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House's 'powerful victory for religious freedom'

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  • House's 'powerful victory for religious freedom'

    OneNewsNow
    Dec 28 2011


    House's 'powerful victory for religious freedom'

    Charlie Butts

    The U.S. House has passed a resolution that calls on the government of
    Turkey to end repression of the remnants of ancient Christian and
    pre-Christian civilizations and return the property taken from them.

    House Resolution 306, spearheaded by Representative Ed Royce
    (R-California) and Howard Berman (D-California), was recently passed
    by a huge majority, calling on the State Department to raise the
    issue. Aram Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee of America
    (ANCA) tells OneNewsNow the persecution has been going on for many
    centuries.

    "This includes the Armenian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Greek
    Church, the Syriak Church -- many of the Christian communities that
    have been present in Anatolia since biblical times and even before the
    time of Christ," he explains.

    The more serious persecution occurred early last century.

    "They were largely seized during the period of the Armenian genocide,
    which started in 1915, which was an effort to wipe out the entire
    Christian population of the Ottoman Empire. And it very nearly
    succeeded in doing that," the ANCA executive director laments.
    "Armenians and Syrians, Greeks, Pontians and others represented over
    two million of the citizens of the Ottoman Empire, and today they
    represent less than one percent."

    About a million and a half people were killed, and now only a handful
    of churches exist, compared to thousands that were in Turkey prior to
    the alleged genocide. Turkey denies the latter and has lashed out at
    the House for passing the resolution.


    But despite opposition from Turkey's prime minister and the Obama
    administration, ANCA chairman Ken Hachikian says the adoption
    "represents a powerful victory for religious freedom."

    http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=1504016

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