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86th annual commemoration lauds success of France's official recognition
Remembering the Armenian genocide
The president of the France-based April 24th Committee said Friday that
international recognition of the Armenian genocide was of international
humanitarian importance, rather than solely relevant to Armenia.
"Our committee's mission in France was not only to gain French governmental
recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide," Alexis Govciyan told a news
conference at the Press Federation, "but also because this is a humanitarian
issue concerned with living in dignity."
He was speaking on the occasion of the 86th annual commemoration of the
Armenian genocide. Govciyan was invited to Lebanon by the Armenian General
Benevolent Union and the Antranik Cultural and Environmental Committee
because of his committee's efforts in gaining French recognition ofthe
genocide.
He condemned the Turkish government's presistent denial of the genocide,
saying it "contradicted" human-rights values. "Our response to the Turkish
government, the inheritor of the Ottoman Empire, was our collective effort
in France over the last 35 years to gain its government's recognition," he
said.
On Jan. 18 the lower house of the French National Assembly gave final
approval to a text reading: "France publicly recognizes the Armenian
genocide of 1915." The Senate gave its initial approval in November, 2000.
Armenians all over the world succeeded "politically" in highlighting the
issue at international forums which in turn showed their support, Govciyan
said.
"Our unity was the base of all our achievements. Words like liberty,
equality and brotherhood held great meaning for us," he said.
Govciyan told The Daily Star that all Armenian organizations in France were
concerned with the issue and worked on it for many years.
The 24th April Committee is comprised of 45 organizations. Its objective was
purely to obtain official French recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as
well as that of other countries including Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, and
the United States.
"We accomplished this mission in France and the next mission will be to
obtain a law against denial of the genocide," he said. "French Armenians,
who number around 500,000, were very happy with France's recognition and
sent e-mails and made telephone calls thanking French President Jacques Chirac,
the French people, and the committee."
He also said that the committee was not concerned with winning compensation
for the genocide. "This must be the work of the state of Armenia and other
different organizations," he explained.
The president of the Armenian Youth Association, Gharo Dgelian, said Lebanon
had welcomed the Armenians throughout their difficult times in history.
"Lebanon, the country of human rights, suffered the Ottoman Empire's
savagery. It welcomed Armenians and considered them members of its own
family," Dgelian said.
Armenians say 1.5 million of their people were killed as part of the Ottoman
Empire's campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey between 1915-23.
Turkey says the death count is inflated and that Armenians were killed or
displaced as the Ottoman Empire tried to quell civil unrest.
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives