House Foreign Affairs Committee adopts amendment on return of Christian churches

PanARMENIAN.Net - On July 21, with a vote of 43 to 1, the House Foreign Affairs Committee today overwhelmingly adopted the Berman-Cicilline Amendment, pressing Turkey to return stolen Christian churches and to end its repression of its Christian minority, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

“Today’s overwhelming vote represents a powerful victory for religious freedom, and a step toward the rightful return of the thousands of Christian churches and holy sites stolen by Turkey through genocide,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian.

“Ninety six years after the genocide perpetrated against the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians, the Turkish Government has destroyed or confiscated the vast majority of their holy sites and places of worship. The Foreign Affairs Committee today sent a powerful message to Turkey that it must come to terms with this brutal legacy, respect religious freedom of surviving Christian communities, and return the fruits of its crimes.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Democrat Howard Berman (D-Calif.) was joined by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) in offering the amendment to the State Department Authorization bill, based upon language from H.Res.306, the “Return of Churches” resolution spearheaded by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), both senior members of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Armenian Americans across the U.S. made thousands of phone calls to their Representatives in support of the measure, following a week of action alerts issued by the Armenian National Committee of America, according to The Armenian Weekly.