Category Archives: News
Over 100 Members of Congress Sign Letter Urging President Biden to Recognize the Armenian Genocide
Florida Representatives Bilirakis, Frankel, and Crist sign the letter to President Biden.
On April 21, the bipartisan co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), David G. Valadao (R-CA), and Jackie Speier (D-CA), along with over 100 Congressional colleagues, sent a letter to President Joseph R. Biden urging him to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide in his statement on April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
“On April 24, the world will mark the 106th anniversary of the first days of the Armenian Genocide, the systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, and the displacement of many more. Yet for decades, while leaders around the world recognize the first genocide of the 20th Century, the President of the United States has remained silent. We join with the proud Armenian American community and all of those who support truth and justice in asking that you clearly and directly recognize the Armenian Genocide in your April 24 statement,” the Members write in the letter. “Mr. President, as you said last year in your April 24 statement, ‘Silence is complicity.’ The shameful silence of the United States Government on the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide has gone on for too long, and it must end. We urge you to follow through on your commitments, and speak the truth.”
In 2019 and 2020, the House of Representatives and the Senate passed resolutions formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide. H.Res. 296 passed with strong bipartisan consensus by a vote of 405-11, and S.Res. 150 passed under unanimous consent.
The Armenian Caucus letter to President Biden was signed by over 100 Members of Congress, including Representatives Brad Sherman, Joaquin Castro, Grace F. Napolitano, Sheila Jackson Lee, Jamie Raskin, John P. Sarbanes, Andy Levin, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Carolyn Maloney, Jim Cooper, Sean Patrick Maloney, Joe Neguse, David N. Cicilline, Jared Huffman, Lori Trahan, Anna Eshoo, Gregory W. Meeks, Jim Costa, Dina Titus, Abigail D. Spanberger, Judy Chu, Josh Gottheimer, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Thomas R. Suozzi, James P. McGovern, Tony Cárdenas, Betty McCollum, Jan Schakowsky, Ro Khanna, Stephen F. Lynch, John Garamendi, Jeff Van Drew, Juan Vargas, Jake Auchincloss, Ann Wagner, Greg Stanton, Nicole Malliotakis, Marcy Kaptur, Paul D. Tonko, Julia Browley, Earl Perlmutter, Linda T. Sánchez, David P. Joyce, Katherine M. Clark, Sara Jacobs, Grace Meng, Mike Quigley, Gwen Moore, Haley Stevens, Devin Nunes, Zoe Lofgren, Adriano Espaillat, James R. Langevin, Josh Harder, Peter A. DeFazio, Donald S. Beyer Jr., Rashida Tlaib, Mary Gay Scanlon, Barbara Lee, Norma J. Torres, Lois Frankel, Chellie Pingree, Donald Norcross, Alan Lowenthal, Bradley S. Schneider, Danny K. Davis, Jimmy Gomez, Colin Z. Allred, Chrissy Houlahan, Earl Blumenauer, Doug Lamborn, Susan Wild, Debbie Dingell, Diana DeGette, Scott Peters, Ted Lieu, Jay Obernolte, Karen Bass, Madeleine Dean, Michelle Steel, Brian Fitzpatrick, Mike Levin, Darrell Issa, Charlie Crist, Albio Sires, Mike Garcia, Lucille Roybal-Allard, David Schweikert, Mike Doyle, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Carolyn Bourdeaux, Young Kim, Jason Crow, Ilhan Omar, Christopher H. Smith, Chris Pappas, David Trone, Ayanna Pressley, Veronica Escobar, Raúl M. Grijalva, Richie Neal, and Jim Himes.
Click here to read the letter, or read the full text below:
Dear Mr. President:
Later this month, on April 24, the world will mark the 106th anniversary of the first days of the Armenian Genocide, the systematic murder of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, and the displacement of many more. Yet for decades, while leaders around the world recognize the first genocide of the 20th Century, the President of the United States has remained silent. We join with the proud Armenian American community and all of those who support truth and justice in asking that you clearly and directly recognize the Armenian Genocide in your April 24 statement.
We know that this is an issue you are well acquainted with from your time in the Senate and as Vice President, including shepherding S.J.Res. 212 (designating April 24, 1990, as a National Day of Remembrance of the 75th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide) through the Judiciary Committee in 1989. We also appreciate that as Vice President you attended the centenary anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015 at the National Cathedral. It was during the centennial that His Holiness Pope Francis at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica said this about the Armenian Genocide: “concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.”
The historic fact of what occurred a century ago is not in serious dispute. American diplomats of the period documented the mass slaughter of the Armenians, though they had no word for what they were witnessing. It was only decades later that Raphael Lemkin coined the term “genocide”, and did so specifically with the attempted extermination of the Armenian people in mind.
In accurately describing the Genocide this year, you will be joining both the House and Senate which overwhelmingly passed resolutions doing so in 2019. Additionally, the Library of Congress has already taken the important step of cataloging books on the subject under historically accurate Armenian Genocide subject heading.
Mr. President, as you said last year in your April 24 statement, “Silence is complicity.” The shameful silence of the United States Government on the historic fact of the Armenian Genocide has gone on for too long, and it must end. We urge you to follow through on your commitments, and speak the truth.
‘Women of 1915’ Amazon Video Streaming Starts On International Women’s Day
COCONUT CREEK, FL – South Florida-based Armenoid Productions has announced that its 2016 multi award-winning ‘Women of 1915′ feature-length documentary film is slated to stream on Amazon Video in observance of International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2021. This documentary reveals that it was women who were left behind to experience the worst kind of torture and the most heroic form of resilience during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The film delineates the stories of these women, along with the lasting impact they had on the lives they saved and touched.
“We decided to stream the premiere of Women of 1915 on Amazon Video to coincide with International Women’s Day, because of the film’s universal appeal. One of the women profiled in our film is Victoria Artinian who, having survived the Armenian Genocide and the Great Fire of Smyrna in 1922, migrated to United States. From the “ashes” of death and destruction in her homeland, she succeeded in overcoming these impossible traumatic events to live the American Dream. Amazingly, she also helped raise her daughter’s adopted son who, beginning in his 20s set a path to literally change the world for Victoria Artinian was Steve Job’s adoptive grandmother,” said 4-time Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and South Florida resident Bared Maronian.
Additionally, ‘Women of 1915’ combines facts and emotions to honor the brave American and European women including American volunteer Mary Louise Graffam, Japanese diplomat Diana Apkar, and Danish missionary Maria Jacobsen, who dedicated their lives to rescue the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, while risking their own.
Women of 1915′ was made possible by a principal partnership between Armenoid Productions, Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA and Ararat Eskijian Museum. In addition, the Armenian Relief Society of Canada, Armenian Relief Society of Western USA, AGBU and AGBU–Hye Geen, made considerable contributions to this project.
Screened in over 40 cities around the world, this documentary was officially selected by the Switzerland International Film Festival and has received Best Documentary Awards at the International Independent Film Awards, Aphrodite Film Awards, Docs Without Borders Film Festival, and the Pomegranate Film Festival. In addition, the ARPA Film Festival’s most prestigious Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award honored Bared Maronian, the director of ‘Women of 1915.’
The creative team behind Women of 1915 includes, Gloria Sanders as narrator, Bardig Kouyoumdjian as the director of photography, C-rouge as the composer, and Hooshere as the performer. Original soundtrack is available at Spotify and Apple Music.
Bared Maronian’s most recent production ‘Bloodless: The Path to Democracy,’ a collaboration between Armenoid Productions and Cultural Impact Foundation, is currently gaining rave reviews at international film festivals. It documents Armenia’s 2018 peaceful revolution. Maronian’s earlier 2013 documentary, ‘Orphans of the Genocide,’ that examines the plight and survival efforts of the over 150,000 orphans of the Armenian Genocide, is currently available on Amazon Video.
100 Representatives Urge Biden Administration to Support Armenia and Artsakh
Florida Representatives Gus Bilirakis, Ted Deutch, Brian Mast, and John Rutherford Sign Armenian Caucus Letter
WASHINGTON, DC – Florida Armenians welcome a bipartisan letter signed by 100 Members of Congress to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin highlighting key policy issues, including the pressing importance of addressing the “ongoing humanitarian crisis in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).”
Spearheaded by Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. and the Armenian Caucus leadership, the letter emphasized that “our diplomats must insist that any future settlement supported by the United States will provide the people of Artsakh with the ability to reconstruct their communities and rebuild their lives without fear of further bloodshed. This should include significant U.S. commitments to provide an urgently needed humanitarian aid and assistance package for the people of Artsakh.”
Noting that the “terms laid out in the current ceasefire are untenable for Artsakh’s long-term security and stability in the region,” the letter said in part that “more must be done to pursue an enduring settlement based on the fundamental right to self-determination,” and that the international community and the United States “has an important role to play by finally recognizing the right to self-determination for the people of Artsakh and their role as a legitimate negotiating party in resolving this conflict.”
The letter also expressed concern that “Azerbaijan also refuses to free dozens of Armenian prisoners of war and apprehended civilians” in violation of the ceasefire signed on November 10, 2020, as well as the need to hold “destabilizing actors accountable.”
In addition, the letter stated that “sanctions on high-ranking officials from [Turkey and Azerbaijan] and withholding aid, including ending the waiver of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act and ceasing further military assistance through the Section 333 Building Partner Capacity program,” would have helped halt last year’s deadly actions.
The letter concluded that “the United States should seek to strengthen our strategic relationship with Armenia” and that President Biden should follow in the footsteps of both the House and Senate and formally recognize the Armenian Genocide this April 24th.
“We applaud Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Frank Pallone for his steadfast leadership, as well as Caucus leaders Reps. David Valadao, Jackie Speier, Gus Bilirakis, Adam Schiff, and all of the signatories for coming together in this important effort to urge the Biden’s administration to work closely with America’s democratic allies Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, as they face an existential threat from the Islamist armies of Turkey and Azerbaijan. Armenian Americans and all people who support democracy and freedom know that when America leads the world is better for it, and so we urge President Biden and his administration to be a leader in the South Caucasus,” stated Florida Armenians Editor Taniel Koushakjian.
Below are the 100 Members of Congress who signed this letter:
Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), David Valadao (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Jim Banks (R-IN), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), Karen Bass (D-CA), Don Beyer (D-VA), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Salud Carbajal (D-CA), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), David Cicilline (D-RI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Ted Deutch (D-FL), Mike Doyle (D-PA), Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), John Garamendi (D-CA), Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Mike Garcia (R-CA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Josh Harder (D-CA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Hank Johnson (D-GA), David Joyce (R-OH), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Dan Kildee (D-MI), Young Kim (R-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Jim Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Susie Lee (D-NV), Andy Levin (D-MI), Mike Levin (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Brian Mast (R-FL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Richard Neal (D-MA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-At Large), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), John Rutherford (R-FL), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D-MD), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Schneider (D-IL), David Schweikert (R-AZ), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Michelle Steel (R-CA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Lori Trahan (D-MA), David Trone (D-MD), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT-At Large), and Susan Wild (D-PA).
Florida Armenians 