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  • AAA: Memo to Armenian-American Organizations

    Armenian Assembly of America
    122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
    Washington, DC 20001
    Phone: 202-393-3434
    Fax: 202-638-4904
    Email: [email protected]
    Web: www.armenianassembly.org

    April 1, 2005
    CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
    Email: [email protected]

    RE: Assembly Memo to Armenian-American Organizations

    The Armenian Assembly would like to bring to your attention the
    following memorandum from Board of Directors Chairman Anthony
    Barsamian to Armenian-American organization leaders regarding the
    irresponsible charges leveled against Assembly and fellow Armenians,
    during this the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Also
    attached is a correspondence from Executive Director Ross Vartian to
    the editors of Asbarez Daily in answer to a recently published
    commentary.


    TO: Armenian-American Organizations
    FROM: Anthony Barsamian; Chairman, Board of Directors
    RE: 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
    DATE: 3/30/05
    __________________________________________________ _____________________

    The Armenian Assembly deeply regrets that on the eve of April events
    throughout the United States to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of
    the Armenian Genocide, a series of false attacks have been made
    against fellow Armenians. While the Assembly is compelled to respond
    to each communication, know that this is precious time that should be
    invested instead in our common efforts in support of 90th events
    across the country. We trust and hope that this partisan
    disinformation campaign will cease because we have much to do together
    as a pan-Armenian community throughout the year on genocide
    commemorations, on a congressional resolution and on genocide
    education.

    In messages to various audiences this past week, irresponsible charges
    have been made, including:

    1. In a letter to Armenian-American Organizations, the phrases
    "acknowledgment without consequences", "genocide without justice" and
    "recognition without consequences" were attributed explicitly to a
    "handful of Armenians". No Armenian organization and no Armenian
    individual would support Turkish admission of the Armenian Genocide
    without just resolution. All Armenians assert that Turkey must bear
    responsibility as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire. The
    Republic of Turkey will one day acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
    Turkish admission will be followed by direct dialogue between the
    governments of Armenia and Turkey to determine the consequences.

    2. A communication sent out to Congressional offices in concert with
    an editorial in Asbarez falsely asserts that a study commissioned by
    the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) absolves the
    Republic of Turkey for the crimes of the Ottoman Empire. This is not
    the case, as the following quote from the Study indicates. "We
    emphasize further that this memorandum addresses solely the
    applicability of the Genocide Convention to the Events. It does not
    purport to address the applicability to the Events of, or the rights
    and responsibilities of concerned individuals or entities under, any
    other rubric of international law or the laws of any nation."

    3. In an Asbarez commentary of March 24, the Armenian Assembly was
    accused of "helping the Turks get away with the murder of 1.5 million
    Armenians". This concluding charge against the Assembly is outrageous
    and malicious. As the entire community is well aware, the Assembly
    has been in the forefront of every serious effort to pass a
    congressional genocide resolution. The Assembly is also working side
    by side with the all national Armenian-American organizations in
    support of April 24 commemorations throughout the United States. And
    finally, the Assembly is working collaboratively on the proposed
    content and strategy for the next congressional resolution to affirm
    the US record on the Armenian Genocide.

    Once again, we genuinely regret this campaign. Together with all
    Armenian-American organizations, the Assembly is ready to focus
    instead on our vital work without further distractions.

    ###

    March 30, 2005

    Letter to the Editor
    Asbarez Daily
    Salpy Mardirossian Armenian Center
    419 West Colorado Street
    Glendale, California 91204

    To the Editor:

    RE: "The Big Why On the Eve of the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian
    Genocide"

    Your March 25th commentary on the above subject constitutes a new low
    on misrepresentation of the facts and on the position of the Armenian
    Assembly. Just in case some of your readers missed your irresponsible
    core charge against our organization, you opined that the Assembly is
    "helping Turkey deny justice to the Armenian people". How is the
    Assembly doing this? By urging Members of Congress to invoke a study
    published by the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
    that affirmed the fact of the Armenian Genocide. The ICTJ study
    declared that "the Events, viewed collectively, can thus be said to
    include all of the elements of the crime of genocide as defined in the
    Convention, and legal scholars as well as historians, politicians,
    journalists and other people would be justified in continuing to so
    describe them."

    As the Assembly has done over the decades of our support for
    congressional reaffirmation of the truth, our organization references
    third party judgments on the fact of the Armenian Genocide. In this
    particular communication to Congress, we relied on four factors:
    President Reagan's 1981 Proclamation that affirmed the Armenian
    Genocide, President Bush's April 24 statements that employ the
    textbook definition of genocide without using the word, the statement
    of 126 Holocaust and Genocide scholars declaring that the Armenian
    Genocide is an "incontestable fact" and the ICTJ statement quoted
    above.

    Neither the separate nor the combined effect of these citations in the
    Assembly's request to Congress to properly characterize this crime
    against humanity as genocide can be fairly portrayed as "denying
    justice to the Armenian people". There can be no question that the
    Assembly will continue to seek official, full and irrevocable
    U.S. reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide - and the Armenian
    Revolutionary Federation knows this as our organizations work side by
    side on the 90th commemorative planning committees across the United
    States and as the Assembly works collaboratively with the ANCA on the
    Armenian-American community's next effort in support of a
    congressional resolution.

    As to the Asbarez charge that the ICTJ findings "let Turkey completely
    off the hook for Genocide," the commentary fails to use the following
    quotation regarding redress that contradicts the charge. According to
    the ICTJ study, "It does not purport to address the applicability of
    the Genocide Convention to the Events of, or the rights or
    responsibilities of concerned individuals or entities under, any other
    rubric of international law or the laws of any other nation." The
    Turkish government is not "off the hook" - not for its global denial
    campaign, not for its intimidation of other governments and its own
    citizens, not for its recent passage of a law criminalizing public
    discussion of the Armenian Genocide and certainly not for dealing with
    the consequences of its inevitable acknowledgment of the Armenian
    Genocide.

    Sincerely,

    Ross Vartian
    Executive Director
    Armenian Assembly of America


    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#2005-038
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