George Clooney on Genocide: Calling things by their names will take time April 23, 2016 - 13:09 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Prominent Hollywood actor George Clooney on Saturday, April 23 participated in the 2nd Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide in Yerevan. “This is my first visit to Armenia. I am glad to be here and participate in this event,” Clooney said. In response to Washington Post’s David Ignatius’ question on the motivation behind his visit to Armenia, Clooney said: “I was born in a time when people actively fought for their rights, and I was brought up in these principles. I try to use my fame to help people.” Characterizing genocides as massacres is not right, Clooney said. “The ability to call things by their proper names will take time, but you can’t deny what happened,” he said. World-famous actor, director and producer George Clooney arrived in Armenia on Friday, April 22 to attend the inaugural Aurora Prize event in Yerevan. The prize was created by three prominent philanthropists of Armenian descent Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan. On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, an Aurora Prize Laureate will be honored each year with a $100,000 grant as well as the unique opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that inspired their work for a $1,000,000 award. Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes. 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. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |