LOS ANGELES: On April 24 March for Justice Route Announced

March 20, 2015 By administrator

The March for Justice route starts in Little Armenia and ends at the Turkish Consulate

LOS ANGELES—On April 24, Armenian-Americans worldwide will commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. The Los Angeles-based Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of the Western United States (AGCC-WUSA) is organizing a the March For Justice, which will unite people of different backgrounds as they come together to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The March for Justice will be the only commemorative event taking place on April 24.

The March for Justice is the largest in the series of AGCC-WUSA hosted events. Participants will gather at 10 a.m. in Little Armenia, the March will begin at the corner of Western and Sunset Boulevard. Participants will march in solidarity for 6 miles to the Turkish Consulate in the Wilshire District to protest the Turkish government’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide. This Pan-Armenian March will unite, without exception, the Armenian community in its quest for justice while demonstrating collective strength and spirit. Members of other ethnic organizations will also be joining the March to stand in solidarity against the Turkish Government’s continued denial of the Armenian Genocide. Protesters will thank those who have helped to spread awareness of the Armenian Genocide, and those who work tirelessly to prevent genocide elsewhere in the world.

In remembrance of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government, the AGCC-WUSA encourages all businesses to close their stores and join the March for Justice. In order to obtain signage showing that your business is closed for the commemoration, you may contact the ANCA-WR office at (818) 500-1918.

The AGCC-WUSA has launched a social media campaign asking individuals to publish a short video stating that they will be “marching to justice on April 24.” To participate in this campaign, individuals can tape a short video of themselves on their cellular devices and post it on their personal social media account with the hashtag #MarchForJustice and #ArmenianGenocide.

In the coming weeks the AGCC-WUSA will be announcing bus and parking locations for those traveling to Little Armenia. For more information about the March for Justice please visit march4justice.org or visit facebook.com/agccwusa. Updates about the March for Justice, including parking locations will be posted both on the website and on Facebook.

The AGCC-WUSA was established to steer and coordinate the multifaceted commemorative activities in the Western United States and is composed of nineteen Armenian organizations, including religious institutions. The 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide signifies a global demand for justice by Armenians worldwide and all people of good will. The Centennial marks one of the 20th century’s greatest crimes against humanity. In 1915, the Turkish Government began a premeditated and systematic campaign to uproot the Armenian population from its ancestral homeland and slaughter 1.5 million defenseless men, women and children. Turkey must finally acknowledge its responsibility for the Genocide and make appropriate moral, financial and territorial restitution, as mandated by the fundamental norms of international law and civilized society.

Pursuing Justice Through Art: 2015, Genocide Exhibit & Symposium

February 28, 2015 By administrator

A Multi-Cultural Genocide Exhibition and Symposium

Jennifer Rocco Stone, Blood of the Innocent,

Exhibition: March 18 – April 25, 2015

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 21, 2 – 4PM

Saturday, April 18, 1 – 4PM

LOWELL, MA – As April is International Genocide Month, the Whistler House Museum of Art is planning a Multi-Cultural Genocide exhibition and symposium entitled Pursuing Justice Through Art: 2015. In conjunction with the symposium, which will take place from 1:00 to 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 18, there will be an art exhibition which will be presented in the Parker Gallery. The exhibition runs from March 18 to April 25, where works of art will be displayed by artists whose themes are rooted in genocide and holocaust memories and commemoration. The opening reception for the exhibition will take place on Saturday, March 21 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm.

The year 2015 is significant in genocide history. It is the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the 70th Anniversary of the end of the Jewish Holocaust, and the 40th Anniversary of the Cambodian Genocide.

The word “genocide” was coined in 1944 to name a particularly shocking and horrific crime of violence. It was hoped it would never happen again. Genocide is the systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. Genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law.

More than 262 million people throughout the world were murdered as a result of genocide in the 20th century. Armenian, German, Cambodian, Bosnian, Guatemalan, Rwandan, Sudanese and Native Americans are only a few of the nationalities that have been affected by genocide. It is the hope that education and awareness through the medium of art can be used to help ensure a more peaceful future in the 21st century.

