“Turkey has enough power to have an influence on the U.S. in recognizing the Armenian Genocide. That’s something that the U.S. must worry about,” said organizational group member of the “Yellow Ribbon” march Raffi Dudaklyan during a press conference yesterday.
“168 Hours” is letting its readers know that the people taking this initiative are American citizens in Armenia (Armenian by nationality), who plan on breaking the world silence of the Armenian Genocide.
There are a number of countries that have recognized this tragic, historical event, while some great powers of the world still deny the Armenian Genocide based on the relations with Turkey and some political and economic reasons.
During the press conference, the speakers recalled the announcements made by the Israeli Ambassador in Armenia in 2002. They also drew their attention to the fact that English Ambassador Torda Abbot Watt had denied the Armenian Genocide in her speech in 2004. The “Yellow Ribbon” members were mainly frustrated after what happened with U.S. Ambassador John Evans in the States and the press conference was dedicated to that event.
“Recently, during a meeting with the Armenian community of America, the U.S. Ambassador in Armenia John Evans had enough courage to say that we should all put an end to word games and call things by their names, in other words, recognize the Armenian Genocide. After these words, the U.S. State Department punished the ambassador by making him “take back” what he had said and apologize. But the worst thing for us was to see how the U.S. Ambassador was punished for saying the truth about the Armenian Genocide and his callback,” as stated in the announcement.
In response to our question as to how sure they are that Mr. Evans was called back for that reason, Mr. Edward Palasanyan said:
“We have lived in the U.S. for many years and have our contacts and sources. Without even contacting our sources, we assure you that John Evans was called back due to what he had said about the Armenian Genocide.”
According to the speakers, in times like these it is necessary to speak out and defend the people, who are standing up for us. Mr. Dudaklyan said that silence is a symbol of alliance and made a reference to the words of Martin Luther King:
“In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemy, but rather the silence of our allies.”
Businessman Zhirair Avanyan emphasized the fact that the demonstration was not aimed directly at the U.S., but rather it is against the politics led by the U.S. administration in denying the Armenian Genocide.
“There are smart people at the State Department and they know the historical facts. They are simply going along with today’s demands and not saying the truth.”
As for priest Ktritch Devejyan, he is especially offended that “the U.S. is taking away the ambassador’s right of freedom of speech, when the U.S. is all about the freedom of speech and conscience.”
Of course, we can’t really agree with this because the ambassador can’t allow himself to say everything. Everyone knows that there are even certain limits for freedom of speech and there are even more limits in diplomatic ties. But we are convinced that the U.S. is leading double standard politics with the “help” of Evans.
The speakers asked the journalists to focus on the yellow ribbons, which are the “symbol of hope for the future”. After the press conference, the people gathered received yellow ribbons and the speakers called on the people to take part in the demonstration on April 24. Five layers of ropes will be stretched on the 100 meter road leading to the Armenian Genocide monument and the accomplices must tie yellow ribbons on the ropes as a sign of agreement. The ribbons will be handed out to the participants on April 24 on the way.