Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Cardiff Central AM opens Armenian Genocide Exhibition at the Temple of Peace
by Welsh Liberal Democrats, 16th March 2001
Posted: Thursday, March 22, 2001 07:08 am CST

Media Release

Release Date: 16th March 2001
Embargo: Immediate
Contact: 02920 898 355

Jenny Randerson, Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Cardiff Central (and Welsh cabinet minister for Culture, Media, Sport and the Welsh Language) will be opening the Armenian Genocide Exhibition at the Temple of Peace on Monday, 19th March at 4:30 p.m.

Having visited the two day exhibition at the Assembly, Jenny said:

“I was extremely moved by the exhibition and am honoured to be asked to open the exhibition at the Temple of Peace, which will run to the 24th April, being the date that the genocide started in 1915 and on which will be held a ceremony of remembrance.

“As a former history teacher, even I was not fully aware of the whole facts surrounding the first genocidal massacre of the 20th Century, which is not surprising in view of the UK Government’s reluctance to recognise it as such.

“Unlike some of its other NATO partners, the UK and USA are operating a policy of denial on the Armenian Genocide and Keith Vas, the responsible Foreign Office Minister, has stated that “the government have judged that the evidence is sufficiently unequivocal to persuade us that the Armenian experience should be defined as genocide as defined by the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide”. That denial resulted in the Home Office excluding the Armenian Genocide from Britain’s first Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27th January this year.

“I wonder if Mr Vas has visited the exhibition or read the statements of former PMs, Foreign Ministers and academics?

“I believe that humanity should prevail over political and economic interests. We cannot change the past but we can, at least, accord it the respect it deserves. By admitting and recognising past wrong-doings, we can not only seek forgiveness but can also ensure that history is not repeated! Adolf Hitler, while persuading his associates that a Jewish holocaust would be tolerated by the west stated: “Who, after all, speaks today of the total annihilation of the Armenians?”

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