Hellenic-Americans Join 2008 Armenian Genocide Memorial

The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA), together with the Pan-Pontian Federation USA and CANADA, joined the Armenian Genocide Commemorations in City Hall and in Times Square, New York in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 by Turkey.

At the 93rd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 25, some 10 high-ranking representatives of the Pan- Pontian Federation of USA and Canada came to New York City's City Hall to stand in support of an address by Pan-Pontian General Secretary Dimitris Molohides, grandson of Genocide survivors from Pontus, together with city dignitaries and Armenian representatives. Molohides addressed the Armenians as brothers in the struggle for remembrance. He detailed the murder of Armenians by the Turks and Turkey's crimes against civilization in Pontus in 1919, Constantinople in 1955, in Smyrna in 1922, and Cyprus in 1974, ending with the remark, "Time is up." He called for passage of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress. The Pan- Pontian delegation was warmly greeted in the City Hall commemorations, and personally acknowledged by keynote speaker and genocide scholar Professor Henry Theriault, whose presentation also included details on the Pontic Greek Genocide of 1919.

The historic Armenian Genocide Commemorations in Times Square in New York City took place on Sunday, April 27. This year, many Pontians attended, holding banners and flags from Hellas, Cyprus and Pontus. Molohides was seated in the grandstand with Armenian Genocide survivors and their families, elected officials and humanitarian, cultural, religious, educational and community leaders. Distinguished speakers included U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey); Congressmember Frank Pallone, Jr. (DNew Jersey), co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues; Carla Garapedian, director of the award-winning documentary "Screamers", which explores the history of reoccurrence and denial of genocides in the 20th and 21st centuries; Mark J. Garagos, an attorney who helped lead groundbreaking federal class action lawsuits against New York Life and other insurance companies for insurance polices issued to Armenians living in Turkey prior to the Armenian Genocide, and Genocide and Holocaust scholar Alex Hinton, PhD, director of the study of genocide and human rights at Rutgers University and vice president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and Dr. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of Hitler's Willing Executioners. In 2009, Goldhagen will host the PBS documentary "Worse Than War", based on his forthcoming book exploring the general phenomenon of genocide throughout the world. The Commemoration theme was "We Cannot Forget, We Will Not Forget."

Following the groundbreaking move by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), which in December 2007, voted overwhelmingly to recognize the genocides inflicted on Assyrian and Greek populations of the Ottoman Empire between 1914 and 1923, CANA joins with the Armenian people in solemn remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and reaffirms a commitment by Hellenic- Americans of conscience who, for many years, remain determined to secure full recognition and justice for Turkey's crimes.

The 93rd anniversary in Cyprus was marked by a series of events under the auspices of Cyprus House President Marios Karoyan, who is Armenian.

Vartkes Mahdessian, another Armenian representative at the Cyprus House, declared: "The Armenians will continue their struggle until the final justification, a duty owed to the victims of the genocide. It is time that the political leadership of Turkey found the courage to recognize the crimes the previous Turkish governments committed, justifying the victims of not only the Armenian genocide but of the Greeks, Cypriots, Kurds, Arabs, Pontic Greeks and other peoples, in the hope that it will at some point join the European Union."

To view and download pictures of Hellenic-Americans at the Armenian Genocide commemorations 2008, visit http://cyprus actionnetwork. org/photosofhellenic-americans atarmenian_genocidecommemorations 2008.

The Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA) is a grass roots, not-forprofit movement created to support genuine self-determination and human rights for the people of Cyprus.