Gagik Aroutiunian, The Family, Life Goes On

“We are very proud to be presenting this important program to the public,” says Whistler House Museum of Art president and executive director, Sara Bogosian. “It was inspired by Arshile Gorky, the Father of Abstract Expressionism, who is one of the artists in the Whistler House Museum of Art collection. Gorky is considered to be one of the most famous survivors of the Armenian Genocide,” added Bogosian.
The symposium will include experts in the field of genocide studies including:

Diana Der-Hovanessian: Der-Hovanessian, a New England born poet, was twice a Fulbright professor of American Poetry and is the author of more than 25 books of poetry and translations. She has awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Poetry Society of America, PEN/Columbia Translation Center, National Writers Union, Armenian Writers Union, Paterson Poetry Center, Prairie Schooner, American Scholar, and the Armenian Ministry of Culture. Her poems have appeared in Agni, American Poetry Review, Ararat, CSM, Poetry, Partisan, Prairie Schooner, Nation, etc., and in anthologies such as Against Forgetting, Women on War, On Prejudice, Finding Home, Leading Contemporary Poets, Orpheus and Company, Identity Lessons, Voices of Conscience, Two Worlds Walking, etc. She works as a visiting poet and guest lecturer on American poetry, Armenian poetry in translation, and the literature of human rights at various universities in the USA and abroad. She serves as president of the New England Poetry Club.

Kim Servart Theriault PhD: Dr. Theriault holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Virginia and is currently Associate Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. She has several academic publications to her credit including Rethinking Arshile Gorky and the essay “Exile, Trauma, and Arshile Gorky’s The Artist and His Mother” and the published catalog for the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective. She has given art historical lectures at venues such as the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and universities such as Oxford, the University of London, UCLA, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan.

Dr. Elliott W. Salloway: Dr. Salloway is the USA founder of Project eXodus, an international organization that explores the issues of genocide and human nature through art exhibitions, raising awareness throughout the world. As a faculty member at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he has used art extensively as a teaching tool. Dr. Salloway has been a periodontist in Worcester for 49 years and is an avid painter and photographer whose works have been exhibited at the Miami Historical Museum, Worcester City Arts, Boston City Arts, The New Gallery in Boston, Panopticon Gallery in Boston and Waltham, Arts Worcester, and the Davis Art Gallery. He studied art at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts and the Worcester Art Museum. Dr. Salloway’s works of art will also be included in the genocide exhibition.

Sayon Soeun: Soeun is a survivor of the Cambodian Genocide featured in the documentary, Lost Child: Sayon’s Journey. He was abducted at the age of six, exploited by the Khmer Rouge, his family life and education stolen. His recovery and redemption from unimaginable evil entails his transition from an orphanage in a refugee camp to adoption by a loving American family. After more than 35 years, he recently made contact with brothers and a sister he assumed were dead. The documentary follows his journey back to Cambodia to heal himself by finding the family that let him slip away and forgiving himself for his complicity as a Khmer Rouge child soldier.

Artists featured in the art exhibition are well-known painters, sculptors, textile artists, and collectors specializing in this genre. They include: Mohammed Ali and Al Asadi, Gagik Aroutiunian, Bayda Asbridge, John Avakian, Ani Babaian, Stephen Clements, Ellen Davison, Adrienne Der Marderosian, Dave Drinon, Charlotte Eckler, Amy Fagin, Fanardjian (loaned by Stephen Dulgarian), Lynne Foy, Gillian Frazier, Charles Gallagher, Mary Hart, James Higgins, Raymond Howell (loaned by Eve Soroken), JoAnn Janjigian, Andrew Ellis Johnson, David Jones, Lucine Kasbarian, Mico Kaufman, Chantha Khem, Puthearith Kret, Sandra Lauterbach, Markus Lewis, Adam Mastoon,Talin Megherian, Crissie Murphy, Ruth Naylor, Marsha Nouritza Odabashian, Judith Peck, Dany Pen, Sandra Presley, Bill Reedy, Hope Ricciardi, Jennifer Rocco Stone, Alain Rogier, LinDa Saphan, Susanne Slavick, Jessica Sperandio, Rose Sielian Theriault, Nora Tang, Sopheap Theam and New England Quilt Museum’s Community Quilters, Rita Thompson, Robert Thurlow, Holly Tomlinson, Carol Vinick, Denise Warren

The exhibition and symposium are free to the public. The program is supported in part by a grant from the Lowell Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Funding was also supplied in part by UMass Lowell, Moses Greeley Parker Lecture Series, and with the participation of NAASR (National Association of Armenian Studies and Research) and Artscope Magazine.

