30.Oct.2007
London, 21, Oct. 2007 (ESNA) - The director of the Assyrian centre of genocide studies, Seyfo Centre, called on Turks to put pressure on their government to recognize the Ottoman mass killing of around 2 million Assyrians/Syriacs, Armenians and Greeks during World War I.
“It is the duty of every individual Turk to lobby his government to recognize the crimes committed in the name of their nation and religion,” Sabri Atman, Seyfo Centre director, said in a lecture on Sunday in London.
Atman’s call came days after the US House of Representatives rejected a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Mr. Mher Margaryan, the First Secretary at the Armenian embassy in London, attended the lecture, organized by the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide (CRAG) and the Seyfo Center -UK Branch. Turkish and British media representatives were also present.
Ara Sarafian, the Armenian researcher who republished the Blue Book, the cornerstone of the Armenian genocide studies, was also among the attendance. He, too, called on liberal Turks in a joint news conference with Atman shortly before the lecture to exert efforts to push the Turkish government to recognize its past.
In the lecture, Atman highlighted the suffering of Assyrians/Syriacs during the 1915 genocide alongside with their Armenian and Greek neighbors. He called on Armenian organizations to work closely with Assyrians/Syriacs on the genocide issue through joint campaigns in Western countries to recognize their suffering.
In response to Atman’s call, Assyrian Seyfo Center received invitations from Armenian campaigners to join their campaigns in Wales and London. Armenian Welsh campaigners responded immediately to the call to work together with Assyrians/Syriacs on genocide. They extended an invitation to the Seyfo Centre to represent the Assyrians/Syriacs in the Nov. 3 unveiling of a genocide monument which will be erected in memory of Assyrian/Syriacs and Armenian victims of the 1915 killings. An Assyrian representative will join the Armenian ambassador to the UK in the unveiling ceremonies.
ESNA
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