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Assembly thanks Jewish organization for Acknowledging the Armenian Genocide
PRESS RELEASE
Phone: (202) 393-3434
E-mail: jablett@aaainc.org
Web: <www.aaainc.org>
Washington, DC - The Armenian Assembly of America today commended the NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia for maintaining the best traditions of the Jewish community and affirming the Armenian experience of 1915 as a genocide. In its "2000/2001 Country Reports," the organization, formerly known as the National Council on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), said, "Political events in the Ottoman Empire during the late 1800s and early 1900s led to the genocide of Armenians in 1915: Up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed through starvation, deportations, and massacres."
Armenian Assembly of America Board of Directors Chairman Van Krikorian praised the organization's move and congratulated its Chairman, Harold Paul Luks. "This affirmation by such an influential and important organization comes on the heels of similar announcements this past year by the Vatican, the European Parliament, France, and Italy. Armenians share a similar, horrific experience with their Jewish friends because it was the Armenian Genocide, the first of the 20th century, which laid the groundwork for Hitler's Holocaust."
"Those who deny the Genocide are powerful and have often threatened both governments and organizations who attempt to set the record straight. We deeply appreciate the NCSJ's record and courage," he said.
The NCSJ is the central coordinating agency of the organized American Jewish community for policy and activities on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews in the former Soviet Union. It comprises nearly 50 national organizations and over 300 local federations and committees across the United States. Its Director of Governmental Relations and Executive Editor of the "Country Reports" Shai A. Franklin was part of an Assembly-organized delegation of American-Jewish organizations which visited Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh in 1999.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.
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