centenary Archives

Armenia: More than a billion viewers for the events marking the centenary of the Armenian Genocide

September 26, 2015 By administrator

Yerevan (Agenzia Fides) – The programming on the celebrations dedicated to the centennial of the Armenian Genocide – concentrated especially from 22 to 24 April – were followed in the media around the world by 1.3 billion people.

This was said Chief of the Presidential Administration, Vigen Sargsyan, during a meeting with journalists on the sidelines of a forum dedicated to the collective memory of the massacres planned by the Young Turks in Anatolia in 1915 .

According to Vigen Sargsyan, the result reached by the broadcasts and reports on the Genocide is also due to the coordination established between the media operating in Armenia and Armenian media operators belonging to diaspora communities. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 09/25/2015)

Saturday, September 26, 2015,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Australian City of Ryde adopts motion on Armenian Genocide centenary

April 17, 2015 By administrator

The City of Ryde adopted this week a unanimous motion dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia.

The motion, which comes 10 years after the City of Ryde became the first local council in Australia to recognize the events of 1915 to 1923 as Armenian Genocide, took the measure to honor the memory of the 1.5 million victims of this crime in its Centenary year.

The motion, just like the one 10 years ago, was introduced by Councillor Sarkis Yedelian before a packed gallery in the Council chambers. Numerous members of the Ryde-Armenian community spoke at the session on the importance of adopting such a motion.

This motion follows on from an unprecedented level of media coverage in Australia on the Armenian Genocide. The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, SBS TV and ABC TV all extensively reported on the Armenian Genocide.

Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Australia, Vache Kahramanian welcome the passing of motion by the City of Ryde.

“The City of Ryde has once again demonstrated its strong moral and principled stance on the Armenian Genocide,” Kahramanian said. “I thank Councillor Yedelian and all councillors for their steadfast and unwavering support, especially in this centenary year.”

The motion, which was adopted reads:

Whereas 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of the City of Ryde passing a motion recognizing the events of 1915-1923 as the Armenian Genocide, this Council joins with the Armenian-Australian community in marking the centenary of the Armenian Genocide by resolving to:

(a) honor the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocide;

(b) condemn the genocide of the Armenians; and all other acts of genocide as the ultimate act of racial, religious and cultural intolerance;

(c) recognize the importance of remembering and learning from such dark chapters in human history to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not allowed to be repeated;

(d) condemn and prevents all attempts to use the passage of time to deny or distort the historical truth of the genocide of the Armenians and other acts of genocide committed during this century;

(e) recall the testimonies of Australian WWI POWs who lay witness to the genocide of the Armenians;

(f) acknowledge the significant humanitarian contribution made by the people of Australia to the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide; and

(g) call on the Commonwealth of Australia to recognize and condemn all genocides including the Armenian Genocide.

Centenary of Armenian genocide By Dr EDWARD HORGAN,

January 5, 2015 By administrator

Dr EDWARD HORGAN, The Irish Times Mon, Jan 5, 2015,

Sir, – 2015 is the centenary of the Armenian genocide that cost the lives of up to a million Armenian men, women and children.

What makes the Armenian genocide so important is that because it was so “successful” from an Ottoman Turk point of view it became a sort of blueprint for further acts of genocide in the 20th century. Infamously, Adolf Hitler is reported to have said: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

The relative success of the Armenian genocide encouraged others, including Hitler, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, and the Rwandan government to carry out further acts of genocide.

Acknowledgement and recognition by the international community that the atrocities committed against the Armenian people between 1915 and 1922 amounted to genocide is vital in order to ensure justice and accountability for the Armenian people, and to strengthen global jurisprudence toward preventing further acts of genocide.

France, Russia, the US congress and the European Parliament have already recognised the Armenian genocide but many other countries, including Ireland and the UK, have yet to do so.

The present Turkish government must be pressurised by the international community into accepting that its predecessors perpetrated genocide against the Armenian people. Turkey has aspirations to membership of the European Union, and Europe needs Turkey as a positive bridge toward the Middle East and toward Islamic communities.

The European Union should make it clear that recognition of the Armenian genocide must be a prerequisite for EU membership, and perhaps lead to EU membership for both Turkey and Armenia. – Yours, etc,

Dr EDWARD HORGAN,

Castletroy,

Limerick.