Armenians In Los Angeles Stage Protest Against Turkish Deputy PM

ARMENIANS IN LOS ANGELES STAGE PROTEST AGAINST TURKISH DEPUTY PM

17:47 22.10.2013

Around 200 people gathered in front of the Intercontinental Hotel in
Los Angeles Monday evening to protest the L.A. World Affairs Council’s
(LAWAC) decision to host the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali
Babacan.

Mr. Babacan was due to speak on Turkey’s economic and foreign policy,
including United States-Turkey business relations and future economic
investment in the region.

The protest, organized by the Armenian Youth Federation, denounced the
event, condemning LAWAC for hosting a “representative of the government
responsible for the 1st genocide of the 20th century and the continued
occupation of Western Armenia and over one third of Cyprus.”

“The Council would certainly not invite any of the following officials
nor their representatives to speak: Jean Kambanda of Rwanda, Slobodan
Milosevic of Serbia, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Pol Pot of Cambodia,
or Heinrich Himmler of Nazi Germany; Mr. Babacan is a representative
of such a genocidal regime,” states an event page for the protest.

Genocide and the denial of it are not Armenian, Jewish, Rwandan issues
but humanitarian ones, and the organizers of the protest hoped to
bring attention to the consequences of undermining these concerns.

“This fact that a representative from the government of Turkey is being
given platform in L.A., from which to spread false propaganda about
all the amazing ways in which Turkey is a shining example of democracy
in order to win the hearts and dollars of potential investors should
be an outrage for us all-not just for Armenians, but all American
citizens and all people who believe in democratic values,” said the
Executive Director of the Armenian Youth Federation Western Region,
Stepan Keshishian, in an interview.

“The economic environment in Turkey is founded on an unethical,
immoral, and savage history, which the government actively fights
to deny. Turkish foreign and economic policy today is based on these
same lies,” he added.

The Los Angeles World Affairs Council is a large network of local
councils, which hosts numerous events with high-level politicians,
academics and policymakers.

“We have speakers from all spectrums of contentious issues and as a
non-partisan organization, we don’t endorse the viewpoints of the
speakers we host,” said the President of LAWAC, Terry McCarthy,
in a telephone conversation.

Source:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress