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 The United States has the best chance in a
generation to help end the cycle of genocide and recommit the world to
the noble and necessary cause of a future without genocide. Inspired
by this fierce urgency of now, thousands across the state of
California will rally at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles on
Friday April 24 at 4pm to call for an end to over a century of race
murder, fueled by Turkey's ongoing denial of its genocide against the
Armenian people.
Last year, nearly 15,000 activists converged on the Turkish Consulate
amid intensified activity by the Turkish government to prevent the US
House of Representatives from recognizing the Genocide.
This year's demonstration, at 6300 Wilshire Blvd., will draw attention
to Turkey's expanding multimillion dollar campaign to erase all memory
and culpability of its crime against the Armenian people and how it
has spawned a string of genocides, from the Nazi Holocaust to the
worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur.
In 1915 the Ottoman Turkish government set out to annihilate the
indigenous population inhabiting the lands under its dominion. Between
1915-1923, the government executed a systematic campaign to
exterminate the Armenian people and remove it from its historic
homeland. The Armenian Genocide, recognized as the first genocide of
the 20th century by historians the world over, resulted in the death
of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians and the loss of millions of
dollars in property and land now under occupation by the Republic of
Turkey.
Organized by the Armenian Youth Federation, this year's protest comes
a month after US legislators introduced a resolution calling on the
U.S. president to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide.
"We as Armenian-Americans know that our nation should properly
recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide, and all subsequent
genocides," said Vache Thomassian, the chairman of the AYF. "Now, more
than ever, we have to rise above political expedience and take a moral
stance against genocide 's and I firmly believe Barack Obama has the
integrity to be the leader that does so."
The demonstration will also take place against the backdrop of a
series of anti-genocide events organized throughout the US and around
the world during Genocide Prevention Month.
In Washington DC, human rights activists will be participating in
three full days of Congressional visits to demand U.S. action against
the genocide in Darfur and support for the adoption of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution. The annual grassroots advocacy campaign, from
April 22-24th, is being organized by the Armenian National Committee
of America and the Genocide Intervention Network.
Earlier this month the ANCA launched a nationwide effort to urge
concrete action by the US government in fully recognizing the Armenian
Genocide end finally ending the genocide in Darfur.
Echoing Martin Luther King's famous remarks at the Lincoln Memorial in
August, 1963, the ANCA's “Fierce Urgency of NOW” campaign has been
mobilizing anti-genocide activists across the US to visit
www.anca.org/change
to learn how the atrocities in Darfur fit
into the cycle of genocide that started with the Armenian Genocide of
1915-1923.
The website provides simple ways for citizens to call on President
Obama to show “unstinting resolve” in the effort to stop the Darfur
Genocide and end U.S. complicity in Turkey's international campaign of
genocide denial.
As a Senator and as a presidential candidate, President Obama was a
strong advocate of proper Armenian Genocide recognition and swift
action to stop the Darfur Genocide. During his 2008 campaign for the
White House, Obama repeatedly pledged to “respond forcefully to all
genocides,” including the one currently ranging in Darfur.
“Genocide, sadly, persists to this day, and threatens our common
security and common humanity. Tragically, we are witnessing in Sudan
many of the same brutal tactics's displacement, starvation, and mass
slaughter's that were used by the Ottoman authorities against
defenseless Armenians back in 1915,” Obama said in the statement.
“America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian
Genocide and responds forcefully to all genocides. I intend to be that
President.”
Previous president's have wavered in their commitments to accurately
recognize the genocide in their annual statements on April 24. This
year, activists across the US are expecting the President to break
that trend and bring a long overdue change to US policy on genocide.
Two weeks ahead of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
on April 24, President Obama commemorated the 15th anniversary of the
genocide in Rwanda by urging the United States and its world partners
to deepen their commitment to ending the cycle of genocide begun in
1915.
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Ahead of President Barack Obama's trip to Turkey, at a news
briefing Friday aboard Air Force One en route to France, the White
House spokesperson avoided discussing the Armenian Genocide when
asked by a reporter to comment on the matter.
Horizon
Armenian Television this week launched live webcasting, providing
viewers with unlimited internet access to its 24 hour programming.
Horizon's live webcast can be accessed at
