“OUR UNITED POSITION AND OUR DEMNAD FOR COMPENSATION SHOULD BE THE FOCUS OF THE 100th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE” SAID HIS HOLINESS ARAM I

On 6 April 2013, His Holiness Aram I opened the consultation organized by the Lebanon Committee of the 100th Anniversary Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, held at the ‘Cilicia’ Museum in Antelias. After welcoming the members of the committee and expressing his appreciation for the one-day consultation, he said, “Preparations for the 100th anniversary of our Genocide should be the beginning of a long-term programme to bring together all the planned activities of Armenia and the diaspora coherently.” The Catholicos then reminded the members of the committee of the motto he proposed to the 100th anniversary preparatory committee in Armenia: “ ‘To remember, to remind and to demand’ “During the past 100 years,” he continued, “we have constantly reminded the world of our Genocide. Today we demand justice and compensation.”

He then spoke of the consultation the Catholicosate organized a year ago on the theme, “From Recognition to Compensation,” at which international human rights jurists and lawyers attended. He said, “We need Armenian jurists and lawyers who will take our case to Human Rights Courts of Justice and demand our rights for ownership of the lost lands and properties.” He added that this was a cause for all Armenians, who should work together, Armenia as a state and the diaspora as diaspora. He added that Armenians in all regions should work for the recognition of the Genocide and use appropriate strategies. His Holiness concluded, “The Genocide is not a historical event that belongs to the past. It is our present, our Diaspora and our uprooted Catholicosate of Cilicia. The Catholicosate of Cilicia will continue to demand justice and compensation for our Cause.”

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