[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 57 (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E713]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        88TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GENOCIDE OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE

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                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 9, 2003

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Speaker, April 24, 2003, marks the 88th anniversary of 
one of the world's most tragic events--the genocide of the Armenian 
people by the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire.
  On that day in 1915, over 200 Armenian religious, political and 
intellectual leaders were executed. This was the beginning of the 
Ottoman Empire's attempt to eradicate Armenians from their Anatolian 
homelands in what is now East Turkey through massacre and massive 
forced marches through the deserts of modern-day Syria. This resulted 
in the deaths of more than two-thirds of the Armenian population--
totaling one and a half million people.
  To this day, there are those who dismiss the systematic persecution 
of the Armenian population. Some claim that a smaller number of 
Armenians were killed as a result of partisan fighting during World War 
I. Others lessen the importance of this event by refusing to recognize 
it as genocide. Still others seek to forget this tragedy altogether. 
But these tragic events must be acknowledged and remembered to ensure 
that this does not happen.
  Stephen Holden of the New York Times once wrote of the Armenian 
Genocide that ``anguished remembrance is far preferable to willful 
amnesia.'' There are still many living survivors in my district who 
participate each year in commemoration ceremonies, in the hope that the 
world will not forget their anguish.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent a large and vital Armenian 
community in my district. It is for these people, as well as Armenians 
around the world, that I rise today to commemorate the Armenian 
Genocide with the great hope there will not be willful amnesia 
regarding this tragedy, but that people will remember and not tolerate 
anything of this kind again.
    




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