Armenian Students’ Association urges UC to divest from Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Students’ Association held a town hall last week to educate students about and receive feedback on a resolution it plans to bring to the undergraduate student government calling for the University of California Board of Regents to divest from Turkey, according to Daily Bruin.

“This resolution is economic with a political end,” said Sevana Manukian, a fourth-year human biology and society student and a member of the Armenian Students’ Association. “We want (Turkey) to recognize a historical tragedy.”

Morris Sarafian, a third-year political science student and a member of the Armenian Students’ Association, said he feels the Armenian genocide provided a blueprint for persecutors of all subsequent genocides, including the Holocaust.

The group decided to bring the resolution forward now because of the centennial anniversary of the Genocide, said Natalie Kalbakian, a third-year political science student and external vice president of the Armenian Students’ Association.

In 2012, USAC passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide and condemning its denial. The Armenian Students’ Association’s resolution aims to take this motion a step further toward more assertive action against Turkey.

The report says that the resolution, which is still being drafted by the association, has two main objectives the group hopes USAC will support.

The first calls for the UC’s divestment from Turkey.

As of December 2012, the UC Retirement Plan and the General Endowment Pool both held investments in Turkish bonds, with a base market value totaling more than $65 million, according to the listings of investment holdings on the UC Office of the Chief Investment Officer’s website.

Per its investment policy, the UC does not divest from any holdings unless a foreign regime is recognized by the U.S. government as committing acts of genocide.

The second provision of the resolution calls for enforcement of an Armenian Students’ Association resolution passed by USAC in 2005 that called for a boycott of Turkish products in the Associated Students UCLA store.

Members of the Armenian Students’ Association said they plan to focus the resolution against the government and that they have also reached out to individual students who are Greek, Kurdish and Assyrian for feedback on the resolution.

The association will present the resolution to the Undergraduate Students Association Council on Tuesday, and the council will vote on it on Jan. 6, said Mikael Matossian, president of the Armenian Students’ Association and a fourth-year environmental science student.