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Visalia mayor joins effort for recognition of genocide

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  • Visalia mayor joins effort for recognition of genocide

    Visalia mayor joins effort for recognition of genocide

    http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20120430/NEWS01/204300319/Visalia-mayor-joins-effort-recognition-genocide?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
    12:59 AM, Apr. 30, 2012

    by BRIAN MAXEY


    For members of the Armenian community, April 24 stands as a powerful
    reminder of tragedy.

    Armenians still fight to remember the more than 1.5 million Armenians
    who died in what many historians say was the first genocide of the
    20th century.

    Mayor Amy Shuklian last week protested with demonstrators outside the
    White House, calling on the United States to recognize the Armenian
    genocide as such.

    Shuklian, who was on a trip to the nation's capital for official city
    business, extended her stay to support the effort. The extended stay
    was not financed by taxpayer dollars. Shuklian paid for the trip out
    of her own wallet.

    "Being a grandchild of survivors, I figured it was an opportunity for
    me,"said Shuklian, who spent two days before the protest discussing
    federal funding and city programs with members of Congress. "It was a
    very bittersweet moment."

    Presidents have disappointed the Armenian community by not
    characterizing the mass purge of Armenian people at the hands of
    Ottoman authorities from 1915 to 1923 as genocide.

    President Barack Obama on Tuesday avoided using the word "genocide,"
    instead calling it "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century."
    During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama made a promise to voters
    to label the tragedy as genocide.

    "There is always this talk of a resolution, so it's very
    disappointing," Shuklian said.

    She attended a commemoration on April 25 where she said congressmen
    from both sides of the political spectrum spoke in support of
    recognizing the events of 1915.
    More than 20 countries have recognized the events as genocide.

    But U.S. presidents have shied from doing so as to not alienate
    Turkey, a NATO member and strategic ally in both the war in Iraq and
    Afghanistan.
    Still, supporters have rallied to press administrations.

    "I did something that I never thought that I would do," said Shuklian,
    who joined protesters in the middle of a rainstorm.
    "Standing out in the pouring rain to bring awareness to move the
    United States to recognize the Armenian genocide is nothing compared
    to what my grandparents and ancestors had to go through."
    Shuklian will speak about her protest, Ôªøas well as the business
    trip, at the May 7 City Council meeting


    From: Baghdasarian
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