and Human Rights activist. he finished his primary education in Burdur. He started to pursue his secondary education at the Maarif Koleji in Eskişehir, continued in Konya and finished it in Istanbul at the Kadıköy Maarif Koleji. In 1978, he graduated from Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University in Ankara. He went to Germany for specialization in radiology. In the 1980s he helped Turkish refugees who underwent torture. He has been supporting the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey for more than twenty years. Moreover, he is a board member of the Democratic Turkey Forum in Germany. Dr. Öktem has been assisting Cem Özdemir, Co-Chairman of the Unity Green Party, especially on the topics of human rights, peace and democracy in Turkey, ever since Özdemir was first voted into parliament in 1993. In 2000-2001 he published the weekly supplement Perşembe for the German daily newspaper “Die Tageszeitung”. Perşembe aimed at bringing together German society and migrants on equal ground in the same media platform, making migrants equal members of society, especially through deepening the dialogue in the media, and reporting human rights violations in Turkey. Dr. Alper Öktem is married, has two children and lives in Bielefeld, Germany, where he works as a radiologist. ⁽¹⁾

According to www.hrantdink.org , “The Fund for the Support of Historical Studies, created with the kind assistance of Dr. Alper Öktem, one of the supporters of the Hrant Dink Foundation, promotes research on humanistic acts during 1915, with the aim to search and find people who with a clear conscience serve as an example for mankind, and consequently to disclose an insufficiently investigated aspect of history. Through the Fund, support will be given to research, academic work and biographies on people – in modern parlance; human rights defenders – who through their humanist acts in Anatolia during 1915 influenced other people’s lives. Such people and their acts may already be known or not known yet. In the latter case, the research should help to reveal these people and that their acts be exposed to public knowledge. ⁽²⁾

On March 14, 2015, Hrant Dink Foundation hold its conference ” Conscience and responsibility in the Armenian Genocide: New research and survivors,” at Cezayir Meeting Hall, Istanbul. The Hrant Dink Foundation’s “History and Memory Research Fund,” which was created with the assistance of Dr. Alper Öktem in 2010, supported the conference. The conference opened with speeches by the coordinators Ayşe Gül Altınay from Sabancı University and Betül Tanbay from Boğaziçi University. Alper Öktem, the sponsor of the fund, underlined the notion of conscience and added: “Today, I still have difficulty talking about the genocide. However, talking is very important to understand it. I think that making it clear that ‘there were righteous people’ could contribute to the acknowledgement process in a pragmatic fashion.” Abdullah Demirbaş, a former mayor of the Sur district of Diyarbakır province, spoke about the experiences of “multicultural municipalism” that he implemented in Sur between 2004 and 2014. “In 1915, they had Armenians for breakfast and in 1924 and 1938, they had Kurds for lunch. That’s why we need to apologize and I as a Kurd apologize on behalf of my ancestors for crimes they committed against people.” Burçin Gerçek, a researcher and journalist, presented the officers who defied orders in Diyarbakır province. Adnan Çelik, a Ph.D. candidate at Paris-EHESS, presented the results of his oral history research on the collective memory of Kurds about the Armenian genocide, conducted with researcher and historian Namık Kemal Dinç. Öykü Gürpınar, a Ph.D. student at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, spoke about the transformation of an Armenian village, Pokr Armıdan, into a Muslim-populated village. Melis Behlil from Kadir Has University presented “The Armenian Genocide and its aftermath in non-fiction film”. ” Özlem Galip from the University of Oxford discussed the policies of remembering in the context of Kurdish novels. Wendy Hamelink from Leiden University spoke about cultural memories of Armenians from Sassoun. Armen Marsoobian from Southern Connecticut State University started his presentation by asking: “Why were some Armenians not deported? Who were the chief actors in the deportation decisions? What criteria were used to exempt families? How many were exempted?” and explained his points. George Shirinian from the Zorian Institute drew a theoretical framework for the narrative of rescuers. “There were many Muslims who welcomed Armenian orphans from the genocide in their houses,” Shirinian said, but added, “This can also be seen as a form of slavery because the overwhelming majority of children above the age of 13 became servants in the houses of Muslims and were Islamized.” Ümit Kurt, a Ph.D. candidate at Clark University, then told the story of Cemil Bahri Könne, a Kurdish officer who helped Armenians exiled from Aintab. Neslihan Sarıhan traced the footsteps of Armenians in Fatsa by examining the life story of an Islamized Armenian.Finally, Ishkhan Chiftjian from Hamburg University presented the story of Hoca Çamurdan, the mufti of Sis (today’s Kozan), who saved six members of the Armenian Faracyan family, including the father.⁽³⁾
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1- http://www.hrantdink.org/Index.php?Detail=724&Lang=en

2- http://www.hrantdink.org/Index.php?Detail=724&Lang=en

3- http://www.turkishreview.org/reviews-briefs/a-door-from-the-past-to-the-future_552737

Pope Francis may visit Armenia on 101st anniversary of Genocide

January 7, 2016 By administrator

203337 Visiting Armenia in April 2016, the 101st anniversary of the 1915 Genocide, is a possibility for the Pope, although this has not been absolutely confirmed, World Religion News reports.

