Author: Chatinian Lara

ZNet, MA
Feb 23 2007

No shame in slaughter

by Stefan Christoff
February 22, 2007
Montreal Mirror

The histories of Turkey and Armenia are deeply intertwined. Dating
back to the Ottoman Empire, the Armenian Orthodox Christians, a
prominent minority community, specialized in commerce, often working
as intermediaries for merchants from Europe and the eastern empire.
But in the early 20th century, as momentum and support for Armenian
independence expanded, Armenians faced mounting repression from
Ottoman authorities. During the explosive events of World War I,
Ottoman repression resulted in genocide, with an estimated 1.5
million Armenians massacred and expelled from the crumbling empire.

The Armenian genocide persists as a matter of international
controversy, one that Turkish activist and scholar Taner Akçam
continues to confront. As one of the first prominent Turkish
historians to call the slaughter of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
between 1915 and 1917 a genocide, Akçam’s work has garnered
international attention.

His celebrated new book, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and
the Question of Turkish Responsibility, incorporates archival
material from British, German, U.S. and Ottoman records. Akçam will
be delivering two lectures in Montreal this weekend.

Official silence

"An official recognition of the Armenian genocide must take place in
Turkey," Akçam tells the Mirror. "The Armenian diaspora seeks a clear
recognition of this historical injustice, which present-day Turkish
pro-democracy advocates must support."

"Despite the international attention toward my book, there has not
been one single book review published in Turkey," he says. "People in
Turkey can’t touch the book publicly due to pressure from government
authorities."

Akçam is not new to controversy. The historian and professor at the
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of
Minnesota fled Turkey as a political refugee in the 1970s. After
receiving a 10-year prison term for producing a student journal that
focused on Turkey’s treatment of the Kurdish minority, Akçam was
declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International in 1976
and eventually granted asylum in Germany.

"I was part of the 1968 generation, a common student movement in all
of Europe and throughout the world," says Akçam. "In Turkey, this
student movement had multiple targets, including the U.S. war in
Vietnam and democratization in Turkey, an important U.S. ally until
today."

In 2004, the Canadian federal Liberal government presented and passed
an "acknowledgement resolution" within Parliament concerning the
Armenian genocide. However, Conservative Foreign Affairs Minister
Peter MacKay recently tailored the Canadian acknowledgement of the
Armenian genocide. MacKay’s new position includes a statement in
support of a recent Turkish proposal to create a joint investigative
commission with Armenia concerning the events surrounding the
genocide, which the Armenian Foreign Minister dismissed as a
"smokescreen".

Democratic demands

Turkey currently faces multiple political crossroads. As negotiations
on European Union accession continue, pro-democracy activists
continue to mount pressure on the government to recognize the
Armenian genocide. Akçam argues that its open acknowledgment is
essential to allow an honest discussion of Turkey’s past, while
opening contemporary political space to address the treatment of
minorities today.

"Recognizing the Armenian genocide is a crucial point in the process
of building a vibrant Turkish democracy," says Akçam. "Although the
genocide occurred almost 100 years ago, it remains central to the
Armenian identity and directly relates to how Turkey treats its
minorities today, especially Kurds."

Both the Turkish government and military continue to publicly deny
the Armenian genocide, while grassroots political pressure to
recognize the genocide has grown in recent years. "Turkey is facing a
political fight between two forces. On one side, the democracy
movement–a civil movement without central organization–and on the
other side, the unelected authoritarian military bureaucracy which
until now has refused to relinquish its grip on power," says Akçam.
"The current government is caught in between these two political
forces."

Last month, Armenian-Turkish newspaper editor Hrant Dink was
assassinated in Istanbul, allegedly by a Turkish ultra-nationalist.
Days after Dink’s death, hundreds of thousands gathered in Istanbul
to denounce the murder in one of the biggest demonstrations in
contemporary Turkish history.

"The Armenian diaspora should follow closely the current developments
in Turkey and build ties with the democracy movement," says Akçam.
"Turkey’s movement for democratic change views the recognition of the
Armenian genocide as part of its struggle, which is one of the
messages I will be bringing to Montreal."

rticle.cfm?SectionID=74&ItemID=12183

Agence France Presse — English
February 22, 2007 Thursday 9:30 AM GMT

Turkish MPs to lobby in US against Armenian genocide bill

Turkish legislators are to travel to Washington to lobby members of
the US Congress against a draft resolution recognising the mass
killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide,
parliamentary sources said Thursday.

Three separate delegations, including members of the ruling Justice
and Development Party and the main opposition Republican People’s
Party, will visit Washington in late February and in March to seek
support against the resolution, expected to be debated at the House
of Representatives in April.

The Democratic-controlled Congress is widely expected to back the
draft, even though the White House is opposed to it, wary over the
impact on relations with a key Muslim ally and a NATO member.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said after a visit to
Washington this month that passing the draft would "poison" ties and
"spoil everything" between the two countries.

In October 2000, a similar draft was pulled from the House floor
following an intervention by then president Bill Clinton.

President George W. Bush commemorates the massacres each year in a
speech, but stops short of calling them genocide.

The parliaments of many countries have recognised the killings as
genocide, and Turkey has responded by temporarily downgrading its
political and economic ties with some of them.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin perished in orchestrated
massacres and deportations in 1915-17 during World War I.

Turkey maintains that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks
died in civil strife, when Armenians took up arms for independence in
eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian troops invading the crumbling
Ottoman Empire.

Safarov’s lawyers going to reach European Court
23.02.2007 13:58 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Azerbaijani Coordination Council on Ramil
Safarov’s rights defense `protests’ against the decision of the
Hungarian Court of Appeal which sustained life sentence for the Azeri
serviceman, council representative, Azeri Milli Mejlis member Azay
Guliyev said. He said the Coordination Council rates the verdict as
`partial and preconceived and is going to appeal it in the Hungarian
Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.’

`We expected such a decision,’ Safarov’s father told reporters. He
said Ramil called him several days ago and informed that two or three
judges of the Court of Appeal were replaced. Safarov senior blamed the
Azeri Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office
of Prosecutor General for `inactivity in defending Ramil.’ `I think
this verdict was handed against whole Azerbaijan but not my son,’ he
said, reports Novosti Azerbaijan.

February 22, 2007 judge Piroski Karpati of the Hungarian Court of
Appeal sustained the April 13 verdict providing for life imprisonment
for Ramil Safarov, the murderer of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.

February 19, 2004 Armenian armed forces lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan,
who was taking an English language course within Partnership for Peace
NATO program, was hacked to death by Safarov. The Hungarian court
sentenced the murderer for life imprisonment without the right to
pardon during initial 30 years.

GHUKASSIAN: THERE IS NOTHING MORE PRECIOUS FOR ME THAN HIGH INTERNATIONAL IMAGE OF NKR

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.02.2007 13:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arkadi
Ghukassian addressed to the NKR people in connection with coming
presidential elections. In his message A. Ghukassian particularly said:
"Unfortunately, some mass media of the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia
go on speculating on my possible nomination for the presidency,
however, the issue was closed long ago. In particular, there were
made attempts to present my last statement on expediency of the
acting president’s reelection to the third term from the political
and moral viewpoints as a game that had allegedly been planned to
dull public opinion. Similar actions can just harm the image of the
Nagorno-Karabakh as a state adherent to the European values. Moreover,
such speculations bring unnecessary nervousness to our society and
contribute to its split. To avoid unhealthy false rumors, concerning
my intentions for the future, I considered it necessary to make a
statement last year in October that would remove all the questions,
concerning my possible nomination to a third presidential term.

However, a statement made by the NKR President was not enough for
some mass media and politician elements.

They obviously believe the President should confirm his refusal
to ballot again, provoking him to make similar steps by their
insinuations. Naturally, one can ignore the unworthy conduct of these
persons, but for the fact that their actions harm our society.

The people resort to various actions to slander the President. Any
event in the state and outside, immediately connected with my name,
presented by them as alleged confirmation of the acting President’s
hidden intentions to participate again in the elections of the
state’s head.

Meanwhile, NKR ordinary citizens, representatives of various political
and public organizations, state employees, MPs, our compatriots in
Armenia and other countries, Artsakh’s friends in abroad, as well
as famous foreign diplomats, politicians, political scientists and
philanthropists apply every day to me with a request to stand for
the presidency at the forthcoming presidential elections, as the
NKR Constitution, adopted by our people, gives similar opportunity to
acting head of the state. However, the President, who respects himself,
cannot speak one thing today and another thing tomorrow. Expressing
my deep gratitude to all citizens of our Republic and our friends
in abroad, who support domestic and foreign policy I conduct and
sincerely wish to see me as the President in future as well, I state
again, that I am not intending to run for President.

Nevertheless, being aware of the conduct manner of political
speculators and mass media that serve them, I’m almost sure, that
my today’s statement will not put an end to unhealthy talks on the
given subject.

Nothing can be done with it: it seems, we deal here with a cureless
disease. I am just sorry for these people.

I repeat again: the most precious value for me is high international
image of my Motherland – the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, without which
the NKR recognition by the international community is impossible."

ARTUR BAGHDASARIAN: "MASS DISPLEASURES TO BE IN CASE OF MASS FALSIFICATIONS OF ELECTIONS"

Noyan Tapan
Feb 22 2007

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Mass displeasures will be
in the case mass of falsifications at the coming parliamentary
elections. Artur Baghdasarian, the Chairman of the "Orinats Yerkir"
(Country of Law) party (OYP) stated about it at the February 22
press conference. He mentioned at the same time that OYP does not
belong to the row of those political forces which say that, it is
all the same, results of the elections will be falsified as such a
propaganda causes despair among the people. "There are privileged
people in the country standing above the law who attempt to prove
in the conditions of triumphal march of money and boorishness that
it is all the same, they will do what they want. And we say that
they can not do, and we shall do everything for normal elections are
held in Armenia," A.Baghdasarian stated. He mentioned that all the
forces of the opposing field will struggle in the united way for the
elections correspond to international standards. A.Baghdasarian stated
that the OYP will alone participate in the elections. In his words,
conversations about the necessity of unification of the opposition are
a part of the scenario formed by the authorities the goal of which
is to prove the opposition’s being powerless. "We are against the
idea of artificial unifications and find that jealousy is stronger
than love in similar alliances," the OYP Chairman mentioned. In his
words, as the authorities go to elections with some poles, as the
opposition must also go. "The important thing is that the opposition
has a healthy cooperation and that cooperation exists," A.Baghdasarian
mentioned. In his words, for the first time in the 15-year history
of the independence of Armenia, the opposing forces will actively
participate in the parliamentary elections. A.Baghdasarian attached
importance to the idea of nominating candidatures of the opposing
parties’ heads according to the majoritarian electoral system. He at
the same time mentioned that, in all probability, his candidature
will not be nominated though the OYP will have a great number of
proportional candidates.

GERMAN FM: DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING IS IMPORTANT FOR ARMENIA

Arminfo
2007-02-20 21:40:00

The development of nuclear power engineering is important for Armenia,
German FM Frank-Walter Steinmeier said during a press-conference in
Yerevan today.

He said that Armenia is successfully diversifying its energy sources by
building the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. This is a very positive factor.

Speaking of the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railroad,
Steinmeier said that it is important that all the South Caucasian
countries be involved in regional projects. He said that Armenia will
not always be left outside regional projects.

KUWAIT TO INVEST ASSETS INTO TWO LARGE PROJECTS IN GEORGIA – NOGAIDELI

Arminfo
2007-02-20 15:18:00

Prime-Minister of Georgia Zurab Nogaideli considers that his visit
to Kuwait on February 17-18 was successful. This fact was emphasized
to journalists by Zurab Nogaideli after the visit.

During the visit an arrangement was made on investing two important
projects in Georgia by Kuwait.

"There is consent of the government of Kuwait and the agreement is
expected to be made in the nearest future", Nogaideli informed.

According to him, Kuwaiti Fund of Economic Development will invest
assets amounting to $720 mln into project "Namakhvani", envisaging
construction of three large hydro power plants on the river Rioni
near Kutaisi (Western Georgia).

It is stated in the government of Georgia that construction of
these three HPP does not mean only independence in energy issues,
but creation of thousand working places.

After construction of these three HPP is finished, Georgia will
provide itself completely with electricity and in summer it will
export it to Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Construction of power plants will begin in 2009 and to be completed
during five years. The first HPP will be built during four years,
two other HPP will be put into operation in a year after the first HPP.

The second project where Kuwaiti finance will be invested envisages
construction of the highway in Eastern Georgia.

The Georgian side will cover 20% of the project cost, 80% ($30 mln)
will be invested by Kuwaiti Fund of Economic Development. The project
will be started being implementing in 2008.

During the visit the issue of export of Georgian water to Kuwait and
countries of the Persian Gulf was discussed, but a concrete agreement
on the issue was not made.

In 2007 employment of $16 mln allocated by Kuwait for repair and
construction of roads in Tbilisi has been started.

Besides, as Nogaideli informed, it turned out during the visit that
pursuant to the agreement with the Turkish side, which was building
the new international airport in Batumi, Kuwait participated in the
project, it financed 10% of investments.

Azg, Armenia
Feb 17 2007

AZERIS STILL LIVING IN ARMENIA – OFFICIAL

Azerbaijanis still live in Armenia in mixed marriages, an Armenian
official has said. They however hide their ethnicity for security
reasons, the head of the department of ethnic minorities and
religious affairs under the Armenian government, Hranush Kharatyan,
added. Speaking to journalists at a news conference in Yerevan, she
also spoke about problems of other ethnic groups in the country. The
following is text of report by Nana Petrosyan in Armenian newspaper
Azg on 17 February headlined "Azerbaijanis do not create a community,
but live in Armenia"; subheadings as published:

There are Azerbaijanis living in Armenia. Their number is
considerable, but cannot be published. It is forbidden by a
corresponding UN convention. The aim is securing safety. The latest
census gave certain information about numbers of Azerbaijanis in
Armenia, but it is not a complete reflection of the reality. Many
still hide their ethnicity. The head of the department of ethnic
minorities and religious affairs under the Armenian government,
Hranush Kharatyan, said this to reporters in the Urbat club yesterday
[16 February].

Mixed married couples that have moved here from Azerbaijan are not
few among Azerbaijanis living in Armenia. Two Azerbaijani sisters
living in Vardenis Region had left for Azerbaijan in 1988 and
returned to Armenia after their mother was killed. They continue to
live in their birth place [Armenia]. Hranush Kharatyan brought this
example and confidently stated that possibly the Azerbaijanis living
in Armenia still fear and do not express will to create a community.

The rights are given, the means are yet to be found

For already four years 10m drams [27,000 dollars] from the Armenian
state budget have been allocated for educational and cultural
projects of ethnic minorities. The government makes sure that all
ethnic groups exercise their rights, but it takes on itself an
obligation to implement them precisely in the case of ethnic
minorities. The others, as the Armenian communities in different
countries, have to find the means to implement their rights on their
own.

"In our country there is no lack of political and good will to
preserve the cultural heritage and identity of ethnic minorities, but
the means to implement this right are not sufficient," Hranush
Kharatyan assured. Ethnic minorities’ 10 periodicals are subsidized
by the state. But they are printed in Armenian or Russian, and the
requirement of the state to publish at least one page in a native
language has no response. The Assyrians living in Armenia choose
Russian as an education language. In this case the state has the
right not to educate in the native language, providing additional
Russian language classes in an Armenian public school for students of
a particular community. The issues of ethnic minorities do not
especially differ from the issues that other people living in Armenia
face, Hranush Kharatyan thinks.

Terms moving from one report to another

The Yezidi minority still has issues related to land, water and
pastures. Some representatives of this community have not yet
received their land ownership documents. These terms and the ones
about the difficulties the ethnic minorities face in participating in
the political life have been groundlessly placed in one report of the
European Commission on Racism and Intolerance or in the other,
Kharatyan said. The commission has not been able to provide Armenia
with facts when Armenia asked for it. Kharatyan assured that no
breach of law had been registered to this effect.

Kharatyan did not rule out the possibility of ensuring obedience to
the law on renting pastures through means outside the law and said:
"I fear that the Yezidis have been speculating on the issue."
Kharatyan explained this saying: "We were able to reserve the right
to ownership and renting for a village first and then for an
individual. There were no representatives of the Yezidi community at
the organized auction although they had been informed beforehand. We
postponed the auction to ensure their presence. They did not appear
again, and the auction took place without them."

If there is any anti-Semitism it is theoretical

Even if there is anti-Semitism [in Armenia], it is only theoretical.
I think the Armenians generally respect the intellect of the Jews and
still fear that the Jewish culture be united [as published], Hranush
Kharatyan answered a corresponding question. She presented official
information and the facts proven by life that in reality 200 Jews
living in Armenia have integrated into the life of the country and
generally live in mixed families.

The Choate News, CT
Feb 16 2007

Death of an Editor Offers Glimpse into the Armenian Genocide

By Loren Olson `08
News Staff Reporter

Twenty-five days ago, a seventeen-year-old halfway around the globe
was arrested and charged with murder. This event might have been
another unremarkable act of violence – unfortunate but commonplace – had
the target of the teen’s crime not been the editor Hrant Dink. His
paper, Agos, was the sole Armenian-Turkish newspaper printed in
Turkey. At this point, I am sure that you have already dismissed – or
are about to dismiss – these words and put down the paper. Perhaps you
are thinking (quite jadedly) `That’s the Middle East for you.’ That
blanket statement, however, diverts our attentions from exploring
what lies beneath one editor’s story. Hrant Dink’s assassination
affords us a rare window into Turkey’s cultural and political
workings, and a chance to better understand the perpetuation of
genocide.

It is too easy to attribute Mr. Dink’s murder to simple terrorism;
perpetrated, perhaps, with the specific goal of destabilizing
Turkey’s already-problematic journey towards European Union
membership. It is important to note, however, that Armenian-born
Hrant Dink, apart from remaining under close nationalist supervision,
was serving a suspended six-month sentence for having repeatedly
criticized the Turkish government’s official (but as Dink argued,
deliberately inaccurate) recounting of the Armenian Genocide.
Although international interest in his assassination brings Mr.
Dink’s story to Choate, he is not the only Turk worthy of widespread
attention; another courageous Turkish intellectual, Orhan Pamuk, has
also recently brought the Turkish version of the genocide into
question. Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize for literature, finds
acclaim and popularity everywhere but in his own country. And in
light of the Hrant Dink slaying, Pamuk’s plight has begun to gain the
press attention and political significance that it deserves.

Though Pamuk has only recently come into the media’s eye, his rocky
relationship with the government of Turkey is surprisingly
deep-rooted; indeed, it has been developing for over a decade,
beginning in 1995 when he gave public and outspoken support for
Kurdish political rights. During that time, the Partiya Karkerên
Kurdistan – which has been identified by the EU and UN as a
secessionist terrorist organization – was engaged in a civil war with
Turkey in the hopes of creating an independent Kurdish state. In the
midst of the open warfare, Turkish forces often evacuated and
destroyed Kurdish villages in the countryside, displacing some
378,000 people.

Because he identified with Turkey’s political enemies, Pamuk was
tried among a group of authors who had also written essays
criticizing the Turkish treatment of the Kurds – an event that, though
surprising to us, was hardly out of the ordinary in a country where
freedom of the press is not guaranteed. Not only are Turks unable to
write and print freely, as we do; they are even prohibited to make
honest comments about their government. Indeed, a new penal code
introduced June of 2005 included the following:

`A person who, being a Turk, explicitly insults the Republic of
Turkish Grand National Assembly, shall be imposed to [sic] a penalty
of imprisonment for a term of six months to three years.’

Though he was despised by his government, Orhan Pamuk enjoyed
moderate support from his countrymen – that is, until his fatal
interview with the Swiss publication Das Magazin in February of 2005.
In his statement, Pamuk stated that `Thirty thousand Kurds and a
million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody dares to talk
about it.’

Following the interview’s publication, Pamuk was summoned on criminal
charges by two Turkish professional associations and subjected to a
hate campaign so virulent that he was forced to flee Turkey. While
the private charges were dropped, the Turkish government
retroactively charged Pamuk with having violated the penal code
mentioned above. The situation was hardly ameliorated when, after the
prosecution had begun, Pamuk reiterated the taboo statement that had
already provoked severe public and government scrutiny: `I repeat, I
said loud and clear that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were
killed in Turkey.’

This speech, made at an award ceremony in Germany, only further
inflamed his government and many Turkish citizens. Pamuk’s books,
though not as politically controversial as their author, were
stripped from shelves and burned. Only following international
outcry, including a reassessment of Turkey’s proposed entry into the
European Union, were the charges dropped on a technicality.

It may come as surprising to us that a mere statement like the one
made by Pamuk can result in such national uproar and evoke the same
level of government wrath as Pamuk’s did. But considering the lengths
in recent years that the Turkish government has gone to suppress
recognition of the Armenian genocide, Pamuk’s persecution was no less
than guaranteed. The UN defines genocide as `acts committed with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial
or religious group.’ During World War I, the Young Turk government of
Ottoman Turkey organized and carried out the forced deportation of
the Armenian people to Syria, where they were starved, tortured, and
even massacred. Between 1915 and 1923, the bulk of the Armenian
population was completely decimated. Although many countries
recognized the atrocities as genocide and there still remai many
living witnesses, the Republic of Turkey has adamantly denied the
charge and dismisses all evidence as mere allegation. Rather, the
government claims that sectional fighting and starvation – and not
government-organized mass execution – were the culprits. Failure to
recognize the genocide not only denies the pain of the survivors’
descendents; it also hurts the world audience.

At our school, we have the privilege of reading history textbooks
that criticize our government. Jackson’s organized massacre of the
Indians who hindered his planned westward expansion is neither denied
nor glamorized. However, many countries do not have that privilege.
In Japan, for example, recent `revisionist history’ has removed the
rape of Nanjing from student’s textbooks. `Interesting,’ many will
say, `but how does this concern us here at Choate?’ Most governments,
in an attempt to conceal their worst acts, will hide genocide and
diminish its horrors. The atrocities are made almost unreal to the
people; and the longer a country is denied the truth, the easier it
becomes to deny past genocide – and increasingly difficult to loathe in
the same way that victims would. Once it is out of sight and out of
popular awareness, genocide is allowed to perpetuate elsewhere. Only
in full disclosure may the detestable cycle of genocide be ended.

Clearly, we have not learned from the past, for the events in Darfur
have been unfolding unabated for years. So what can we do here at
Choate, thousands of miles away and consumed by our own problems? By
keeping updated on news as ephemeral as Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel Prize or
Hrant Dink’s assassination, we can recognize the direness of ongoing
genocides and increase our awareness of the suffering of others.
While we loudly complain about how hard it is to be a teenager or a
student at Choate, there are others suffering in silence. As future
leaders, it is our duty to stay informed, so that we may one day have
the knowledge to prevent history from repeating itself.

h_of_an_Editor_Offers_.php

Armenian Assembly of America
1140 19th Street, NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS RELEASE
February 16, 2007
CONTACT: Karoon Panosyan
E-mail: [email protected]

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY CONTINUES OUTREACH ON GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

Momentum Builds with Over 170 Supporters

Washington, DC – In an effort to secure a crucial bipartisan majority on
the Armenian Genocide resolution, Assembly leaders have conducted a
series of meetings with Members of Congress, urging them to cosponsor H.
Res. 106 and reaffirm the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide.

Assembly Board of Trustees Member Annie Totah and Executive Director
Bryan Ardouny met with Armenian Caucus Members, including Reps. Charles
Rangel (D-NY) and Shelley Berkley (D-NV). Rangel serves as Chairman of
the Ways and Means Committee, to which Berkley is a member. Totah and
Ardouny also met with Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD), who like his father,
former Senator Paul Sarbanes, is a strong champion of Armenian issues.
All three lawmakers have signed onto the Armenian Genocide bill.

"In just two weeks since the introduction of the bill, the response has
been tremendous," said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. "Now, more
than ever, Armenian-Americans from across the country are united to
secure passage of this critical legislation. We must, once and for all,
put a stop to denial by passing this resolution reaffirming the
historical truth."

H. Res. 106, which has 176 cosponsors to date, calls upon the President
to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects
appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to
human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United
States record relating to the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership
organization.

###

NR#2007-027

Photo graphs available on the Assembly’s Web site at the following links:

7/2007-027-1.JPG

Caption: L to R: Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, Assembly
Board of Trustees Member Annie Totah, and Armenian Caucus Member and
Genocide Resolution supporter Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY).

27/2007-027-2.JPG

Caption: L to R: Genocide Resolution supporter Rep. John Sarbanes
(D-MD), Assembly Board of Trustees Member Annie Totah, and Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

-027-3.JPG

Caption: L to R: Assembly Board of Trustees Member Annie Totah, Armenian
issues supporter Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Assembly Executive
Director Bryan Ardouny.