NY to host int’l conference marking Armenian Genocide centennial

August 28, 2014 - 17:38 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - An international conference marking the Armenian Genocide’s centennial will take place on March 13-15, 2015 at New York’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, the Armenian Weekly reported.

The three-day conference will feature a prominent lineup of historians, policymakers, authors, and artists from around the globe. The program will consist of concurrent morning and afternoon panels and discussions focusing on justice and reparations for cases of genocide, the responsibility to protect (R2P), genocide research, activism for justice and accountability, building solidarity, and artistic responses to genocide and mass violence.

The conference, entitled “Responsibility 2015,” is being organized by the ARF Eastern U.S. centennial committee, under the auspices of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America, Eastern Region.

Evening sessions bringing together policymakers, political leaders, artists and celebrities known for their activism and humanitarian work will highlight the theme of responsibility to confront past injustices and struggle towards preventing new ones.

Photography and art exhibits with the theme of survival will be held at the same venue for the duration of the conference.

The organizing committee consists of the following scholars and activists: Khatchig Mouradian and Hayg Oshagan, co-chairs; George Aghjayan, Kim Hekimian, Antranig Kasbarian, and Henry Theriault.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.