[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 44 (Wednesday, April 20, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION

                                 ______


                               speech of

                          HON. LESLIE L. BYRNE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 1994

  Mrs. BYRNE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice to the many on 
the floor of the House of Representatives today who commemorate the 
79th anniversary of the deaths of more than 1.5 million Armenians in 
Turkey.
  This commemorative takes us back to April 24, 1915 when several 
hundred Armenian intellectual religious, and political leaders in 
Constantinople were imprisoned and later killed. In the next several 
years, Armenians were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in 
eastern Turkey, ejected from their homes, and over half of the 2.3 
million Turkish Armenians were lead to their death.
  Under the pretense of protecting Armenians from war zones and an 
invading Russian army, the Turkish Government began to deport them to 
Syria and other areas. Whole families were uprooted, deprived of their 
homes and livelihood. Eyewitness accounts reported that men and teenage 
boys were typically separated very early in the deportation journey and 
usually shot or butchered. The women and children continued on foot, 
sometimes for months. On their way, they were robbed, raped, and 
massacred. Thousands were forced to eat grass or pick seeds out of the 
dung of animals. Thousands of others died of starvation, having been 
deprived of their possessions and money.
  We cannot be silent, and we cannot forget this painful chapter in 
20th century history. Some have asked, why should we be so concerned 
about a horror that occurred 79 years ago and in another part of the 
world. The answer lies in the events and history that has followed 
1915, a pattern of annihilation of peoples and races that has repeated 
itself over and over again.
  In 1915, the world expressed concern about the Armenians, but did not 
act. Directives were issued, statements were made, but no one moved to 
end this tragedy. The international community sat idly by as these 
crimes were committed. Over 20 years later, when Adolf Hitler said, 
``Who still talks nowadays about the extermination of the Armenians?'' 
he pointed to an unsettling truth about our collective historical 
memory and questioned whether the world community would express the 
same level of apathy toward the extermination of the Jews.
  When allied troops liberated Nazi death camps, one would have thought 
that this chapter had ended. However, 30 years later in Cambodia, a new 
generation of killings occurred. This time over 1 million Cambodians 
were annihilated in a systematic fashion.
  What have we learned from these tragic chapters in history? If there 
is one overriding lesson, it is that silence brings complacency, and 
that we cannot sit idly by in the face of crimes against humanity. If 
the civilized world continues to be silent then this cycle of 
annihilation will continue to repeat itself, as we now see in Bosnia.
  We must take the lessons of the experience of Armenians in Turkey in 
the first part of our century and brand these horrors in our memory. 
Let our actions today draw from our remembrance of the experiences of 
our fellow Americans of Armenian descent. Let their history and 
experiences lead us to a greater understanding and knowledge of the 
plight of Armenians and guide our policies today.

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