PRESS RELEASE
Armenia Solidarity
Tel 07876561398 or 07718982732
e-mails : [email protected], [email protected]
norserount@btconnec t.com [email protected]
British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group
Nor Serount Publications
Armenian Genocide commemorated in the UK Houses of Parliament
Major Conference on the Genocide held in the House of Commons
On Armenian Genocide Day, Parliamentarians, Armenians and supporters
gathered for the first commemorative service within the Houses of Parliament
Church (St Mary’s-under-Croft), and for a major international conference in
the Grand Committee room of the House of Commons. The events were organised
by Armenia Solidarity, the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
and Nor Serount Publications.
The Church service was led by the Rev Frank Gelli who called for the
government to be more proactive in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
. Soprano Seta Tokatlian sang the Hayr Mer coincidentally with the chimes
of Big Ben.
Two wreath -laying ceremonies took place, the first one at the Monument to
the Innocents, Westminster Abbey, officiated by the Dean R Reece of the
Abbey with the participation of representatives of the Darfur Union of the
UK and the Aegis Trust. Seta Tokatlian read the poem "We are Few" by Barouyr
Sevak.
The second ceremony took place at the Cenotaph where E. Williams appealed
for more efforts to add to the 104 MPs who have signed Early Day Motion 357
in Parliament , recognising the Genocide, through sustained lobbying by all
Armenians.
The conference was chaired by distinguished parliamentarian Lord Avebury,
Farhad Malikian. director of the Centre for International Criminal Law,
Uppsala, Sweden, dealt with the legal aspects of crimes against humanity and
genocide. The full force of international law applied to the perpetrators
of this genocide as their international obligations under treaties had not
been met.
Historians Christopher Walker and Greg Topalian focussed on the tactics used
by denialist historians and the British government facilitated by the
reluctance of the US and UK governments to recognise the genocide. Author
Desmond Fernandes stressed that political and ideological trends based on
selective documentation meant the reality of the Armenian Genocide was not
being allowed to get through.
Dr Margaret Brearley brought out the parallels between the Armenian Genocide
and the Holocaust. Linda Melvern,Vice President of the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, read the powerful open statement to the
Prime Minister of Turkey that the genocide was fully accepted by that
organisation and this conclusion could not be varied by bilateral dialogues
between Turkey and Armenia.
Professor Theo Van Lint brought out the genocide in the context of the rich
and varied cultural life that was extinguished with the Armenian communities
in Eastern Anatolia.
Ambassador Gabrielyan stated any discussions on the detail of history was
futile and that politics was at the core of this issue. This explains
Armenia’s belief in inter-governmental contacts to address the changes in
attitudes needed on both side of the closed border. The British government
does have a role to play and the Republic of Armenia considers that UK
recognition an essential step in this process.
A clear and unequivocal message from the UK based Muslim Public Affairs
Committee, recognising that what happened to the Armenians was Genocide,
Holocaust , and a Crime against humanity, was read by Odette Bazil of the
British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group. She also read a reply from
Geoff Hoon , MP on behalf of the government, to the dismay of the attendees
that demonstrated that the British government’s position was at variance
with the position of the overwhelming majority of genocide scholars and
experts in the UK and worldwide
.
A vote of thanks was given by the well-respected campaigner in parliament on
the issue, Baroness Cox.
The proceedings of the conference, together with statements received from
Genocide experts such as Prof. Donald Bloxham (Edinburgh University), Dr.
Mark Levene (Southampton University), Prof Martin Shaw (Sussex University)
and Armenian intellectuals will be presented to the government in the course
of the next few weeks by Lord Avebury and Baroness Cox. This will be
supported by documentation including the compilation by John Torosyan
presented to the Holocaust Memorial Trust and bibliography for the
government to study. The government will also be invited to contact other
well-known UK Genocide experts directly such as Professor Jurgen Zimmerer of
Sheffield University and Dr. Cathie Carmichael of the University of East
Anglia.
It is now clear that despite statements to the contrary neither this
government or any previous UK government have consulted any of the experts
on genocide listed in this release. It is high time for them to review and
renounce their present position.