Ambassador Arman Kirakossian's remarks at the Congressional
Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
May 8, 2001
Dear Members of Congress,
Archbishop
Oshakan,
Senator Dole
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for the opportunity to speak before such a distinguished audience today. I am delighted to be in the Congress tonight, among friends of Armenia. I want to thank the Armenian National Committee of America for organizing this event. And I want to acknowledge their Chairman, Ken Khachigian, who is here tonight. The ANC is one of the most efficient and dedicated Armenian American groups with an impressive grassroots network of committed activists and community members. The Embassy will continue working with the ANC, and we believe we can do many things together for the benefit of the Armenian people.
We are here today to commemorate the 86th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. Conducting an ethnic cleansing of Western Armenia, the Ottoman Empire nearly succeeded in exterminating the Armenian race from the face of Earth.
Eighty-six years later, we have an independent Armenia and an active Armenian Diaspora community. Yet the Genocide of 1915 has left permanent scars in the mind of our nation. Our people are scattered all over the world since the Genocide has led to creation of a Diaspora. Millions of Armenians found refuge in foreign lands where they created miracles by their hard work and dedication. In the United States, there are more than one million Armenian-Americans, and everyone admires the resilience and vitality of their community.
Ten years ago, the independence of Armenia was proclaimed again, and the people of Armenia received another chance to live freely in their own country. An independent and strong Armenia will never again allow Genocide perpetrated against its people. We therefore believe that the national task of today is to spare no effort in order to build a stable and secure nation at peace with itself, and at peace with its neighbors, a guiding light and source of pride for all the Armenians.
While I am here today, I want to say how much we appreciate the generous support of the American people, which has helped us enormously in promoting democratic and economic development of Armenia during the last decade. We have always felt the support of the United States Congress for the cause of Armenia's independence, and we are very grateful for this.
As a representative of the Armenian Government, I want to reiterate our commitment to promote a greater international acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide, which remains on the foreign policy agenda of Armenia. As an independent nation, we are committed to prevention of ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity. We believe that an international recognition of the Armenian Genocide will serve the dual purpose of exposing the first Genocide of the XX century and better prevention of new Genocides. For Armenia, it serves a humanistic, noble purpose of upholding historical justice.
We want to thank the Members of the House of Representatives for their special order remarks at the Congress this April 24th. I also want to thank the Congressmen for the Armenian Genocide Resolution, which was nearly passed last year. It was unfortunate that the Resolution was not passed, but we hope to see it passed one day. Most recently, the Maryland General Assembly passed an Armenian Genocide resolution.
From the regional context, the Genocide is the thorny issue in the development of a healthy bilateral relationship between Armenia and Turkey, which is widely seen as a key to building a sound security environment in the Caucasus. Stability and strength of the Armenian-Turkish bilateral cooperation can only be based on the historic rapprochement between the two nations. Armenia is ready to continue dialog with the Republic of Turkey and establish a healthy bilateral relations, without any precondition. A greater acknowledgement of the Genocide by the community of nations raises the standards to which Turkey is aspiring to achieve and will ultimately promote the understanding of the issue in Turkey proper. Only acceptance of the historic truth can help cultivate the seeds of mutual trust and reconciliation between the Armenian and Turkish peoples.
We are entering the new century with new hopes and vision of a better future. We are sad that millions of Armenians perished before they could see their dreams of an independent homeland materialize. However, we, the Armenians of the Republic and in the Diaspora, are equally confident in our determination to uphold our nation's rights, prevent further ethnic cleansings, and build a strong and prosperous Armenia, which, I believe, will be the best memorial to the martyrs of the Genocide.
Thank you.