Dynamic presentation to address key points raised by passage of Berman-Cicilline Amendment
GLENDALE—The Armenian National Committee – Western Region announced that Khatchig Mouradian will serve as a panelist in the ANC Grassroots presentation “Confronting Truth, Delivering Justice: Turkey and the Armenian Genocide,” which is part of the ANC Grassroots weekend that will take place from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Studio City.
Mouradian, the editor of the Armenian Weekly will speak at ANC Grassroots about the confiscation of Christian church properties by the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey.
Mouradian’s timely presentation comes on the heels of the passage of the Berman-Cicilline Amendment, which called on the Republic of Turkey to end all forms of religious discrimination and allow the rightful owners of Christian church properties to organize and administer prayer services without hindrance or restriction. It further called for the return of these properties to the Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and the other nations that have lived in the lands of present-day Turkey for thousands of years.
This religious freedom amendment – which came under attack from Ankara’s surrogates in Washington – drew broad bipartisan support, including from both Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Democrat Howard Berman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the influential panel from which this legislation was drafted.
Mouradian’s presentation will cover the Ottoman era of Sultan Abdulhamid and the Young Turks through to the present-day Republic of Turkey. Drawing from a wealth of primary and secondary sources, including recently published scholarly works, Mouradian will present an overview of the process through which Armenian property, including church property, was confiscated from Armenians and transferred to the Ottoman and later Turkish state, and how the economic wealth stolen from the Armenians contributed to the creation of the Turkish national economy.
Through a multimedia and photographic presentation, Mouradian will share a broad overview of the destruction, desecration, and disregard of Armenian and other Christian church properties, as well as present a detailed inventory of pre and post-Genocide religious properties.
Mouradian will then discuss the Turkish state’s current policy toward Armenians and Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Turkey. He will also explore the moral and material remedies available to begin addressing the damages inflicted upon the Armenian and other victims of Ottoman and later Republican Turkey’s genocidal campaign to eliminate the Christian populations within its borders.
In addition to serving as editor of the Armenian Weekly, Mouradian is a doctoral candidate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University, where he is writing his dissertation on the destruction of the Armenians in the Syrian desert during the Armenian Genocide.
He has lectured extensively and participated in conferences in Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Norway, Syria, Switzerland, Turkey, and across the United States. He has presented papers on media, human rights, and the Armenian genocide at several academic conferences, including the 5th and 6th Workshops on Armenian-Turkish Scholarship, held at NYU in 2006 and at the Graduate Institute in Geneva in 2008; the 2009 International Conference on Genocide and International Law at Haigazian University in Beirut, the 2009 Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA) conference in Boston, the 2010 Armenian Genocide Research conference at Clark University, and the 2010 Armenian Genocide Reparations conference in Ankara, Turkey.
ANC Grassroots is a three-day program of workshops and panel presentations that will inform participants about the issues presently facing Armenian Americans, and educate them about civic leadership arising from grassroots efforts. ANC Grassroots will bookend the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region Annual Banquet, which will take place on Saturday, November 26 at 7 p.m.
The conference and Annual Banquet are open to interested individuals throughout the entire United States, and participants are encouraged to register early.
Tickets for ANC Grassroots, which includes the Friday night cocktail in the Starview Room; as well as conference sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which include breakfast, post-banquet dance, and a keynote luncheon on Sunday, are $150. Tickets for the Annual Banquet are $200. Those interested in attending the Annual Banquet and ANC Grassroots can purchase a package for $300.
Students with valid ID can purchase discounted tickets to the Annual Banquet and Conference.
The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.
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This is a good human rights initiative, but this does not mean the Republic of Turkey will be carved up or you Armenian Extremeists have a right to bankrupt the Turkish Economy. Because how did the Turkish economy get built on Christian dead when Turkey started with 0 dollars after the 1923 era. Because it was not built on Christian dead. We built it through external businesspeople and foriegn sources.
I believe all minorities in the Republic of Turkey deserve to have human rights and be treated like equals, but the territorial integrity of the RoT will be defended at all costs and we will not give up one single inch of land.