EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION URGES EU MARK ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY

PanARMENIAN.Net - On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the European Armenian Federation calls upon Armenian organizations to sign a declaration urging the democratic and executive institutions of the European Union to commemorate appropriately the 90th anniversary of the first Genocide of the 20th century, and to reflect clearly the will of national Parliaments and the European Parliament in that Turkey should recognize the Armenian Genocide in all official documents regarding future negotiations with the Republic of Turkey. "Accepting a denialist country in its midst, is first of all, a serious problem for the future of Europe. The European Executive cannot ignore anymore the continued calls of national Parliaments and the European Parliament, whose resolution of December 15th, 2004 asked the European Commission and Council to demand that Turkey recognize the Genocide," said Hilda Tchoboian, Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation. The Federation recalls that many European countries were witnesses to the annihilation of the Armenians, which occurred on the borders of Europe, while others actually were complicit in its implementation. Others promised to work for justice and to institute legal proceedings against the responsible state and its guilty leaders. In the end, however, these promises were never fulfilled. "The Europe of today - made up of these states - cannot escape its responsibility for addressing this crime," Hilda Tchoboian stated. In her words, the duty of memory is essential for all Europeans and European democratic institutions.