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POLITICS - ARAM I: I CALL UPON OUR PEOPLE TO DEMAND THEIR STOLEN RIGHTS FROM TURKEY
National News Agency Lebanon (NNA)
April 24, 2012 Tuesday
NNA - 24/4/2012 - Following is the summary of the message of
His Holiness Aram I delivered on April 24th, 2012 in Antelias to
thousands of Armenian people who were gathered to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide.
"We are gathered today in front of the Martyrs Chapel, where the
remains of some of the victims of the Armenian Genocide were buried
in 1935 when the Catholicosate of Cilicia finally settled in Antelias.
We are here to recommit ourselves to the legacy we inherited from our
martyrs, irrespective of the changing political conditions around us.
Our martyrs also want us to make our voice heard by the leadership
in the Arab world and Europe.
Turkey is seeking to expand its political and economic influence
in the Arab World, Europe and Africa. Claiming to be a defender of
minorities and a champion of democratic principles and human rights,
Turkey is presenting itself as a peace-builder in the Arab World.
Can a nation that fills its prisons with human rights advocates and
journalists lecture others on the imperative to champion democratic
principles and human rights? Can a nation that systematically killed a
million and a half members of one of its minority peoples and today
denies that act demand that others defend their minorities? The
Prime Minister of Turkey has cynically stated that if there really
was a genocide we should be able to show them where the graves of the
victims are. We can tell them that the graves are in places that the
Turks have renamed in order to attempt to erase historical memories:
the Turkish towns and villages in Western Armenia, Cilicia and in
Der Zor, the Syrian Desert.
In a cynical attempt to appear reasonable, Turkish authorities suggest
that historians should sit down together and attempt to determine what
really happened in Turkey in 1915. Neutral historians have long ago
determined what happened by having read the internationally accepted
and verified Western Diplomatic, Armenian and Turkish sources that
document the horrors that the Turkish government foisted upon the
Armenians in 1915.
We hold the present Republic of Turkey, in its capacity as the
legitimate successor of the Ottoman Empire, accountable for its
crimes against our people. We demand our rights to compensation for
the confiscated Church, community and individually owned properties
not only since 1936, as the August 2011 decision stipulated, but also
those confiscated from1915 to 1920.
During the international conference that we organized last February,
here in Antelias, we said that recognition and compensation are
inseparable. Therefore, and in consultation with the government of
Armenia, the Catholicosate of Cilicia will work together with the
Armenian Catholic and Evangelical communities to obtain the legal
rights to confiscated properties.
On the eve of our 100th anniversary, I call upon our people in Armenia,
Karabagh and the Diaspora to renew their commitment to the legacy of
the martyrs of the 1915 Genocide."
National News Agency Lebanon (NNA)
April 24, 2012 Tuesday
NNA - 24/4/2012 - Following is the summary of the message of
His Holiness Aram I delivered on April 24th, 2012 in Antelias to
thousands of Armenian people who were gathered to commemorate the
Armenian Genocide.
"We are gathered today in front of the Martyrs Chapel, where the
remains of some of the victims of the Armenian Genocide were buried
in 1935 when the Catholicosate of Cilicia finally settled in Antelias.
We are here to recommit ourselves to the legacy we inherited from our
martyrs, irrespective of the changing political conditions around us.
Our martyrs also want us to make our voice heard by the leadership
in the Arab world and Europe.
Turkey is seeking to expand its political and economic influence
in the Arab World, Europe and Africa. Claiming to be a defender of
minorities and a champion of democratic principles and human rights,
Turkey is presenting itself as a peace-builder in the Arab World.
Can a nation that fills its prisons with human rights advocates and
journalists lecture others on the imperative to champion democratic
principles and human rights? Can a nation that systematically killed a
million and a half members of one of its minority peoples and today
denies that act demand that others defend their minorities? The
Prime Minister of Turkey has cynically stated that if there really
was a genocide we should be able to show them where the graves of the
victims are. We can tell them that the graves are in places that the
Turks have renamed in order to attempt to erase historical memories:
the Turkish towns and villages in Western Armenia, Cilicia and in
Der Zor, the Syrian Desert.
In a cynical attempt to appear reasonable, Turkish authorities suggest
that historians should sit down together and attempt to determine what
really happened in Turkey in 1915. Neutral historians have long ago
determined what happened by having read the internationally accepted
and verified Western Diplomatic, Armenian and Turkish sources that
document the horrors that the Turkish government foisted upon the
Armenians in 1915.
We hold the present Republic of Turkey, in its capacity as the
legitimate successor of the Ottoman Empire, accountable for its
crimes against our people. We demand our rights to compensation for
the confiscated Church, community and individually owned properties
not only since 1936, as the August 2011 decision stipulated, but also
those confiscated from1915 to 1920.
During the international conference that we organized last February,
here in Antelias, we said that recognition and compensation are
inseparable. Therefore, and in consultation with the government of
Armenia, the Catholicosate of Cilicia will work together with the
Armenian Catholic and Evangelical communities to obtain the legal
rights to confiscated properties.
On the eve of our 100th anniversary, I call upon our people in Armenia,
Karabagh and the Diaspora to renew their commitment to the legacy of
the martyrs of the 1915 Genocide."