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Protest action to be held on April 24 in Brussels in front of Turkish Embassy

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10:38, 23 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS: Events devoted to the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 will be held in various countries of the world. As Armenpress was reported by the Representative for the Department of the Public Relations of the European Office of the Armenian Cause Peto Demirchyan, a candle lighting ceremony woul716224d be held around the Armenian cross stone on April 23 in Brussels. The event will be attended by the representatives of the Armenian structures of Brussels.

During the day it is intended to show the German film devoted to the Armenian Genocide “Aghet” (Genocide). The event will be attended by the Armenian Ambassador, members of the European Parliament, deputies and the representatives of the Armenian organizations functioning in Brussels.

On April 24 after the noon a protest action will be held as well in front of the Turkish Embassy in Brussels, after which the participants of the rally will organize a procession from the Turkish Embassy towards the European Union building.

At the years of the World War I Turkey massacred 1,5 million Armenians in the Western Armenia, making hundreds of thousands people refugees. The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by 26 states of the world, 41 American States out of 50 and international organizations, including the European Parliament and the European Council.

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, a state Commission was established and the Commission Staff was defined to foster the international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and to coordinate the events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The Chairman of the Commission is the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

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Israel Charny noticed great progress in Armenian Genocide recognition issue in Turkey

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15:02, 23 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 23, ARMENPRESS. The struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide must be continued. Prominent Jewish expert on Genocide Israel Charny stated 716299this in an exclusive conversation with “Armenpress”. Israel Charny also noted: “The number of people recognizing the Armenian Genocide palpably increases. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Israel and in the US, two champions of democratic government, is basically where it was– with serious moves of many and perhaps an increasing number of legislators to recognize, but with the steel traps of government administrations continuing to live out realpolitik at the expense of integrity.”

Among other things the renowned expert on Genocide underscored that there is a great progress in Turkey too. Notwithstanding there is no sign that the government is moving towards the recognition. A large number of journalists and intellectuals have been sent to jail in Turkey because of absence of the freedom of speech. In addition Charny underlined: “We have to do an excellent job of commemorating, and I suggest linking all genocides together, so that we remember them all and protest them all and fight to increase respect for all human lives.”

French MP Valérie Boyer in Yerevan to attend Genocide commemoration ceremony

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April 23, 2013 – 16:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The members of the Armenia-France parliamentary group met with a French MP, the initiator of the bill criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial Valérie Boyer on Tuesday, April 23.

Ms Boyer is in Yerevan to participate in the April 24 commemoration ceremony for the Genocide victims.

At the meeting, the MP expressed regret that the Genocide bill was turned down twice; however, she promised to find another way to promote the adoption of the bill, with the support of MEPs.

Armenian Genocide to be commemorated in Ottawa

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April 23, 2013 – 09:33 AMT

On Wednesday, April 24, Armenian-Canadians will gather in Ottawa to commemorate the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, with its annual noontime Parliament Hill observance and subsequent demonstration in front of the embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Canada.

155366Some 1,500 Armenian-Canadians from across the nation are expected to gather on Parliament Hill to hear Members of Parliament, dignitaries, and community leaders honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians that systematically perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turks beginning in 1915.

The observance will be followed by a planned march toward the Turkish embassy for a peaceful demonstration against Turkey’s decades-old campaign of denial. “Armenians are resolved to pursue justice for the horrendous genocide committed by the Turks against the Armenian people,” stated Dr. Girair Basmadjian, president of the Armenian National Committee of Canada. “The government of Turkey will never succeed in its constant attempts to rewrite history. The world will never forget. Canadians will never forget. We are fortunate that, in Canada, both Houses of Parliament, the government of Canada, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. We commend the efforts of our government and parliamentarians in ensuring that truth and justice prevail.”

For decades, successive governments of the Republic of Turkey have embarked upon an active campaign of denial, fabrication, and misrepresentation as it attempted, and continues to attempt, to cover-up its crimes against humanity. In its attempts to rewrite history, Turkey has consistently employed some of the world’s leading lobbyists and public relations firms, having spent tens of millions of dollars over the years. In Canada, Turkey has in the past retained the services of Fleishman-Hilliard and other lobbyists.

“Armenian-Canadians are asking their government to encourage Turkey to stop its denials and come to terms with its past,” stated Dr. Basmadjian. “All Canadians should be proud of their parliamentarians for standing firm against Turkish pressure to change Canada’s position regarding the Armenian Genocide.”

Israeli expert donates library to Armenian Genocide Museum

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April 23, 2013 – 16:04 AMT

PanARMENIA155446N.Net – Israeli psychologist and historian, world renowned genocide expert Dr. Israel W. Charny donated his personal library to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI).

The library comprises about 700 books about Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, AGMI director Hayk Demoyan said.

A separate room is planned to be prepared for the donated literature.

Knesset Marks Turks’ Genocide of Armenians (Turkey is highly displeased with the Knesset’s decision)

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By Arutz Sheva

MK Rivlin: “We cannot ignore the catastrophes of others because of diplomatic considerations

The Knesset will hold a ceremony to mark the memory of the Turkish genocide of Armenians, almost 100 years ago, on Tuesday.

img373481MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said before the ceremony that he believes that “as human beings and as Jews, we must not ignore the catastrophe of another nation for any reason, including diplomatic considerations, important as they may be.”

“We will mark the annual memorial day for the massacre of the Armenian people regardless of the relations with today’s Turkey, which is an ally.”

Turkey is highly displeased with the Knesset’s decision to mark the day, as relations between the countries continue to be tense, despite a recent rapprochement brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama.

The genocide of the Armenians took place in the course of World War 1, and it is generally estimated that between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, making up about one third of the entire Armenian people.

The massacre began when about 250 Armenian leaders in Istanbul were shot to death, on orders from the Turkish government. Later on, men, women and children were put to death on a daily basis in various ways, including forced marches that ended in their death from exhaustion, cold and hunger. Women and children were placed on boats and drowned at sea, or crucified. There is also evidence that children were put to death with poison gas in schools that were converted to death camps.

Turkey has consistently denied responsibility for the genocide, which is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Holocaust. Various events devoted to the subject, which were supposed to be held at the Knesset, were cancelled in recent years because of Turkish pressure.

 

Commemorating the 98th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

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Published on Apr 19, 2013 by Communications Department

On April 24, Armenians around the world will commemorate the 98th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Armenian Martyrs’ Day will be observed at St. Leon Armenian Cathedral with tSetWidth630-Memorial-Yerevanhe celebration of the Divine Liturgy at 6:30 pm. “April 24, 1915, has been our people’s woeful path to Golgotha. However, April 24th is also the Armenian people’s vision of the nation’s Resurrection,” said His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.

The solemn celebration of the Divine Liturgy will be followed by a Requiem Service and a flower-laying ceremony at the memorial cross-stone in the Turpanjian Plaza in honor of those who perished during the first Genocide of the 20th century.

Other commemorative events will include a candlelight vigil and a commemoration march for justice.

Church in Wales 39 Cathedral Rd Cardiff UK

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Press Release

Church adds Armenian Genocide Memorial Day to its calendar

Prayers to remember Armenians
Prayers to remember Armenians

April 5 2013

Victims of the first major genocide of the last century will be remembered in churches across Wales this month.

An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were systematically exterminated during World War I in what was then Ottoman Turkey. Now, nearly 100 years later, the Church in Wales is officially recognising April 24 as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day by including it in its church calendar.

To mark the recognition, the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, will take part in a special service of prayer at Cardiff’s Temple of Peace on April 22 with Bishop Vahan Hovhanissian, the Armenian Primate of Britain and Ireland. Representatives of the Embassy of the Armenian Republic will also be at the service during which 98 candles will be lit, to mark the 98th year of the genocide.

April 24 1915 was the date on which leading Armenian community leaders, journalists, authors, poets and churchmen in Istanbul were arrested by the authorities and deported to a death camp from which only a handful escaped with their lives. It is the day on which Armenians throughout the world remember the victims of the Genocide.

The Church in Wales, through Archbishop Barry, played a significant role in ensuring that a public memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide was placed in the garden of the Temple of Peace in Cardiff in 2007.

One of the speakers at the dedication of the memorial was Canon Patrick Thomas. He has a deep interest in Armenian culture, history and spirituality and has visited the Republic of Armenia five times since 2005. He is the author of From Carmarthen to Karabagh: a Welsh Discovery of Armenia. It was following his request that the Church in Wales officially recognised April 24th as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.

Canon Thomas, who is Chancellor of St Davids Cathedral and Vicar of Christ Church, Carmarthen, said, “Honouring the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide is a very significant step by the Church in Wales. Whenever the horrific crime of genocide is denied or ignored it increases the possibility of future genocides. Both Armenia and Wales are ancient countries whose history has been shaped by the Christian faith. Adding Armenian Genocide Memorial Day to our church calendar will also strengthen the growing friendship between the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church and the Church in Wales.”

Canon Thomas has composed a prayer in both English and Welsh that can be used in Welsh churches on that day. It will be said for the first time at the service at the Temple of Peace on April 22. The service, organised by Cardiff Mission Parish, will begin at 4.30pm.

The prayer is as follows:

Almighty God,
whose light revealed in Christ can never be extinguished by the darkness of human actions,
we remember before you today the Armenian victims of genocide;
grant that the memory of their suffering may lead all peoples
to work together for a world set free from prejudice and hatred,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.

It is time for Turkey to recognise the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide

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By Benjamin Abtan New Statesman magazine

It has been 98 years since – following a premeditated plan with a methodic implementation – one million and a half Armenians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire. The Armenian people were the victims of a genocide which would soon serve as a gruesome reference for those that followed.

143319609Today in Turkey, the mere enunciation of this historical fact still provokes ferocious opposition, sometimes even physical threats. Genocide denial serves as an encouragement to racism and hate against Armenians and other non-Muslim minorities. Some want to pretend that acknowledging the reality of the Armenian Genocide is an attack on all Turkish people and on “Turkishness”. It is not: it is a step towards justice.

Several years ago, the genocide of Armenians began to be commemorated in Turkey itself. The participants are still few but their number grows every day despite an official discourse of genocide-denial. Today, those among us who have taken part in these commemorations in Turkey are calling for solidarity beyond borders.

This year on 24 April – the widely recognised starting date of the massacre – we ask citizens, civil society leaders, antiracist activists, intellectuals and artists, of Armenian and other diverse origins, in Turkey and across the world, to unite in calling for the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide to be recognised at last.

Our shared initiative is one of solidarity, of justice, and of democracy.

It is an initiative of solidarity between all who fight for historical truth. Today the divide is not between Turks and Armenians, but between those who struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, whatever their origins are and wherever they live, and those who promote denial. In a word, it is not a question of blood, but of ideas; not a question of origins, but of a common goal.

It is an initiative of justice. In the words of writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, “Genocide kills twice, the second time by silence.” Denial, then, is the perpetuation of genocide. Fighting against denial is trying to quell the trauma in Armenian communities from one generation to another. It is not an end to this part of history – because when it comes to genocide, there is unfortunately no true end – but it offers new generations the opportunity to look together towards the future.

Finally, it is an initiative for democracy. Echoing writer and Buchenwald survivor Jorge Semprun’s frequent reminder, democracy requires vitality from civil society. Strengthening Turkish civil society by establishing bridges with the rest of the European civil society is strengthening democratic values, thus combating racism and promoting human rights, in Turkey as well as in the rest of Europe.

In solidarity, for justice and democracy, for the respect of the victims and their descendents, we will commemorate together the Armenian Genocide on 24 April, in Turkey.

Signed by:

Benjamin Abtan, President of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement – EGAM

Cengiz Algan & Levent Sensever, Spokespeople for Durde! (Turkey)

Alexis Govciyan , European President & Nicolas Tavitian, Member of the Board of the Armenian General Benevolent Union – AGBU (Europe)

Meral Çildir, Member of the Board of Directors & Ayse Gunaysu, Member of the Commission against Racism and Discrimination of the Turkish Association for Human Rights – IHD (Turkey)

American Memco Inc. Company opens Armenian Genocide online museum

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16:51, 22 April, 2013

YEREVAN, APRIL 22, ARMENPRESS. On the eve of the Armenian Genocide’s 98th commemoration, Memco Inc. has updated and released the Armenian Genocide Virtual 716171Museum tour at http://www.genocide-museum.am. The Public Relations Service of Memco Inc. Company informed “Armenpress” that the virtual visit facilitates the visitors to visit the Armenian Genocide Museum—Institute from across the globe, to take a tour of the monument as well as the museum itself where documents and images of the perpetrations is displayed. Additionally, in remembrance of the victims of the genocide the visitors can place flowers by the eternal flame.

To view the aforementioned content the visitor is required to download and install a viewer (MiaPlayer) for a high-quality interactive experience. Once installed, the visitor may follow the easy instructions and navigate the entire scene. The visitor is presented with the choice of visiting the Genocide Museum during the day or the evening hours accompanied with the lasting music of Komitas as performed by the renowned Komitas Quartet.

Per Mr. Garen Melikian’s words, the President and CEO of Memco Inc., “… as someone who lives in the United States and could not attend the ceremony every year, I wanted to participate and make my presence permanent”. He goes on to say, that “by creating a virtual environment of the monument and the museum we wanted to offer the diaspora Armenians, as well as concerned non-Armenians, the opportunity that is readily available to our compatriots in Armenia. For them to visit Tsitsernakabert and pay their respect to victims of the genocide”, added Melikian.

It must be noted that the creation and maintenance of the Armenian Genocide Virtual Museum is a charitable contribution made by Memco Inc. in honor of the resilience and everlasting endurance of the Armenian people for the recognition of their pain and celebration of their life.