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Our Demands
 he
Genocide of the Armenian nation, which occurred during the First World
War, was Ottoman-turk government's last act in the Armenians' long history
of oppression.
 Before
1914, more than 2 million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire and
the majority of them in the occupied Armenian territories. By the end of
the First World War no more than 100,000 Armenians had remained in the
area (today called Turkey) while almost half million homeless headed to
the territories, which today constitute the Republic of Armenia and to
regions of Middle East, Europe and North and South America. Survivors haunted
by tragic memories and their descendants who have their share of suffering,
live dispersed in many foreign countries.
A fundamental aspect of the Armenians'
intentions for a free and collective existence is the attribution of Genocide's
responsibilities. Armenians refuse to be forgotten even if this means that
they will be a burden on humanity's conscience.
The Genocide that put an end to the
three thousand year old life in Armenia, created new demands, ratified
in the International Law by the Convention of the United Nation on the
prevention and punishment of Genocide. These demands are:
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The crime
of the genocide commited against the Armenian nation in 1915 and the subsequent
years be condemned by the international community and by Turkey, furthermore,
Turkey must admit the guilt and accept the responsibility.
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In accordance
with the articles of the Treaty of Sevres (1920), the immediate return
of the larger part of their homeland -Armenia- (now under Turkish occupation
and emptied of its native armenian population), to its rightful owners
- the Armenian people.
According to the International Law,
today's Turkish government is responsible for crimes committed by its predecessors
even if the after-ottoman Turkey has proscribed these crimes. Something
that has continually omitted.
The report of last decades' efforts
and especially of those of the Armenian National Committee, include many
positive elements.
Parliaments, international organizations
and committees, distinguished personalities of enormous international,
political, intellectual and artistic prestige, by resolutions and statements,
justify historically the Armenian people, recognize the Armenian genocide,
its consequences and the rights of the Armenian nation and find Turkey
guilty of crime, guilty of Genocide.
Armenians all over the world, graduating
the political struggle with several initiatives in international forum,
target to a definite solution to the Armenian Question.
The massive extermination as a mean
of political domination, which has been used by Turkey many times, can
be adopted more frequently in the future, unless the principle of justice
prevails on the relations among nations. If Armenians and the other victims
of repression and genocide, together with all the free thinking individuals,
do not overwhelm every possible effort to stop the Turkish irreconcilable
imperialistic policy, they will have failed towards their responsibilities
regarding the next generations. |
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