The Whistler House Museum of Art, located in Lowell, Massachusetts, is the historic birthplace of the famous American artist, James McNeill Whistler. Established in 1878 as the Lowell Art Association Inc., it is the oldest incorporated art association in the United States. It is known internationally for its distinguished collection of 19th and early 20th century New England representational art. The Whistler House hosts many exhibits, lectures, educational and community programs, concerts and an array of social events in the residence, gallery and adjoining Victorian park.

Putin Vows Justice In Armenian Family Massacre

January 19, 2015 By administrator

Armenia — President Serzh Sarkisian (R) with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin visit the 102nd Russian Military Base in Gyumri, December 2, 2013.

By Emil Danielyan,

Signaling concerns over unprecedented anti-Russian protests in Gyumri, President Vladimir Putin reportedly assured his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian on Sunday that Moscow will help to punish those responsible for the killing of six members of a local Armenian family. Report azatutyun.am

According to official Russian and Armenian sources, Putin telephoned Sarkisian to “once again express condolences to the relatives of the victims and the entire Armenian people” in connection with the slaughter allegedly perpetrated by a Russian soldier.

“The president of Russia expressed confidence that all necessary investigative actions will be taken within shortest time frames and that all the guilty will receive punishment envisaged by the law,” read a statement released by the Kremlin.

The statement said Putin also expressed hope that Russian medics who have arrived in Yerevan will help their Armenian colleagues save the life of the 6-month-old Seryozha Avetisian, the only survivor of the January 12 shooting spree. He said the Russian government is ready to transport the baby boy remaining in critical condition to Moscow for further treatment.

The Kremlin did not specify whether the two leaders discussed growing demands in Armenia for the Russian military to turn over the detained soldier, Valery Permyakov, to Armenian law-enforcement authorities. Moscow’s failure to do so has sparked angry protesters in Gyumri.

Many local residents fear that Russian authorities will cover up the shock crime if they handle the case. Hundreds of them clashed with riot police near the Russian consulate in Gyumri on Thursday. A larger number of Armenians protested outside the Gyumri headquarters of a Russian military base in Armenia the previous day.

A separate statement on the phone call issued by the Armenian presidential press service said Sarkisian and Putin stressed the need for “maximally close cooperation” between Russian and Armenian bodies investigating the killings. It said Sarkisian made clear that Armenian law-enforcement authorities will carry on with their efforts to “fully uncover all circumstances of the case.”

It was not clear whether the Armenian leader urged Putin to make sure that Permyakov, who has confessed to the killings, is tried in an Armenian court.

Both Armenian and Russian officials have indicated until now that the case will be taken up by a Russian military court located in Yerevan. The court has already remanded the 18-year-old conscript in pre-trial custody on charges of multiple murder and desertion.

On Thursday, Armenia’s Prosecutor-General Gevorg Kostanian promised, under pressure from the furious Gyumri protesters, to ask his Russian counterpart to transfer the suspect to Armenian jurisdiction. The pledge did not satisfy many in the crowd of about 2,000 people, resulting in a march to the Russian consulate, which was forcibly stopped by Armenian security forces.

Significantly, the Russian government has not yet officially condemned or criticized the unprecedented unrest in a country where public opinion has traditionally been in favor of close links with Russia. But many pundits in Moscow, including those close to the Kremlin, have rung alarm bells, warning of serious damage to Russian-Armenian ties. Some of them have even suggested that continued Russian military presence in the South Caucasus state may now be at risk.

This might explain why Putin decided to phone Sarkisian almost one week after the tragedy. He made no official statements on the matter until then, a fact contrasting with the Kremlin’s claim that the Russian president “once again” offered his condolences.

The Russian news agency RBK on Friday quoted an unnamed Russian security official as saying that Moscow has not yet made a final decision regarding Permyakov’s extradition to the Armenian side. The official said the suspect’s fate will be determined by Russia’s political leadership.