He hopes to visit the country, but admits, “I am old and these trips are heavy.”

The Pope may also visit three South-American nations: Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are also awaiting a visit from the Pope. It is speculated that these trips could be joined with his visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil, whose 300th anniversary he promised to celebrate in the country in 2017.

Pope Francis confirmed that he will be visiting Mexico in the first half of 2016 while celebrating Mass on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe last December 12. The Holy See will begin in Mexico City, and then will go on to make two day trips: to Chiapas to meet indigenous individuals, and to the Morelia, a high-crime area, to meet young people. The Pope is scheduled to return to Rome via Ciudad Juárez on the Mexico-U.S. border. This will be his first time visiting the country and second time in the North American continent. His itinerary also includes a visit to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine.

Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas

January 6, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian Church celebrates the holy birth (Sourp Dznount) of Jesus Christ on January 6. In Armenian tradition, this feast day commemorates not only the birth of Christ, but also His baptism by John the Baptist, www.armenianchurch-ed.net reports.

The latter is remembered through the “Blessing of Water” ceremony, which follows the Divine Liturgy on January 6.

On the eve of the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Jrakalouyts Divine Liturgy (the lighting of the lamps service) is celebrated in honor of the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God (theophany). It is custom for the faithful to hold lit candles during this special service.

On the following day, the mystery of our Lord’s baptism in the River Jordan is remembered in the ceremony of the Jurorhnek, or the “Blessing of Water.”

In ancient times, this ceremony was celebrated by the riverside or sea shore, but, for various reasons, it was later confined to the interior of the churches. During the ceremony, the cross is dipped in water, recalling Christ’s immersion in the Jordan River. Blessed oil, or Holy Chrism (Muron), is poured into the water from a dove-shaped container, symbolizing the appearance at the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father proclaiming to all that Jesus is His Son.

The Holy Chrism is prepared in Holy Etchmiadzin and is blessed by the Catholicos assisted by the bishops. Muron contains olive oil, balsam and the essence of forty different flowers and herbs. At the end of the ceremony, members of the congregation are given the blessed water to drink, thereby sharing in the life giving act of Christ. As water is essential to the life of the body, drinking the blessed water is a reminder that participation in the acts of Christ is essential for eternal life.

Why January 6?

Even at the time of the Holy Apostles, the traditions in the Christian churches in the different parts of the world were not uniform. In fact, Christmas was probably not observed at all in the very early Church. Later, the mysteries of the birth and baptism of Jesus Christ began to be observed on January 6.

By the end of the 3rd century, Christmas in Rome was celebrated on December 25, which coincided with a major pagan feast. The Eastern churches, meanwhile, continued to observe Christmas on January 6. The Armenian Church has maintained that ancient tradition to this day, whereas the Greek-speaking Christian world switched to the Latin tradition at the end of the 4th century.

Armenian-American households may exchange Christmas gifts on December 25, since it is the custom in American society to do so. In some of our churches in the United States, it has become traditional to observe the feast of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr on Christmas Eve (December 24), though that feast is movable and may not always fall on December 24.

If possible, the faithful should fast during the seven-day period preceding January 6, and should inform their children that they are fasting as a way of preparation for Christmas. On the evening of January 5, families should attend church and participate in the celebration of the Christmas Eve Divine Liturgy. They should do the same on the morning of January 6.

Wave of Armenian Genocide acknowledgement on the rise in South America

January 6, 2016 By administrator

genocide recognition The issue of the international acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide is part of Argentine’s policy and not a fragmentary demand. ARF Dashnaktsutyun member and Vice President of the Socialist International’s (SI) Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea, Mario Nalbandian, told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am correspondent.

“We have been struggling for many years and can now definitely say that any party and politician in Argentine takes the issue of the Armenian Genocide very seriously. The newly-appointed president used to be the Mayor of Buenos Aires and always supported us over the 8 years of work. The wave for the acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide has risen in South America and it must continue,” Nalbandian said.

