Colorado’s top public officials joined the Centennial State’s vibrant Armenian-American community in Armenian Genocide commemoration events over the weekend that included acknowledgment of the Genocide’s ongoing consequences in Artsakh.

On April 23, both chambers of the Colorado General Assembly unanimously passed Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 21-017, sponsored by State Senator Dominick Moreno and State House Majority leader Daneya Esgar, in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. This year’s annual genocide resolution, which was first introduced in 2002, noted the ongoing consequences of the Armenian Genocide, including Turkey-Azerbaijan’s recent aggression, occupation, ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, as well as Azerbaijan’s refusal to release Armenian POWs or allow UNESCO monitoring of churches.

“While Pres. Biden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide was a historic event for the entire world, Colorado’s vibrant Armenian community yet again set a national precedent by successfully urging their state legislature to not only commemorate the Armenian Genocide but also recognize its ongoing consequences in Artsakh,” remarked Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-WR) chair Nora Hovsepian, Esq. “The Armenian Genocide is not just a historical fact, it’s an ongoing process, which Colorado has been a global leader in acknowledging in the past by erecting a replica Djulfa khachkar erased by Azerbaijan on the grounds of its State Capitol,” continued Hovsepian. “In addition to the resolution, Colorado’s top three elected leaders – the Governor and two US Senators – also spoke on the Armenian Genocide, which is also a tribute to our local grassroots’ unwavering efforts in keeping Armenian-American priorities on Colorado’s political agenda.”

In a video address to Colorado’s Armenian community, Governor Jared Polis commemorated the Armenian Genocide while acknowledging fresh trauma experienced by the Armenian community due to the recent Artsakh war. In particular, Gov. Polis noted that “we know this past year Armenians have endured additional tragedies in defense of their sovereignty, culture, rich history, and we want to let all Armenians in Colorado and across the world know that we stand with you.”

On April 24, both of Colorado’s US Senators, Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, commemorated the Armenian Genocide on Twitter and lauded President Biden’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Congressman Jason Crow, who represents Colorado’s vibrant city of Aurora, which has the largest concentration of Colorado’s Armenian community, also commemorated the Armenian Genocide on Twitter, as well as with a video address addressed to the Armenian community.

“Colorado’s Armenian community is immensely grateful to our state legislature, governor, and federal officials for once again standing with our community and doing the right thing,” remarked Armenians of Colorado (AOC) President Byuzand Yeremyan. “As we continue to build our community through cultural and educational programs, including the Armenian School, AOC looks forward to continuing its partnership with local, regional, and national organizations to raise educational awareness about the history and modern ramifications of the Armenian Genocide,” concluded Yeremyan.

SJR 21-017 highlighted the recent aggression on Artsakh as an ongoing consequence of the impunity for Ottoman Turkey’s 1915-1923 extermination of two million Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Yazidis and other indigenous minorities. Most significantly, Colorado’s legislature unanimously called out Turkey-Azerbaijan’s recent aggression on Artsakh and raised the issue of Armenian POWs and threatened cultural sites.

[ VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVNSk07xelw ]

The resolution noted that “Turkey’s ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide paved the way for another tragedy in late 2020, when Turkey-aided Azerbaijan invaded the Republic of Artsakh, a region of the Armenian homeland, in an onslaught that despite a ceasefire announcement continues to this day through Azerbaijan’s unwillingness to release nearly 200 Armenian Prisoners of War, forbiddance of the return of Armenian refugees to Hadrut and other occupied regions of Artsakh; and refusal of international missions to monitor the nearly 1,500 antique and medieval Armenian cultural sites that have recently come under Azerbaijan’s control.”

In his floor remarks, primary Senate sponsor of SJR 21-017 Sen. Moreno stated “this is something that is dearly personal to the Armenian community especially with events over the summer when there was graffiti and damage done to the Armenian khachkar memorial. We should continue each year to recognize this tragic event… This is particularly painful for the Armenian community because they recently lost control of territories to Azerbaijan.” Sen. Moreno reiterated the importance of continuing “acknowledging the pain and suffering [Armenians] have gone through both in contemporary times and the past.”

