"BY DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TURKEY REJECTS EUROPEAN VALUES"
The First Convention of European Armenians, organized by the European Armenian
Federation on October 18 -19, 2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The participants, who included Mr. Ruben Shugarian, Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, leaders of various organizations and concerned individuals from sixteen countries, attended the debates organized within the framework of three sessions dedicated to the Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the question of the protection and the development of the Armenian language in the Diaspora, the relations between the European Union and Armenia, and the challenges of EU Enlargement. During the second session, the Ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr. Vigen Chitechian, presented Mr. Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and European Parliament former member, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the highest official distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Touching upon the topic of Turkey's candidacy to the European Union, Hilda Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation declared that "Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the Armenian people - the very people who represented the values of enlightenment within the Ottoman Empire - its rejection of European modernity." She warned European Union's leaders against the integration of a State that persists to express that rejection of European values through its policy of denial and that through its attitude "threatens the regional stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian people."
Federation on October 18 -19, 2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The participants, who included Mr. Ruben Shugarian, Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, leaders of various organizations and concerned individuals from sixteen countries, attended the debates organized within the framework of three sessions dedicated to the Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the question of the protection and the development of the Armenian language in the Diaspora, the relations between the European Union and Armenia, and the challenges of EU Enlargement. During the second session, the Ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr. Vigen Chitechian, presented Mr. Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and European Parliament former member, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the highest official distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Touching upon the topic of Turkey's candidacy to the European Union, Hilda Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation declared that "Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the Armenian people - the very people who represented the values of enlightenment within the Ottoman Empire - its rejection of European modernity." She warned European Union's leaders against the integration of a State that persists to express that rejection of European values through its policy of denial and that through its attitude "threatens the regional stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian people."