According to him, after the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide it’s necessary to shift to a new stage, where legal requirements will be presented. According to Nalbandian, the struggle of Armenians served as an example for other nations.

‘Van reminds us of history’

January 5, 2016 By administrator

garin Vartan Estuky the 25/12/2015,

Van, national and international many films shown ‘Van Film Festival on the occasion, many directors from Turkey and abroad, and has made the players invited to host. The festival includes films of Armenian directors this year as in previous years were also shown. Van, written and directed by Alec Mouhibi the ‘1915 invention film with the audience says, and “Name” in 1915, though the film 2015, explains today, “said Garin Hovhannisian’l to both films, we talked about the book that tells the history of both families.

Who is the Hovhannisi gari?

I was born in Los Angeles. In 1989, after the earthquake in Gyumri Raffi Hovhannisi when my father decided to settle in Armenia. Two-three when I moved to Armenia, the country he lived there in the bad days. I was very tide in my life, half my childhood in California, passed the half of Yerevan. Also, from 1915 to today, extending the subject of the story of my family, “Family of Shadows’ (Shadows Family) I have a book.

Have you ever been in Turkey before?

This second development in Turkey. First, in 2010, came to visit in Istanbul. My great-grandfather was born Hovagim as gari (Erzurum) Tsitoğ visited the village, we want to find living in the house. In 40-45 years, he lived in the house married a Turk, with his mother. My dad, the man, without breaking “the house of my grandfather’s house” guy when it showed an interesting response; the girl made a gesture of the hand instead of taking the heart to deny. Perhaps he had in a gesture of thanks, we found that place to go.

What did you feel during your stay in Van?

It’s a beautiful city, history reminds us. Although there is no specific Van Van, who is a symbolic city, there are many Armenians who feel like me.

‘1915 film come from?

The film, called ‘1915’, though, is taking over today. Not about the past, it’s a movie about the future. Before we begin, I ask myself this question: “How is it possible that the effects of an event that happened 100 years ago continues to this day?” Yes, historians should do their jobs. On the other hand, the answer to this question is very important for the younger generation. We set out to find the answer.

Can you mention other book?

The book was released in the US in 2010. Turkish output next year (‘Memories of the Shadow: Centuries of an Armenian family’, trans. Pinar appropriate, Document Publishing.) 1915 today is about the story of my family. Book not as an autobiography, creating stories I wrote. I was thinking of writing the story of my family one day but I did not expect to do so at a young age. I’m a teacher at New York University while studying journalism, he heard one of the stories of my family and encouraged me to write this book.

Three generations of the book tells you …

The book consists of three parts. Kasper’s first Gabloyan, Hovhannisian to expand the story. Our history starts from Harput. Kasper young age, she sees everything that happened in 1915. Losing everything in hand, and from there to California, fleeing Fresno. The first section describes the genocide. The second section begins with Kaspar’s marriage. Kasper is an interesting character. Armenian who love, although one, until end of Armenian-speaking readers of Armenian literature and life of children, John, Ralph, giving American names like Richard. If the children want to keep the memories. Children do not speak Armenian. But for some reason, Richard kids, so my grandfather does not want to remain unanswered the question – especially, screaming thrown in his father’s dreams late at night rather than tenure track … experienced ones learn, find out the cause of his father’s screams, it was the purpose of your life. Over time, the US was one of the important figures in the Armenian Genocide issue investigating, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has established the Modern Armenian History. The family is the third part of the book was a gift to me nearly. My father Raffi, to be born in Los Angeles, although lawyers receive training at UCLA in 1989 after the earthquake want to return to Soviet Armenia. In the last chapter, Armenia, there have written us and our lives.

Source: Agos

Armenian American Museum Launches Community Forum Series

January 4, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian-American Museum

GLENDALE —The Armenian American Museum has released dates for upcoming community forums which will feature presentations on the Armenian American Museum, provide an update on the progress of the project, and offer opportunities for community members to engage in a Q&A session and provide feedback.

The events will include private presentations to Glendale-based service organizations in addition to public forums. Residents are encouraged to attend the following meetings:

Sunday, January 10, 2016 | 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church’s Raymond and Ani Kouyoumjian Hall
1510 East Mountain Street, Glendale, CA 91207

Monday, January 11, 2016 | 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Bethany Bible Presbyterian Church
3229 North Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA 91208

Sunday, January 17, 2016 | 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church’s Raymond and Ani Kouyoumjian Hall
1510 East Mountain Street, Glendale, CA 91207

“We look forward to sharing the vision of the Armenian American Museum and engaging in an active dialogue with our community members” stated Outreach Director, Tigranna Zakaryan. “Our approach is to engage the community through diverse outreach initiatives extended toward service-oriented organizations, faith-based groups, neighboring homeowner groups and residents, and City institutions.”

