Patrick Kennedy: “during the First World War, the Armenian people suffered greatly under the hands of Turkey, leading to what we now have…”

“during the First World War, the Armenian people suffered greatly under the hands of Turkey, leading to what we now have come to call the Armenian Genocide. It was one of the first state ordered genocides of this century, and would later become one of the many genocides that have marred the recent history of our World. During the First World War, the willingness of the Armenians to serve in the Allied forces, was seen as a threat to the Turkish government. The Turks ordered a mass deportation of almost the entire Armenian population from their homeland to two provinces of the Turkish Empire. More than one million Armenians died during this long forced march, many from disease and malnutrition. Once a year, we pay tribute to those who survived and we honor the memory of those who perished in the genocide. Nearly 1.5 million persons were killed and another half million were deported from their home country. Unfortunately, the atrocities of the past have been replayed in the Holocaust of World War II, Combodia, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and many other places world wide where leaders have turned their backs on human rights and human suffering. The crime of genocide must never again be allowed a part of our lives, and today we stand with our Armenian friends, to remember and share in their grief, and to make a commitment to prevent such acts in the future. We must work to remember and never forget the genocide, and to fight for peace in this region and worldwide.”