Under a bilateral treaty signed in 1997, soldiers of the Russian military base in Gyumri accused of crimes committed outside their units shall be dealt with by Armenian law-enforcement and judicial bodies. At the same time, Russia’s constitution prohibits the extradition of Russian nationals to any foreign state. This is the official reason why Permyakov remains in Russian military custody.

The soldier was reportedly caught by Russian border guards in Armenia while attempting to cross into Turkey more than 12 hours after the family massacre. They are said to have sent him back to the Russian base, which he deserted while being at a guard post overnight. Some Armenian government critics question this official theory, saying that Yerevan may have deliberately let the Russians capture their fugitive soldier.

Despite keeping custody of Permyakov, the Russian military has not only allowed Armenian investigators to question the suspect but also assigned him an Armenian defense attorney. The lawyer, Tamara Yayloyan, told the “168 Zham” newspaper on Saturday that she decided to abandon the case after attending an interrogation of her client.

“My refusal was unprofessional, but I just couldn’t control my emotions,” explained Yayloyan. “True, I have dealt with many murder cases for the past 17-18 years … But never before have I dealt with a case involving the murder of an infant. That had a big emotional impact on me.”

According to Yayloyan, Permyakov told his interrogators that he had never had contact with any of the murdered members of the Avetisian family before breaking into their Gyumri house early on January 12. He said he randomly picked the modest house to ask its residents for water.

The resulting shooting spree left a middle-aged couple, their daughter, son, daughter-in-law and 2-year-old granddaughter dead.

“[Permyakov] was asked, ‘Why did you shoot?’” the lawyer revealed to “168 Zham.” “He said, ‘I don’t know, they made noise, one of them reached for a mobile phone and I opened fire.’ When asked why he stabbed the babies he said, ‘I don’t know.’ He responded to almost every question with ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t explain.’”

Armenian Bar Association on Justice for the Armenian Genocide

June 12, 2014 By administrator

NEW YORK—The Armenian Bar Association issued a statement on Thursday outlining the organization’s demands for justice for the Armenian Genocide. The full statement is below

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The Board of Governors of the Armenian Bar Association has articulated the following statement on Justice for The Armenian Genocide.

WHEREAS during the final years of the Ottoman Empire and especially beginning on April 24, 1915, the government of the Ottoman Empire conceived and executed a plan to exterminate the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire; and

WHEREAS other minorities of the Ottoman Empire, including but not limited to Greeks and Assyrians, also suffered the loss of life and property at the hands of the perpetrator regime of the Committee of Union and Progress, i.e. the Young Turks; and

WHEREAS the plan to execute the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was the first genocide of the twentieth century, resulting in the execution and death on forced marches of at least one and a half million Armenians and causing untold agony to the survivors and their descendants to this day; and

WHEREAS on April 24, 2015, Armenians and non-Armenians alike will observe the centennial of this crime perpetrated against the Armenian nation and humanity; and

WHEREAS the government of the Republic of Turkey, successor state to the Ottoman Empire, continues to deny the genocide perpetrated by its predecessor state; and

WHEREAS, as of the ninety-ninth anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2014, the government of the Republic of Turkey has refused to make a meaningful gesture of admission of the truth or of reconciliation with the Armenian nation and has refused to offer restitution to the Armenian nation;

THEN, THEREFORE, the Armenian Bar Association, the largest association of lawyers of Armenian descent, acting from a desire to obtain justice for and promote the welfare of the Armenian nation, finds the following:

I. The Armenian nation does not seek revenge upon the dead who committed crimes against our people, but justice from the living who are in a position to make restitution to the Armenian nation.

II. The principle of restitution and justice is to put the victims in as good a position as if the wrong and harm had not occurred.

III. There is no way to restore to life the millions of Armenians who died during the Genocide or give life to those who would have been born if their ancestors had not perished.

IV. There is no way to compensate fully living Armenians for the suffering borne by so many of their descendants.

V. There is no way to repair fully the damage wrought upon the integrity and richness of Armenian culture, especially that of Western Armenia.