The Armenian American Museum’s community forum series follows its recent unveiling of the Museum concept design to the Glendale City Council in December 2015. Although the proposal establishing an Armenian American Museum in Glendale has been met with positive and constructive support, a number of residents from the neighborhoods next to the proposed site have expressed objections to building the Museum at the proposed site.

For more information about the community forum series, please visit www.ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org/events/.

Residents interested in hosting a presentation may further inquire by calling (844) 586-4626 or emailing Info@ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org.

The Armenian American Museum is a developing project in Glendale, CA, with a mission to promote understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Armenian American experience. When completed, it will serve as a cultural campus that enriches the community, educates the public on the Armenian American story, and empowers individuals to embrace cultural diversity and speak out against prejudice.

The governing board of the Armenian American Museum consists of representatives from the following nine regional Armenian American institutions and organizations: Armenian Catholic Eparchy, Armenian Cultural Foundation, Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, Armenian General Benevolent Union – Western District, Armenian Relief Society – Western USA, Nor Or Charitable Foundation, Nor Serount Cultural Association, Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, and Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

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Official claims MİT ‘warned’ Dink Armenian journalist upon request of General Staff

January 4, 2016 By administrator

An official from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) claimed during his 2014 testimony that Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007, was invited to the İstanbul Governor’s Office in 2004 to be “warned” over some of his controversial reports upon a request from the General Staff, the media has revealed.

The meeting was attended by Dink, former İstanbul Vice Governor Ergun Güngör and two MİT officials.

The details of the testimony given by Özel Yılmaz — one of the two MİT officials who attended the meeting — on Dec. 22, 2014 to İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Gökalp Kürkçü, who is overseeing an ongoing investigation into the killing of Dink, was recently revealed to media outlets.

According to a report in the Radikal daily on Monday, Yılmaz claimed in his testimony the meeting was held on the orders of the General Staff. Yılmaz reportedly told the prosecutor an official from the General Staff had called former MİT Undersecretary Şenkal Atasagun and requested that MİT “warn” Dink over his reports about the ethnic origin of Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of the founder of the Turkish Republic.

Yılmaz also reportedly claimed Atasagun appointed former MİT İstanbul Regional President Hüseyin Kubilay Günay to coordinate the meeting to warn Dink. Yılmaz also claimed during his testimony the MİT officials accidentally bumped into Dink when they were at the İstanbul Governor’s Office to collect some documents that Dink had provided to the governor’s office. Yılmaz also claimed he spoke to Dink about a prison sentence given to Dink over his reports, in which Dink alleged that Gökçen was of Armenian origin.

This testimony by Yılmaz has been questioned because it has some contradictions. Dink had not yet been handed down any prison sentence at that time when the meeting was held in 2014, contrary to what Yılmaz told the prosecutor.

In 2005, Dink was given a six-month suspended prison sentence after he was accused of denigrating “Turkishness” in writings about the identity of Turkish citizens of Armenian origin.

The MİT official said they did not go to the governor’s office to meet with Dink, but to collect the abovementioned documents. “When we were sitting in Güngör’s office, Dink came into the room. When we attempted to leave, Dink told us: ‘Please don’t bother. I can leave.’ Güngör presented us as his relatives and Dink told him our presence [in the room] would not be a problem for him. Later, we could not say we were actually MİT officials so as not to create any problems for Güngör.”

The details of the testimony given by Güngör on Dec. 9, 2014 were also revealed in the Radikal daily on Monday. According to the report, Güngör’s testimony also refutes some parts of Yılmaz’s testimony. Güngör said the meeting was held on a request by MİT, adding the governor’s office had no active role in the meeting except hosting it. Güngör also said the meeting was organized by Yılmaz and another MİT official, refuting Yılmaz’s claim that they accidentally bumped into Dink at the governor’s office.

Güngör also said Dink was invited to the meeting to be warned of “possible danger if he continues to make controversial statements.” He also said he introduced the two MİT officials as his relatives because MİT had requested in advance that he not reveal the identities of its officials.

A report published on news portal internethaber.com on Monday also claimed new footage has recently emerged on the assassination of Dink. According to the report, the footage shows six gendarmerie intelligence officers also in front of the Agos newspaper’s building at the time of the murder.

The report also pointed out the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had already detected that signals were received from telephones belonging to six gendarmerie intelligence officers around the scene where Dink was shot at the time of the incident.

The news portal also says if the prosecutor’s office confirms that those six individuals detected in the footage were actually gendarmerie intelligence officers, this proves Dink’s murder was committed under the supervision of the gendarmerie.

Dink was shot and killed by ultranationalist hitman Ogün Samast in broad daylight outside the office of the Agos newspaper, where he worked, on Jan. 17, 2007. Samast was given a 22-year prison sentence, while a key suspect in the case, Yasin Hayal, was given a life sentence for inciting Samast to commit murder.

A retrial started in September 2014 when the İstanbul 5th High Criminal Court complied with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Appeals in May 2013 overturning a lower court’s ruling that acquitted the suspects in the Dink murder case of charges of forming a terrorist organization. This decision paved the way for the trial of some public officials on charges of voluntary manslaughter.

Armenians around the world have lived an exciting and challenging year in 2015 “100 Year after genocide”

January 1, 2016 By administrator

Damn, what year 2015! In memory of our loved ones.

Armenians around the world have lived an exciting and challenging year in 2015, one hundred years after the genocide that decimated three-quarters of their ancestors in Ottoman land. Their land in the same way as that which is now called Turkey.

A year borrows the intangible memory of men, women and innocent children murdered because they were Armenians. But Assyrian-Chaldeans, Greeks and Alevis.

Modesty and restraint, refugees survivors scattered around the world, often with only luggage a backpack or a cardboard suitcase strapped string, said nothing of their ordeal to the second generation. He will have it, become adults questioned his identity and uniqueness makes itself the approach to learn the horrible truth.

Therefore, while devoting a silent veneration of the forgotten history, children children without childhood stood 50 years after the crime to cry to humanity what had become of their people and to demand recognition and compensation .

50 years later, not only the genocidal state denies responsibility, supported in this by the lack of moral willingness of some nations, but which today strives to be the destruction of the Kurdish population instead of s’ tackle jihadist spectrum guilty of the death of 2,500 children. The Tsar Sultan who will take the upper hand?

Despite continuing threats, the light will vanquish the darkness in the great voice of Pope Francis.

Of darkness which will come from the East on our soil, announce that it is “tolerance Earth” … with smoking tanks cannon just wreak havoc in Artsakh. Darkness and the decision of the European Court of “human rights”, confirming denial at European level. An expected, unexpected expected by the French government to position itself on the issue of criminalization of genocide denial. We are still waiting …

2015 disastrous year, with its attendant deadly sad news; the departure of our last witnesses, but also to those who have honored Armenian identity, especially Arpik Missakian, the soul of the newspaper in Armenian Haratch, very late Artin Varoujan, following one another in his father Garbis head the indispensable ARAM association, and benefactor, from nothing, mogul Kirk Kerkorian cinema. But also those anonymous who worked in the shadows to the cause.

And then there are those who give of themselves as Kevork Arabian, Lebanese who offered this copy of Alfortville school complex, the beautiful Elise Boghossian supporting the wounded in Syria, or Made Hero Thalys train Marc Moogalian.

In this annual procession of bad news, we must also include the despair of a part of the Armenian population, faced with senseless increases in the cost of living, while corruption is that flora and fill the ballot boxes.

To this we must add the drama that hit France and our climate upheaval which only increase.

So what can we rejoice as a French of Armenian origin in the year 2015? Certainly the election of three Turkish Armenians to the National Assembly; of 17 000 Armenians in Syria welcomed in Armenia. Our associations whose dedication enables continuous cultural presence in our towns and villages. Numerous works of the descendants of the surviving witness to the unspeakable, like Valerie Toranian (The Foreign) and the Anny Romand (My grandmother Armenia). The incredible vivacity of Charles Aznavour, present on all scenes. The appointment of Alain Altinoglu conductor at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. From the undeniable presence of the actor Simon Abkarian in the film by Robert Guédiguian “A crazy story.” Serge Avedikian and his masterful incarnation of Paradjanov (The scandal Paradjanov), Jacques Kébadian (retrospective of his work at the Cinémathèque). The faithful Patrick Fiori (platinum), Pascal Légitimus (The clan of divorced) and the omnipresence of Mathieu Madénian and André Manoukian on the air, such as Lea Salamé. And casually, but clearly visible on all television channels, these young women journalists in the 4th generation. Finally finish this 2015 with the victory of the young singer Ghasabian Hakob, 12, in the competition of “Wonders” of France 2. The challenge of a fine symbol paving the road of hope to son and daughters of Hayastan of the 5th generation.

Jean Eckian