Ardouny urges Congressmen to help further genocide affirmation and prevention

April 14, 2011 - 11:23 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Assembly of America Executive Director Bryan Ardouny met earlier this week with Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) to discuss key policy issues.

Ardouny reviewed a range of subjects with the Congressman, including funding to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, security issues and Azerbaijan's ongoing war rhetoric, U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide and this year's Armenian Genocide Observance on Capitol Hill, reported the Assembly.

Congressman Sherman reiterated his strong support for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide. Sherman also confirmed his plans to speak at the Capitol Hill Armenian Genocide Commemoration taking place in the Kennedy Caucus Room of the Senate Russell Office Building on the evening of April 13.

"We appreciate Congressman Sherman's commitment to further strengthen U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Karabakh relations, and his steadfast commitment to U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide," stated Ardouny.

With respect to tonight's Armenian Genocide Observance, Ardouny added, "the Armenian Assembly strongly urges all Members of Congress to attend and in so doing, help further the cause of genocide affirmation and prevention."

Now serving in his 8th term in office, Sherman, who represents California's 27thCongressional District with a large Armenian population in the San Fernando Valley, is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) and the House Committee on Financial Services.

During the 2010 HCFA mark-up of H.Res. 252, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Congressman Sherman stated: "...we cannot be cowered into denying the first genocide of the twentieth century. Because genocide denial is not just the last step of the genocide, it is the first step in the next genocide. And that is why Hitler when faced with some wavering compatriots was able to say, we can get away with the Holocaust, after all who today speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

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.