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Archive for April, 2007

April 17th, 2007 by

On Thursday, April 12, 2007, over one hundred Illinois residents had an opportunity to hear Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speak out on the importance of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

On several occasions over the past four years, Birazian, a Northbrook native, has attended the briefings on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Illinois and has questioned her Senators on matters of importance to the state’s Armenian American community.

When invited to ask a question, Birazian thanked Senator Durbin for spearheading the Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.106, as well as leading the effort to pass targeted divestment legislation relating to Darfur. Birazian also encourage Senator Obama to cosponsor S.Res.106. In his response, Senator Obama stated: “For those who aren’t aware, there was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian people. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on the part of the Turkish Government and others that this occurred. It has become a sore spot diplomatically. . .”

Following the meeting, Birazian commented: “Armenian Americans in Illinois and across the nation look forward to Senator Obama becoming a cosponsor of S. Res.106. His principled stand on genocide recognition is honorable, and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his support of the legislation would help ensure that it moves quickly to the floor for a vote of the full Senate.”

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April 17th, 2007 by

On Thursday, April 12, 2007, over one hundred Illinois residents had an opportunity to hear Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speak out on the importance of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

On several occasions over the past four years, Birazian, a Northbrook native, has attended the briefings on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Illinois and has questioned her Senators on matters of importance to the state’s Armenian American community.

When invited to ask a question, Birazian thanked Senator Durbin for spearheading the Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.106, as well as leading the effort to pass targeted divestment legislation relating to Darfur. Birazian also encourage Senator Obama to cosponsor S.Res.106. In his response, Senator Obama stated: “For those who aren’t aware, there was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian people. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on the part of the Turkish Government and others that this occurred. It has become a sore spot diplomatically. . .”

Following the meeting, Birazian commented: “Armenian Americans in Illinois and across the nation look forward to Senator Obama becoming a cosponsor of S. Res.106. His principled stand on genocide recognition is honorable, and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his support of the legislation would help ensure that it moves quickly to the floor for a vote of the full Senate.”

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Obama on Armenian Genocide

April 17th, 2007 by

On Thursday, April 12, 2007, over one hundred Illinois residents had an opportunity to hear Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) speak out on the importance of recognizing the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

On several occasions over the past four years, Birazian, a Northbrook native, has attended the briefings on behalf of the Armenian National Committee of Illinois and has questioned her Senators on matters of importance to the state’s Armenian American community.

When invited to ask a question, Birazian thanked Senator Durbin for spearheading the Armenian Genocide Resolution, S.Res.106, as well as leading the effort to pass targeted divestment legislation relating to Darfur. Birazian also encourage Senator Obama to cosponsor S.Res.106. In his response, Senator Obama stated: “For those who aren’t aware, there was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian people. It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on the part of the Turkish Government and others that this occurred. It has become a sore spot diplomatically. . .”

Following the meeting, Birazian commented: “Armenian Americans in Illinois and across the nation look forward to Senator Obama becoming a cosponsor of S. Res.106. His principled stand on genocide recognition is honorable, and as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his support of the legislation would help ensure that it moves quickly to the floor for a vote of the full Senate.”

More information on ANCA Website.

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Turkey and the U.N.’s Cover-Up

April 13th, 2007 by

More than 90 years ago, when Turkey was still part of the Ottoman Empire, Turkish nationalists launched an extermination campaign there that killed 1.5 million Armenians. It was the 20th century’s first genocide. The world noticed, but did nothing, setting an example that surely emboldened such later practitioners as Hitler, the Hutu leaders of Rwanda in 1994 and today’s Sudanese president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

Turkey has long tried to deny the Armenian genocide. Even in the modern-day Turkish republic, which was not a party to the killings, using the word genocide in reference to these events is prosecuted as a serious crime. Which makes it all the more disgraceful that United Nations officials are bowing to Turkey’s demands and blocking this week’s scheduled opening of an exhibit at U.N. headquarters commemorating the 13th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide because it mentions the mass murder of the Armenians. [Read More]

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Objections Lead U.N. to Delay Genocide Exhibit

April 11th, 2007 by

The United Nations dismantled an exhibit on the Rwandan genocide and postponed its scheduled opening by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday after the Turkish mission objected to references to the Armenian genocide in Turkey at the time of World War I.
The panels of graphics, photos and statements had been installed in the visitors lobby on Thursday by the British-based Aegis Trust. The trust campaigns for the prevention of genocide and runs a center in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, memorializing the 500,000 victims of the massacres there 13 years ago.

Hours after the show was assembled, however, a Turkish diplomat spotted offending words in a section entitled “What is genocide?” and raised objections.

The passage said that “following World War I, during which one million Armenians were murdered in Turkey,” Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer credited with coining the word genocide, “urged the League of Nations to recognize crimes of barbarity as international crimes.” [Read More]

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“Screamers” Serj Tankian and Carla Garapedian Denounce Cancellation of UN Genocide Exhibition Mentioning Armenians

April 11th, 2007 by

BUSINESS WIRE

Following the UN Secretary General’s request to remove a sentence referring to a million Armenians being murdered during the Ottoman Empire from the Aegis Trust exhibition “Lessons from Rwanda,” and the exhibition’s subsequent cancellation, Serj Tankian and Carla Garapedian have issued the following statement:

“We are very shocked by this decision by the Secretary General to remove mention of a historical event which is well-documented by thousands of official records of the United States and nations around the world, including Turkey’s wartime allies, Germany, Austria and Hungary; by Ottoman court martial records; and by eyewitness accounts of missionaries, diplomats and survivors; as well as decades of historical scholarship. In the U.S., President Bush has called the events the ‘forced exile and annihilation of approximately 1.5 million Armenians.’ [Read More]

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Armenia: The forgotten genocide

April 5th, 2007 by

The Oakland Press
The massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923 is being remembered by two Oakland County residents of Armenian descent.

The 92nd anniversary of the beginning of the slaughter is April 24.

Souren Abrahamian of Southfield, who will be 100 on June 15, was 8 years old when 35 members of his family were slain. He will be in the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn on April 22, when speakers tell of the genocide.

Abrahamian is the author of “From Van to Detroit,” the story of his journey from the Armenian village of Van to the Motor City. He came to America in 1921, settling in Highland Park. “
For no reason, in a couple of months we had to leave our homes and migrate toward Russia,” recalled Abrahamian of the genocide’s beginnings in 1915. [Read More]

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