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An Easter Message of Armenian Rebirth and the Return of our Christian Churches

Dear Friend, As you gather with friends and family this Easter Sunday in blessed celebration of the resurrection of Christ, please consider pausing for a moment to reflect upon our own journey as Armenians. The proud daughters and sons of our ancient nation – the first to adopt Christianity – we have survived and thrived, developing a rich and unique culture, sharing our ideas and experiences, and contributing to the diverse fabric of the international community. As we approach April 24th, however, we are, of course, reminded that it was nearly a century ago, in 1915 that we endured the fires of a terrible genocide. A still-unpunished crime that nearly ended our very existence and that, to this very day, threatens the viability of our partitioned, landlocked, impoverished, and blockaded homeland.

A little more than a month from now (on Sunday, June 1st), when the ANCA Telethon is broadcast nationwide (and webcast around the world), you’ll see first-hand all the ANCA’s doing for our homeland and heritage. You’ll learn about our work on a remarkably diverse set of challenges and opportunities, in politics, with senior government officials, and through the media. And, behind these efforts, you’ll see that everything we do – every policy and priority we advance – is aligned with one simple goal: The viability of the Armenian Nation.
That’s our North Star: The survival of the Armenian nation; our future, in our ancient homeland, across the Middle East, and around the world. This is true of our aid and trade support for Armenia, our defense of Artsakh’s freedom, our economic development work for Javakh, our advocacy for Syrian Armenians, and our drive for a truthful and just international resolution of the Armenian Genocide. And it’s especially true of our campaign to secure Turkey’s return of stolen Armenian and other Christian churches.
There is no better place to start securing justice from Turkey than the immediate return of all religious properties, not only to the Armenians, but to all the Christians of these ancient biblical lands. Thankfully, with the support of Armenian Americans from across our country, we have seen the U.S. House adopt legislation calling upon Turkey to surrender confiscated churches, monasteries, relics, schools, cemeteries and other holy sites. Just a few weeks ago, a new bipartisan measure (H.R.4347) was introduced in Congress that would require the Obama Administration to report to Congress about that status of the return of our religious properties. We must and will work tirelessly for its adoption.
As we approach the end of a century in which all the costs of the Armenian Genocide have fallen upon its victims, we seek, for ourselves and all humanity, a new era, a better century – one in which burdens of this crime will, as they rightly must, be borne by its perpetrator. The return of churches, Turkey’s surrender – voluntary or otherwise – of the thousands of church properties it stole from Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Syriacs, and other Christians prior to, during, and after the Armenian Genocide era, would represent a meaningful first step by the Turkish government toward accepting its responsibility for a truthful and just resolution of this still unpunished crime against humanity. As children of the first nation to adopt Christianity, we celebrate this holiest of days by, once again, calling upon all of our brothers and sisters in faith worldwide – Christians, Muslims, Jews, believers of all denominations and faiths, and those who hold no faith – to join with us in offering a prayer for the Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac, Pontian, Greek, and other victims of the Ottoman Empire’s World War I-era genocide of its Christian minorities.
With all of our love and respect,
Sincerely,
Aram S. Hamparian
Executive Director
Armenian National Committee of America
PS – We welcome your thoughts on the issues addressed in this note and with regard to any aspect of the ANCA’s work. Please share any comments with me at aram@anca.org or take a few minutes to fill out the ANCA’s 2014 Strategic Survey.

Aram Hamparian / ANCA [anca@anca.org]

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