PanArmenian News
October 21, 2004
`BY DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TURKEY REJECTS EUROPEAN VALUES`
BRUSSELS, 22.10.04. The First Convention of European Armenians,
organized by the European Armenian Federation on October 18 -19,
2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European
citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The
participants, who included leaders of various organizations and
concerned individuals from sixteen countries, attended the debates
organized within the framework of three sessions dedicated to the
Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the question of the
protection and the development of the Armenian language in the
Diaspora, the relations between the European Union and Armenia, and
the challenges of EU Enlargement. During the second session, the
ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr. Vigen Chitechian,
presented Mr. Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and European
Parliament former member, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the
highest official distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Touching
upon the topic of Turkey`s candidacy to the European Union, Hilda
Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation
declared that `Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the Armenian
people – the very people who represented the values of enlightenment
within the Ottoman Empire – its rejection of European modernity.` She
warned European Union`s leaders against the integration of a State
that persists to express that rejection of European values through
its policy of denial and that through its attitude `threatens the
regional stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian
people.`