VI. The only way for the Republic of Turkey to have a mutually beneficial and harmonious relationship with the Armenian nation is for the government of the Republic of Turkey to admit the actions of its predecessor state and to take steps necessary to begin reconciliation. AND, the Armenian nation demands that certain measures be taken by the government of the Republic of Turkey as partial compensation for the lives lost, the property confiscated, and the damage visited upon the culture that was and is an integral part of the patrimony of the Armenian nation, including but not limited to the following:

1. The government of the Republic of Turkey must recognize officially the genocide of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire, and the Turkish state must apologize on behalf of the people of Turkey for genocidal crimes perpetrated and denied by predecessor regimes.

2. The government of the Republic of Turkey must make a good faith effort to ensure that the genocide of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire is taught in the schools of Turkey.

3. The government of the Republic of Turkey must make a good faith effort to seek reconciliation and normalization of relations between Turkey and the Republic of Armenia.

4. The government of the Republic of Turkey must restore the personal property owned by Armenians of the Ottoman Empire to its rightful owners or their heirs or must offer fair and just compensation for the loss of that property.

5. The government of the Republic of Turkey must restore the real property owned by Armenians of the Ottoman Empire to its rightful owners or their heirs or must offer fair and just compensation for the loss of that property.

6. The government of the Republic of Turkey must guarantee the free, equal, and independent status of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople and other Armenian religious organizations, including but not limited to the elimination of discrimination and legal impediments to the free exercise of religion.

7. The government of the Republic of Turkey must guarantee the equality of members of the Armenian nation residing in the Republic of Turkey, including but not limited to the elimination of discrimination against them in all forms whatsoever.

8. The government of the Republic of Turkey must restore the Armenian churches of all denominations or offer fair and just compensation for the loss of that property. The Armenian churches of the Ottoman Empire, whether Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, or Armenian Protestant, were the largest owners of both real and personal property in the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire. The churches also played a paramount role as the repository of the national wealth and culture of the Armenian community of the Ottoman Empire and of the Armenian nation around the world. Because thousands of clergy were murdered and almost all of the churches and religious buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, the churches bore the heaviest losses of any Armenian institution during the Genocide. Because the Armenian churches are historically the main custodians of Armenian culture and the welfare of the Armenian nation, they bore the greatest share of the burden of trying to alleviate suffering after the Genocide, a task made more difficult by the extreme losses they suffered.

9. The government of the Republic of Turkey must preserve and guarantee access to the Armenian religious, historical, and culturalsites within the Republic of Turkey, with the right of intervention by the Republic of Armenia and representatives of the Armenian nation to guarantee and oversee preservation of those sites.

10. The government of the Republic of Turkey must return all of the Armenian historic homeland, including but not limited to returning Mt. Ararat and its immediate surrounding area and the ancient Armenian City of Ani and its immediate surrounding area to the Republic of Armenia as part of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

11. The government of the Republic of Turkey must recognize that Nagorno-Karabagh, also known as Artsakh, is an independent republic deserving of all rights and responsibilities of sovereign countries.

12. The government of the Republic of Turkey must provide the Republic of Armenia with free access to the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, with appropriate access to railroads, highways, and international harbors on both the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea.

13. The government of the Republic of Turkey must provide and guarantee the Republic of Armenia with fair use of the natural resources of the area of Turkey leading to the border between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Armenia, including but not limited to rights to water, mineral rights, pasture, arable land, and timber.

14. The government of the Republic of Turkey must make a good faith effort to enter, with no pre-conditions or qualifications, into a multi-lateral pact with the Republic of Armenia and other interested parties in the region with a view towards clarifying the Republic of Armenia’s relations with the Republic of Turkey and its other neighbors and guaranteeing the security of the Republic of Armenia. These pacts would not be based upon the contradictory legacy of the treaties of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but would be based upon the realities and aspirations of the twenty-first century.

15. The government of the Republic of Turkey must make a significant financial contribution to those Armenian charities that currently minister to the needs of survivor communities of the Armenian Genocide.

THEREFORE, the Armenian Bar Association calls upon the government of the Republic of Turkey to accept and fulfill these demands in the name of justice for the dead and the living and those yet unborn and as the beginning of reconciliation and a harmonious relationshipbetween the citizens of the Republic of Turkey and the descendants of the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide.