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[DOCID:cr28ap05pt2-67]

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

______

HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

of california

in the house of representatives

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the one and a half
million Armenians who perished in the Armenian Genocide that began 90
years ago on April 24, 1915. This is a sacred obligation that we
undertake each April–to ensure that future generations of Americans
remember the first genocide of the 20th century and to ensure that the
men, women and children who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
are not lost to history.
Mr. Speaker, there is no dispute that what happened to the Armenian
people is genocide. Thousands of pages of documents sit in our National
Archives. One of these documents is a report from the American Consul
in Trebizond, Oscar Heizer. On July 28, 1915, Heizer cabled the U.S.
Embassy in Constantinople to report on the massacre of 180 Armenian
road workers, who were shot and stripped of their clothes before being
buried in the woods.
Newspapers of the day were replete with stories about the murder of
Armenians. “Appeal to Turkey to Stop Massacres” headlined the New
York Times on April 28, 1915, just as the killing began. On October 7
of that year, the Times reported that 800,000 Armenians had “been
slain in cold blood in Asia Minor.” In mid-December of 1915, the Times
spoke of a “Million Armenians Killed or in Exile.”
Prominent citizens of the day, including America’s Ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, and Britain’s Lord Bryce reported on
the massacres in great detail. Morgenthau was appalled at what he would
later call the “sadistic orgies” of rape, torture and murder. Lord
Bryce, a former British Ambassador to the United States, worked to
raise awareness of and money for the victims of what he called “the
most colossal crime in the history of the world.” In October 1915 the
Rockefeller Foundation contributed $30,000–a sum worth more than half
a million dollars today–to a relief fund for Armenia.
Last week at the annual commemoration of the genocide here on the
Hill, I had the honor to meet, Henry Morgenthau, the grandson of
Ambassador Morgenthau. He is still carrying on his grandfather’s
mission to make America and the world aware of what happened.
The generation of Armenians with direct memory of the genocide is
almost gone; their children are aging. Much of the rest of the world
has moved on, reluctant to dredge up “unpleasant” memories and risk
the ire of modern Turkey.
But even now, almost a century after the start of the genocide, some
survivors are still with us. One of them, Ghazaros Kademian, is a
constituent of mine. He is 96 now, but his mind is sharp and he
remembers clearly the day when, as a six-year-old boy he and his family
were forced from their house. He was from the village of Zaitoun,
located southeast of present day Turkey. Kademian’s father stayed
behind to defend his homeland and was murdered. His mother took his
hand and ran away.

[[Page E830]]

Kademian and his mother had no shoes, coats, food, or money. They had
to leave everything behind for the Turks. He does not remember all the
details of their long journey, except it was harsh, cold, and
dangerous, because they had no idea where they were going.
The boy and his mother ended their flight in Kirkuk, in what is now
northern Iraq. He remembers very vividly that the first night in Kirkuk
they hugged each other for warmth and slept in front of a church for
protection. In the morning he woke up; but his mother did not move, she
was frozen and dead. He was left alone, homeless, in a town where he
did not speak the same language.
What happened to Ghazaros Kademian’s family was terrible and tragic,
but not uncommon. All over the Ottoman Empire Armenian children and
their parents fled from their homes with only the clothes on their
backs. But for those of us who care deeply about this issue, Kadmian’s
story is a reminder that we must redouble our efforts to ensure that
our nation, which has championed liberty and human rights throughout
its history, is not comp1icit in Ankara’s effort to obfuscate what
happened between 1915 and 1923. Worse still, by tacitly siding with
those who deny the Armenian Genocide, we have rendered hollow our
commitment to “never again” let genocide occur.
Within the next few days, several of my colleagues and I will be
introducing a resolution commemorating the Armenian genocide. This
should be an easy resolution for all of us–Republicans and Democrats–
to support.
The reason that we have yet to succeed in passing a resolution
honoring the murdered Armenians is simple: The government of Turkey
refuses to acknowledge the genocide and has spent millions of dollars
and expended countless hours of diplomatic effort to prevent us from
commemorating the suffering of the Armenian people. Turkey’s opposition
has always centered on its assertion that acknowledging the victims of
its Ottoman forebears would cause an irreparable rift between the
United States and an important ally.
Last summer, during consideration of the fiscal year 2005 Foreign
Operations Appropriations bill, I offered an amendment to prohibit the
Government of Turkey from using U.S. foreign aid to lobby against H.
Res. 193, a resolution introduced by Representatives Radanovich, Schiff
and the co-chairs of the Armenian Caucus, Representatives Knollenberg
and Pallone, that officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide. H. Res.
193 had been cosponsored by 110 of our colleagues on both sides of the
aisle.
My amendment touched off a flurry of activity by Turkey’s lobbyists.
According to a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing, lobbyists for
the Government of Turkey made at least 32 separate contacts with U.S.
Government officials over a 3-day period in an attempt to kill my
amendment. These included telephone calls to the Speaker of the House,
other Members, numerous congressional staff, an Assistant Secretary of
Defense, National Security Council staff, the Office of the Vice
President, and other State and Defense Department staff.
While Ankara’s agents did not succeed in blocking adoption of the
amendment by the House, it was stripped in conference and the full
House never did vote on the Genocide Resolution.
In the name of Ghazaros Kademian and those no longer with us, I call
upon the distinguished Speaker of the House to allow us to vote on a
Genocide resolution this year. We must do it soon, for with each year
the events of 1915-1923 recede a bit more into the dark of history.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

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[DOCID:cr28ap05pt2-77]

COMMEMORATING THE 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

______

HON. JOHN F. TIERNEY

of massachusetts

in the house of representatives

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Mr. TIERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise with my fellow members of the
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues to commemorate the Armenian
Genocide. Today, I stand with them and with Armenian-Americans in the
6th District of Massachusetts as we rightfully recognize and renounce
the unpardonable horror that occurred 90 years ago.
What began in 1915 when Ottoman Empire officials forcibly led
Armenians to their brutal death lasted until 1923. Those 8 long years
saw the deaths of 1.5 million innocent victims, who were unsuspectingly
led from their homes, their schools, their places of work and worship
only to be systematically slaughtered at the hands of Turkish guards.
All the while, the world stood silent, failing to act despite the
fact the number of unmarked graves multiplied exponentially throughout
Armenia. The tremendous magnitude of this

[[Page E833]]

genocide did not move prominent nations or their people to act. This is
why, today, as we remember the victims of the Armenian genocide, we
must also reject our collective unresponsiveness to this mass murder.
Regrettably, this pattern continued throughout the 20th century–in
Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, in Rwanda in the 1990s, and elsewhere
throughout the world. Another such tragic example has emerged in Sudan.
It is estimated that 300,000 or more people have been massacred in
Darfur. One million people have been displaced from their homes, and
more than 200,000 refugees have been forced to flee to neighboring
Chad. We must not continue to ignore the dire situation in Darfur. In
fact, the lessons of the Armenian Genocide, among others, should teach
us that we must take further action in Sudan.
Today, I honor the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, offer
my respects to those who were killed, and pay tribute to the commitment
and perseverance of the Armenian-Americans who have tirelessly
struggled to ensure that the great sorrow of their people becomes known
to all people.

Turkey reaches out to Armenia

The Independent – United Kingdom
Apr 30, 2005

ANKARA Turkey’s Prime Minister offered to establish relations with
Armenia if the sides agree to jointly research the killings of
Armenians during the First World War. Armenians accuse Turkey of
genocide. Turkey rejects that but has been opening up on the issue
under EU pressure. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said talks could be held in
parallel with a genocide inquiry.

The New Anatolian
April 30 2005

Istanbul MP Elekdag: Some exploit ‘genocide’ issue to cripple
Turkey’s EU bid
The New Anatolian / Istanbul

Sukru Elekdag, Istanbul deputy for the main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP), said on Wednesday that the issue of the
so-called Armenian genocide is being used by other states to handicap
Turkey’s European Union membership, and to force Turkey to make
concessions.

Speaking at a conference entitled “The So-called Armenian Genocide
Claims and Responses” held at Bahcesehir University, Elekdag stated
that Armenia and the Armenian diaspora have been working hard to push
states to recognize their claims, and that, as a result, the
parliaments of 14 countries might push to recognize the so-called
genocide in the European Parliament.

Saying that Turks and Armenians have lived together in peace and
tolerance for 800 years, and that Armenians played key roles in the
Ottoman Army and administration, Elekdag said that Turks have never
harbored feelings of racial hatred.

He stated that the emigration law was enforced by the Ottoman Empire
during the withdrawal of Ottoman forces after the Sarikamis defeat to
secure their backs as they were threatened by Armenian guerillas. He
added, “If the Ottomans had chosen to force the Armenians to fight
against the invading Russians, they wouldn’t be accusing Turkey of
genocide.”

The New Anatolian
April 30 2005

Turkey’s main opposition party,CHP deputy protests Poland’s
‘genocide’ decision
The New Anatolian / Ankara

Halil Unlutepe, Afyonkarahisar deputy of the Republican People’s
Party (CHP), yesterday resigned from the Turkish-Polish
Interparliamentary Friendship Group as a protest against the Polish
Parliament’s recent decision to recognize the so-called Armenian
genocide.
Unlutepe issued a written statement on the Polish Parliament’s
decision last week labelling events which occurred between Turks and
Armenians in World War I as the `Armenian genocide.’ Continued the
statement: “The Polish Parliament declined our suggestion to wait for
the investigation of Turkish state archives and to wait for an
official conclusion. Instead, it hastily accepted allegations based
on on groundless and distorted documents.”

“Although we have frankly expressed our goodwill to Poland, and the
intention of clarifying the events around the so-called genocide, the
acceptance of such a cruel decision can’t be reconciled with the aim
of the friendship group,” Unlutepe stressed.

The Polish Parliament’s decision has clouded efforts to strengthen
friendly ties between the Turkish and Polish parliaments, Unlutepe
concluded.

Los Angeles Daily News
April 30 2005

Navasartian Games opening

By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

A torch run and ceremony will mark the start Sunday of the 30th
annual Navasartian Games, an Olympic-style event for
Armenian-American athletes that is expected to draw thousands of
participants and spectators.
The nonprofit Armenian General Athletic Union and Scouts — referred
to as Homenetmen Western U.S. Region — is organizing the games,
which will include basketball, soccer, tennis, track and field,
volleyball, swimming, and even table tennis and chess.

Homenetmen Western U.S. Region’s nearly 20 chapters will compete
against each other, with winning athletes and teams receiving
trophies and medals.

“Since we have these games every year everyone wants to beat the
other chapter and have the bragging rights,” said Nyree Derderian, a
member of the athletic council.

About 4,000 athletes are expected to participate in the games, with
teams coming from as far away as Arizona, Colorado and Nevada, said
Sevag Garabetien, program coordinator.

Games will be played at locations in Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Van
Nuys and nearby areas.

The games will begin Sunday in Glendale with a torch run that will
start at 4 p.m. at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 500 S.
Central Ave. Runners will carry the torch to Verdugo Park where it
will be used during opening ceremonies.

While most of the competing athletes will be teenagers, there will be
some adult-division competitions.

“I’m 28 years old and I still run around and try to shoot hoops, and
it is a big deal for me,” said Artin Avanessian of Glendale. “You
play until your legs give out or the 18-year-olds start pushing you
around.”

The games will end at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys on July 4
with a festival featuring Armenian entertainment and food.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 30 2005

Joint Commission to Study Armenian-Georgian Church Row

Armenian and Georgian sides have agreed to set up a joint
commission to study historic background of those churches in Georgia,
which are disputed by the Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic
Churches.

An agreement was reached during the meeting of visiting Armenian
Parliamentary Chairman Artur Bagdasarian with Patriarch of the
Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II in Tbilisi on April 29.

Armenian Apostolic Church claims ownership over 9 churches in
Georgia, which are currently under the Georgian Orthodox Church’s
control. Moreover, the Armenian side accused the Georgian Orthodox
Church of `appropriation of the Armenian spiritual heritage’ by
replacing Armenian tombstones with faked ones with the Georgian
script on them in the yards of the Armenian churches.

The Georgian Orthodox Church also puts similar claims forward. `We
have complains as well, for example, in respect of the Georgian
churches located in Javakheti [region in southern Georgia, which is
predominately populated by the ethnic Armenians],’ Zurab
Tskhovrebadze, an official representative of the Georgian Orthodox
Church, told Civil Georgia on April 30. He added that the joint
commission will consider all of these disputed issues.

According to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Armenian service,
this issue was pushed forwards by the Armenian authorities during the
visit of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli in Yerevan in March.
But Nogaideli said after talks with the Armenian officials that the
sides agreed to let the two churches try to solve the problems before
deciding whether they should intervene.

The New Anatolian
April 30 2005

Turks: Lost and Humiliated?
Huseyin Bagci
The New Anatolian

Yes, accepted. The Armenian diaspora and Armenian state policy has
been very successful in sowing great confusion among Turkish minds
and Turkish politics. Yes, the discussion has already reached a point
where it is very difficult to ignore it. Yes, the Turkish political,
diplomatic and academic world failed in this because all of them were
caught unprepared and what’s more, there is an intellectual and
political environment in the world which is very suitable for
Armenian claims and unsuitable for Turkish politics and political
developments. At least, the Turks seem to be the losers for the
moment.

The Armenian diaspora worked very hard and paid whatever price was
necessary for the international public diplomacy. There are enough
people also among the Turks who put their “intellect” up for rent,
not to mention for sale. Indeed, no one in Turkey is showing
“intellectual aggression” but rather they are on “intellectual
defense” and it means on the international level that those who
defend something also have something to hide! Take how the Turkish
prime minister’s statement which said that Turkey is ready to
“confront its history” led to more debate. What does this mean then?
The word confrontation has a negative connotation in the Turkish
case. It contains the suggestion that you have done something but not
accepted it. It seems again that he has been badly advised. His
statement shows the typical “Turkish mentality” which preaches PR
only to the Turks. The Ottoman Empire was divided and every nation of
this empire — be it Arabs, Albanians, Bulgarians, Turks etc. — got
its part of this dissolution process, some more, some less. The fact
is however that Turks were victims then and victims again now. Never
ever in the entire modern history of Turkey since 1923 have Turks
been treated in the international arena so badly and in such a
prejudiced way as it is the case now. Turkey is at the bottom of its
“intellectual defeat.” Yes, the way Turkey argues, it is damned to
loose. In a few years Turks will even have to explain why they
established modern Turkey and Ataturk will be held responsible for
this!

Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) member of Parliament and
former Ambassador Sukru Elekdag spoke to the students of Gazi
University recently and made similar statement with one difference.
He was accusing academics of being responsible for the Armenian
issue! Interestingly enough, the academics are once again responsible
for everything! It seems that the academics are the only scapegoats
for the miserable politics of Turkish politicians! Concerning the
writer Orhan Pamuk he was much more tolerable! It’s a pity that such
an enlightened ambassador also falls into the same intellectual
fallacy.

The main point is however not that because the Armenians have such
historic claims and they want to get some land, compensation and the
“historic revanch” because they rose up again the Ottoman state and
had to pay a very high price for this (not like the Arabs or some
Balkan nations who had better supporters), but rather that the Turks
are now in such a state of affairs that they do not know what they
want. Again, never ever before have Turks and Turkey been under such
political and intellectual pressure. This does not mean however that
the Armenians or European countries from France to Poland from there
to Russia or Switzerland are “defenders of truth.” The political fact
is that the Turks are now the most “unwanted nation” in Europe. It
would be enough just to see which countries do apply visa
requirements for the Turks and which don’t! Unfortunately, the image
of Turkey abroad is getting worse the more Turkey deals with issues
like headscarves or other Islamic symbols. How otherwise to explain
the statements of Gen. Ozkok and Constitutional Court Chief Justice
Bumin which created great domestic political tension in Turkey. Yes,
the image of the government is an Islamic one, as one of the prime
ministers of the EU countries said to me recently that Turkey has an
Islamic government.

One should be also fair enough to accept the fact that Turkey is
gaining more of a character of an Islamic state. Right or wrong, this
is the image. Yes, Turkey is not wanted because Europe is facing many
challenges and Turkey will not be wanted exactly in this decade. It
is all politics. Nothing has to do with the criteria of that or this
country. The fact is that never ever has Turkey been so weak,
unprepared and unwanted. An article published in German daily Die
Welt just on Tuesday said that the Turks neither in 1915 nor now keep
their reform promises. The European enlargement process is a
political one, not an academic one! I do see that the “intellectual
confusion and turbulence” in Turkey will continue for a long time.
Turkey has lost its common sense, creativity and national identity.
The Turks are the real losers of the post-Cold War era and
globalization. No other nation has been so humiliated in the last 15
years as the Turks. Many then wonder why the Turks are getting
nationalistic. Look what Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis said last
week in Ankara: “Turkey cannot become European overnight.” Is it not
the biggest political insult ever made by an EU politician to the
Turks, who presumably will start negotiations in October? In Turkish
one would say: Edep yahu!

Yes, Turkey seems to have lost already the battle at the moment, but
not the war. The intellectual and political war has already started
among the Turkish elite. It will be different in its character and
dimension. No nation can accept such humiliations as it is now the
case. The world is unjust, but the Turks should not become the only
nation which gets the biggest portion of this injustice!

Pan Armenian News

GENERATION CHANGE NECESSARY TO SOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

30.04.2005 04:10

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is possible
in 20-25 years at least, Head of the Department of Conflictology and
Migration of the Institute of Peace and Democracy in Baku Arif Yunusov told
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, the level of the Armenian-Azeri
relations is very low today. There is no confidence between the peoples and
each party is only sure it is right. «The relations can be called
mirror-like, as both the Armenian and the Azeri parties call each other
aggressors, media in both countries equally cover the problems from their
own point of view,» Yunusov noted. In his words, the solution of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict is virtually impossible – especially under the rule of the
current Armenian authorities. For the conflict to be solved a change of
generations is necessary, as only the new generation, being tired of the
constant hostility, will come to reconciliation. As noted by Yunusov, there
are 3 options for the developments regarding this problem. The first is the
signing of a peace accord, however both the Armenian and the Azeri peoples
are not ready to it. He called this opinion a fantastical one. The second
option is that of Cyprus. And the third one is the Near East or the Israeli
opinion, which provides for periodical hostilities and protracted talks
until the parties are tired of fighting. Commenting on the fact that the
parties to conflict do not meet within the OSCE MG today, Yunusov noted it
confirmed the talks have come to a stalemate. At that he noted calling the
Karabakh conflict a «Karabakh» one was incorrect. In his words, it is «a
pure Armenian-Azeri conflict.»

Pan Armenian News

AZERI CONFLICT ANALYST: RUSSIA PREVENTS US FROM SOLVING KARABAKH ISSUE

30.04.2005 04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With some delay the Bush Administration welcomed the
outcomes of the latest summit of GUUAM leaders in Kishinev. It is remarkable
that almost half of the statement text is dedicated to the settlement of the
conflict in Transdniestria, reported the Echo Baku newspaper. The statement
notes, `The U.S. welcomes Ukraine’s interest and its efforts to search for a
settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict.’ When making this statement U.S.
Permanent Representative to the OSCE Paul Jones called Transdniestria
representatives to resume talks over the conflict settlement, demanding that
`the separatist authorities to refrain from provocative actions.’ When
commenting on this statement by the U.S., head of the Center for Peace and
Conflict Resolution of Azerbaijan Elhan Mehtiyev said that in his opinion
along with the Transdniestrian issue Washington will display strong interest
toward settlement of other conflicts in the territory of GUUAM in the
future. However, this will be the case only under certain conditions. `In
the future the U.S. interest toward the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict may increase, – stated the conflict analyst, – however in this case
they support the initiative of solving the Transdniestrian conflict as it is
authored by Yuschenko. At present the Western countries strongly sympathize
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, as democratic election and revolutions were
held there. The U.S. takes those countries as independent states heading for
the West to get integrated with the Euro-Atlantic structures and the EU.
Within this context Americans approach to the Transdniestrian settlement.’
One cannot say that the U.S. does not does not pay attention to the Karabakh
issue, the conflict analysts says, `however they show greater interest
toward the Transdniestrian and South-Ossetian problems at present, as the EU
closely works over the draft of their settlement as well. As of Azerbaijan,
they always say they are dealing with the issue within the Minsk Group
framework.’ At that E. Mehtiyev is convinced that `if radical democratic
reforms are held in Azerbaijan, our country will gain the upper hand with
the assistance of the Americans. The availability of authoritarian systems
in our country and Armenia and the strong influence of Russia prevents the
US from engaging in the solution of the Karabakh issue to its full
capacity.’

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