Dear Friend, As you gather with friends and family this Easter Sunday in
blessed celebration of the resurrection of Christ, please consider pausing for
a moment to reflect upon our own journey as Armenians. The proud daughters and sons of our ancient nation - the
first to adopt Christianity - we have survived and thrived, developing a rich
and unique culture, sharing our ideas and experiences, and contributing to the
diverse fabric of the international community. As we approach April 24th,
however, we are, of course, reminded that it was nearly a century ago, in 1915
that we endured the fires of a terrible genocide. A still-unpunished crime that
nearly ended our very existence and that, to this very day, threatens the
viability of our partitioned, landlocked, impoverished, and blockaded homeland.
A little more than a month from now (on Sunday, June 1st),
when the ANCA Telethon is broadcast nationwide (and webcast around the world),
you'll see first-hand all the ANCA's doing for our homeland and heritage.
You'll learn about our work on a remarkably diverse set of challenges and
opportunities, in politics, with senior government officials, and through the
media. And, behind these efforts, you'll see that everything we do - every
policy and priority we advance - is aligned with one simple goal: The viability
of the Armenian Nation.
That's our North Star: The survival of the Armenian nation;
our future, in our ancient homeland, across the Middle East, and around the
world. This is true of our aid and trade support for Armenia, our defense of
Artsakh's freedom, our economic development work for Javakh, our advocacy for
Syrian Armenians, and our drive for a truthful and just international
resolution of the Armenian Genocide. And it's especially true of our campaign
to secure Turkey's return of stolen Armenian and other Christian churches.
There is no better place to start securing justice from
Turkey than the immediate return of all religious properties, not only to the
Armenians, but to all the Christians of these ancient biblical lands.
Thankfully, with the support of Armenian Americans from across our country, we
have seen the U.S. House adopt legislation calling upon Turkey to surrender
confiscated churches, monasteries, relics, schools, cemeteries and other holy
sites. Just a few weeks ago, a new bipartisan measure (H.R.4347) was introduced
in Congress that would require the Obama Administration to report to Congress
about that status of the return of our religious properties. We must and will
work tirelessly for its adoption.
As we approach the end of a century in which all the costs
of the Armenian Genocide have fallen upon its victims, we seek, for ourselves
and all humanity, a new era, a better century - one in which burdens of this
crime will, as they rightly must, be borne by its perpetrator. The return of
churches, Turkey’s surrender – voluntary or otherwise – of the thousands of
church properties it stole from Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Syriacs, and
other Christians prior to, during, and after the Armenian Genocide era, would
represent a meaningful first step by the Turkish government toward accepting
its responsibility for a truthful and just resolution of this still unpunished
crime against humanity. As children of the first nation to adopt Christianity,
we celebrate this holiest of days by, once again, calling upon all of our
brothers and sisters in faith worldwide - Christians, Muslims, Jews, believers
of all denominations and faiths, and those who hold no faith - to join with us
in offering a prayer for the Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Pontian,
Greek, and other victims of the Ottoman Empire’s World War I-era genocide of
its Christian minorities.
With all of our love and respect,
Sincerely,
Aram S. Hamparian
Executive Director
Armenian National Committee of America
PS - We welcome your thoughts on the issues addressed in
this note and with regard to any aspect of the ANCA's work. Please share any
comments with me at aram@anca.org or take a few minutes to fill out the ANCA's
2014 Strategic Survey.
Aram Hamparian / ANCA [anca@anca.org]
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