State Senator Faith Winter, who spoke in support of the resolution, noted that “history can be uncomfortable” but that “recognizing the Genocide that happened nearly 100 years ago is important to understand history” because “when history is uncomfortable when it is hard for us to admit what happened is when we probably grow the most.” In particular, Sen. Winter recounted her visit to Turkey, where she met young people who were willing to discuss and learn from the Armenian Genocide.

In her House remarks, primary sponsor of SCR 21-017 State Representative Daneya Esgar, who is also the House Majority Leader, noted that “The Armenian community is feeling very vulnerable because of losing access to territory and their sacred sites, so I feel that it is important to stand with them.” Both Moreno and Esgar recounted their planting of a memorial tree at the Yerevan Genocide Memorial at Tsitsernakaberd during an ANCA-WR-sponsored legislative study trip in 2019. Both mentioned that even though the legislative body typically refrains from commenting on current international events, it is important to stand with the Armenian community. They also acknowledged the presence of two local Armenian-American leaders: AOC President Byuzand Yeremyan and ANCA-WR’s Simon Maghakyan.

Following Majority Leader Esgar’s remarks, Speaker Pro Tempore Adrienne Benavidez spoke in staunch support of the resolution’s language calling out Turkey-Azerbaijan’s on Artsakh. According to Benavidez, “this is not just a historical situation… this is continuing and we, as members of this body, have a duty to speak out against atrocities like this.” The Speaker Pro Tempore further noted that “We have to make it clear that we support Armenians and send a clear message to Azerbaijan and their supporters like Turkey.” Benavidez also referenced the lead oped of The Denver Post’s Sunday edition, in which former State Representative Cole Wist and Simon Maghakyan had argued that Pres. Biden should recognize both the past and the present of the Armenian Genocide.

[ VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sei-_-hu_ko&t=27s ]

Several other lawmakers also spoke in strong support of the resolution. State Representative Jennifer Bacon noted, in part, that “humanity in general has a deep sense of wanting to belong.” State Representatives Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Emily Sirota recalled their joints efforts in championing last year’s Armenian Genocide and Holocaust education law. Michaelson Jenet stated: “There is often a question: if the Armenian Genocide had been stopped, could have the Holocaust been stopped to?” In her remarks, Sirota stated that “I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to carry the bill to ensure that our students are educated on the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, to know that this is part of the ongoing work that we do.” State Representative Iman Jodah noted that “standing in with support with Armenian brothers and sisters is how we put an end [to genocide].”

In the Senate, SJR 21-017 was co-sponsored by Colorado State Senators Bridges, Buckner, Coleman, Cooke, Coram, Danielson, Donovan, Fenberg, Fields, Garcia, Gardner, Ginal, Gonzales, Hansen, Hisey, Jaquez Lewis, Kirkmeyer, Kolker, Lee, Liston, Lundeen, Moreno, Pettersen, Priola, Rodriguez, Scott, Smallwood, Sonnenberg, Story, Winter, Woodward, and Zenzinger.

In the House, SJR 21-017 was cosponsored by Representatives Amabile, Bacon, Baisley, Benavidez, Bernett, Bird, Bockenfeld, Bradfield, Caraveo, Carver, Catlin, Cutter, Daugherty, Duran, Esgar, Exum, Froelich, Garnett, Geitner, Gonzales-Gutierrez, Gray, Hanks, Herod, Holtorf, Hooton, Jodeh, Kennedy, Kipp, Larson, Lontine, Luck, Lynch, McCluskie, McCormick, McKean, McLachlan, Michaelson Jenet, Mullica, Neville, Ortiz, Pelton, Pico, Ransom, Rich, Ricks, Roberts, Sandridge, Sirota, Snyder, Soper, Sullivan, Tipper, Titone, Valdez A., Van Beber, Van Winkle, Weissman, Will, Williams, Woodrow, Woog, and Young.

On April 24, at 5pm, Colorado’s Armenian community and supporters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol Armenian Memorial Garden and Khachkar, which was vandalized last year, for the commemoration. Present dignitaries and supporters included former Colorado State Representative Cole Wist, Regional Transportation District (RTD) Board Member and former State Representative Paul Rosenthal, who is the only Colorado official to have visited the Republic of Artsakh, and members of Colorado’s Turkish-American community who officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.

In his remarks, Rep. Wist stated that “This day belongs to the Armenian people, it belongs to this community, my heart is with all of you. Le’s think of those who are not with us, and of those in the broader Armenian family. Today is for all of you. Love you all.”

At the end of the commemoration, community leaders announced upcoming plans for restoring the khachkar, and summarized the recent support the community received: from President Biden to Governor Polis, from Colorado’s legislature to the Congressional delegation. The brief program was concluded by a violin performance of Groong and Adanayi Voghb by Nina Fronjian.

Armenians of Colorado, Inc. (AOC) was established in June 1980 as a 501(c)3 non-profit cultural organization. Its purpose is to create a cohesive Armenian community and to further the understanding of Armenian history, culture, language, customs, and heritage. AOC actively supports issues and concerns of the Armenian-American community in Colorado as well as those identified within the Armenian Diaspora throughout the world.

A far-right independent member of the Turkish Parliament has threatened another lawmaker, who is Armenian, with facing yet another genocide amid debates concerning the recent recognition of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide by the US administration.

On April 24 President Joe Biden became the first US leader to use the term genocide in an annual message on the anniversary of the 1915-1916 massacres.

Garo Paylan, an Armenian lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who released a statement on his Twitter account on April 24 criticizing the naming of streets in Turkey after Talaat Pasha, the de facto political leader of the Ottoman Empire during World War I who is held responsible for the deportations and atrocities committed against Armenians at the time.

“We are walking on streets 106 years later named after Talaat Pasha, the architect of the genocide. We send our kids to schools named Talaat Pasha. We are living in a Turkey like what Germany would have been if there had been streets and schools named after Hitler in Germany today,” tweeted Paylan.

Paylan’s message drew an angry and threatening response from Ümit Özdağ, a professor of political science and currently an independent lawmaker who served with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and İYİ Party in the past.

“Shameless, provocative man. If you are not very pleased [about living here], go to the hell. Talaat Pasha did not deport patriotic Armenians but those like you who hit [Turks] from behind. When the time comes, you will and should also go through a Talaat Pasha experience,” Özdağ tweeted in remarks that attracted widespread criticism on social media, with some users reporting him to the company for hateful conduct.

By Harut Sassounian,

Genocide in a Presidential Proclamation, Pres. Joe Biden used the term Armenian Genocide, despite the gag-rule imposed on the United States government by the denialist rulers of the Republic of Turkey! For  good measure, Pres. Biden used the word genocide not once, but twice, in his “Statement on Armenian Remembrance Day.”

Last year, when Biden was a presidential candidate, he promised to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. But, since Armenian-Americans were deceived so many times by previous presidents who had not kept their campaign promises, they were cautiously optimistic about Biden’s commitment.

Even though the United States had repeatedly recognized the Armenian Genocide starting from 1951 when the U.S government submitted an official document to the World Court; the House of Representatives adopted three resolutions in 1975, 1984, and 2019; the U.S. Senate adopted unanimously a resolution in 2019; and Pres. Reagan issued a Presidential Proclamation on April 22, 1981, Pres. Biden’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide in 2021 is a major step forward with several positive consequences:

1)    As the mass murder of 1.5 million people is a very emotional issue, the descendants of Armenian Genocide victims felt a deep sense of satisfaction that the genocide suffered by their ancestors is formally and correctly acknowledged by the President of the United States.

2)    This most recent and authoritative acknowledgment by the American President will enable U.S. Courts to go forward with lawsuits making claims by Armenians on genocide era-demands from the government of Turkey. In the past, such lawsuits were dismissed by Federal judges who claimed (wrongly) that since the U.S. government had not acknowledged the Armenian Genocide, individual states like California could not pass laws allowing these lawsuits to proceed. Nevertheless, if the courts decide that Pres. Biden’s statement on the Armenian Genocide is not sufficient to allow the filing of such lawsuits, then Armenian-Americans would be obliged to push for the adoption of a proposed law, not a commemorative resolution, which needs to be adopted by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President into law. That should be the final word on fulfilling the legal requirements for filing lawsuits against Turkey.

3)    As the United States is a superpower, pronouncements by the President have a major effect on other countries — particularly Great Britain, Australia and Israel. Therefore, it is expected that several countries would follow suit in recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

4)    Pres. Biden’s acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide comes at a particularly sensitive time for Armenians worldwide following the disastrous defeat in last fall’s Artsakh War by the hands of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Islamic Jihadist mercenaries. Pres. Biden’s April 24 statement will boost the spirits of Armenians and could create an atmosphere of goodwill by world powers towards the just resolution of Artsakh’s status and the protection of its population.

5)    The struggle for genocide recognition is also a political battle by the country that perpetrated that mass crime on one hand and the descendants of the victims on the other. The Government of Turkey, as in past years, did everything in its power to prevent the United States from acknowledging the Armenian Genocide. Turkey paid millions of dollars to American lobbying organizations to deny the genocide, pressured and threatened the United States with dire consequences should it acknowledge the genocide. Nevertheless, Turkey suffered a devastating political blow. Turkey’s arrogant President, thinking that no country can go against his wishes, was sternly put in his place by the President of the United States. I am sure Pres. Erdogan spent a sleepless night after Pres. Biden called him on April 23, advising him of his decision to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. Hopefully, the humiliated Erdogan understood that the world does not rotate around Turkey.

Let us now see what the Turkish government may do in retaliation. Will it temporarily recall its Ambassador from Washington, threaten to cut off commercial ties, or block the U.S. Government from using the Incirlik airbase in Turkey? I hope Erdogan will take all of these steps and many more. With such actions, Turkey will exacerbate U.S.-Turkish relations, provide worldwide publicity to the Armenian Genocide, and drive its failing economy into bankruptcy. This could lead to internal turmoil and the eventual removal of Erdogan from the presidency during the next election, if not sooner. Interestingly, in a lengthy televised speech to the Turkish nation late at night on April 26, besides his usual lies on the Armenian Genocide, Erdogan dared not announce any actions against the United States in retaliation to Biden’s April 24 statement. Thus, Erdogan displayed his utter humiliation and impotence.

As usual, not having been able to bully the United States to abandon its plans to recognize the Genocide, Turkish leaders are now resorting to their usual tricks by stating that the U.S. recognition does not mean anything. If it meant nothing, why did Turkey spend millions of dollars on lobbyists for several decades and pressure the U.S. government, threatening dire consequences?

Rather than continuing the lies and denials for over a century, it would be much better for Turkey to simply acknowledge the crimes of its predecessors, ask for forgiveness, and make amends for the horrendous damages caused to the Armenian people. Turkey would do well to follow the example of Germany after the Holocaust. Germany apologized for Hitler’s mass crimes, erected memorials for the Holocaust victims and paid billions of dollars in reparations. This is what a civilized nation does when its leaders commit a grave crime.

In the meantime, Armenians in the Diaspora and Armenia should pursue their demands through legal channels by filing multiple lawsuits against Turkey in various country courts and the European Court of Human Rights, seeking restitution for the damages caused by the Genocide. The Government of Armenia, on the other hand, should take Turkey to the International Court of Justice (World Court), where only governments have standing to file lawsuits.Finally, this is the appropriate moment to remember and acknowledge a great friend of Armenians, former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Marshall Evans, whose diplomatic career was cut short in 2006 after he told the truth about the Armenian Genocide during a visit to California. It would be only proper for the Biden Administration to appoint John Evans as the next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. This is the least the U.S. government could do, after the President issues an official apology to him.

The Biden administration has put an end to Turkey’s bluff over the recognition of the Armenian genocide, which asserted that Ankara would move to close U.S. bases and quickly begin cooperation with Russia, Iran and China, Jerusalem Post columnist Seth Frantzman wrote on Sunday.

Pointing out that Turkey’s attempt to hold countries hostage regarding the Armenian genocide has been effective for many years, Frantzman said that Ankara must now consider whether Washington’s proclamation will lead it to work with authoritarian regimes or opt for “reconciliation” with countries it has attacked over the last few years.

On Saturday, Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognise the killings of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Empire during WWI as genocide, in a move that threatens to further complicate relations with NATO ally Turkey, who has long vehemently denied the claim.

Those who opposed the genocide recognition argued that Turkey would drift away from NATO and work with Russia and China – all steps that Ankara has already taken, according to the analyst.

Under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ankara has been accused of increasingly drifting out of the transatlantic alliance and severing ties with the West.

In recent years, Turkey has increased cooperation with Russia and China, purchasing S-400 missile systems from the former despite objections from NATO and the United States, and deepening economic ties with the latter.

“Turkey’s policy was to pretend it was above history, above ever being held to account or even critiqued. Many US diplomats went along with this; for years they appeared almost more pro-Turkey than Turkey’s own diplomats,’’ Frantzman wrote. 

Moreover, “There is no evidence that denying the genocide helped keep Ankara more liberal, tolerant, democratic and open minded and more close to the West,’’ the analyst said.

Turkey with 700 Billion dollars economy versus US 25 Trillion dollars Economy, Turkey no much to US mighty power…

Dominic Evans Orhan Coskun,

U.S. President Joe Biden’s declaration that massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide is “simply outrageous” and Turkey will respond over coming months, Turkey’s presidential spokesman said on Sunday.

Biden broke on Saturday with decades of carefully calibrated White House comments over the 1915 killings, delighting Armenia and its diaspora but further straining ties between Washington and Ankara, both members of the NATO military alliance.

“There will be a reaction of different forms and kinds and degrees in coming days and months,” Ibrahim Kalin, President Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman and adviser, told Reuters in an interview.

Kalin did not specify whether Ankara would restrict U.S. access to the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which has been used to support the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, among measures it may take.

After other Turkish officials swiftly condemned Biden’s statement on Saturday, Erdogan would address the issue after a cabinet meeting on Monday, Kalin said. “At a time and place that we consider to be appropriate, we will continue to respond to this very unfortunate, unfair statement,” he said.

Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces in World War One, but denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute genocide.

For decades, measures recognising the Armenian genocide stalled in the U.S. Congress and most U.S. presidents have refrained from calling it that, held back by concerns about straining relations with Turkey.

But those relations are already troubled. Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defences, while Ankara has been angered that the United States has armed Kurdish YPG fighters in Syria and not extradited a U.S.-based cleric Turkey accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

Navigating those disputes will now be even harder, Kalin said. “Everything that we conduct with the United States will be under the spell of this very unfortunate statement,” he said.

Kalin said Turkey’s parliament is expected to make a statement this week. Analysts say lawmakers may hit back rhetorically against Biden by classifying the treatment of Native Americans by European settlers as genocide.

As well as limiting access to Incirlik, Turkey also has options to reduce military coordination with the United States in northern Syria and Iraq or scale down diplomatic efforts to support Afghan peace talks, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, director of the German Marshall Fund research group in Ankara.

In reality, though, Erdogan’s options are limited as he is already battling one of the highest rates of daily COVID-19 cases globally and has seen the lira currency fall close to all-time lows against the dollar last week.

“This is a difficult period for Turkey and it’s not a time when Turkey wants to pick a fight with anyone, let alone the United States,” Unluhisarcikli said.

Kalin said U.S. officials had told Turkey the declaration would not provide any legal basis for potential reparation claims.