It’s time to make Armenian Genocide a legal issue

April 26, 2010 - 15:10 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Due to rain, the event dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place in St. Vardan Armenian Church, instead of Times Square in New York. Despite poor weather conditions, the event brought together U.S. senators and congressmen, Armenian community representatives, as well as the Armenian Genocide survivors, who came to commemorate the victims.

"Rain will not prevent us from lighting a truth torch about the Armenian Genocide every year," U.S. Senator Chuck Schwimmer said.

Participants emphasized that it is high time to make the Armenian Genocide a legal issue and demand a moral and material compensation from Turkey.

Signed by the city Mayor and Governor, a declaration on making April 24 the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was issued in New York.

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.