Political Quotes

“I rise somberly to remember and commemorate the tragedy of the Armenian Genocide. During the final years of the Ottoman Empire, from 1915-1923, 1.5 million Armenians had been massacred and 500,000 more were forcibly removed from their native land. April 24 is the day which is annually remembered by not only the world's Armenian community, but by people all over the world who hold basic human rights sacred. On this day in 1915, hundreds of Armenian leaders and intellectuals were arrested in Constantinople and killed. Additionally, thousands more were murdered in the streets. The attempt at systematic extermination of the Armenian people was conducted over the next eight years. The lack of an international response to this disaster is frightening. Hitler saw this as proof that he could carry out the holocaust with no consequences, and, like tyrants afterward, used the Armenian Genocide as a blueprint for his campaign of terror. Unfortunately, the Turkish government, despite overwhelming evidence, refuses even today to acknowledge that the genocide ever occurred. The disaster we commemorate today has sadly been repeated often throughout the century. Today we sometimes refer to it as ethnic cleansing, but it all adds up to the same result--mass murder. We see this terror continue throughout the world today.”