04/24/12 - Statement submitted for the Congressional Record - Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

It was 97 years ago today that over 1.5 million men, women, and children, almost 75 percent of the pre-war Armenian population, were brutally exterminated by the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman authorities arrested and later murdered over 250 Armenian political, intellectual, and religious leaders in Istanbul, beginning a horrific and systematic campaign to wipe a 3,000 year-old community from the face of the earth.

Armenian members of the Turkish armed forces were separated from their units and placed into labor battalions, where they were either worked to death or murdered. In Armenian villages throughout Turkey, adult males were singled out for execution, while the remaining women, children, and elderly inhabitants were then forced to march without food or water to the Syrian Desert. En route they were set upon by the Ottoman Security Service's ``Special Organization,'' which consisted of released convicts and was created specifically for the purpose of carrying out ethnic cleansing. In the end, of the 2.1 million Armenians residing in Turkey at the start of World War I, only 100,000 would survive to see the end of hostilities.
And yet, despite clear evidence that genocide occurred, many officials today refuse to even to use the word genocide when referring to this incident. By equivocating, they not only dishonor the victims of this atrocity and their descendents, they increase the chance that other crimes against humanity are met with similar equivocation.

Indeed, before sending the ``Death's Head'' SS units into Poland with orders to ``kill without pity or mercy all men, women and children,'' Adolph Hitler is reported to have commented to his generals, ``who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?''

When we fail to fully acknowledge that genocide was perpetrated against the Armenian people in 1915, it becomes a little easier to do the same today when we see similar atrocities unfold in Bosnia, or Rwanda or Iraq or Sudan.

Last week the world commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day as people everywhere gathered to renew our collective pledge to ``Never Forget.'' Today we gather for a similar purpose as we remember the first genocide of the 20th century. We recall the suffering of the Armenian people 97 years ago and endeavor to ease the pain of their descendants not only out of sympathy for what they have experienced, but to remind ourselves that we must never allow it to happen again.

01/06/12 - Lindsay Camacho, case worker in Rep. Van Hollen's district office who works on immigration issues, visited Soorp Khatch Armenian Church for Christmas ARS luncheon and made short speech.

07/20/11 - Statement submitted for the Congressional Record on Cyprus - Mr. Speaker, I rise on the 37th anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus to call upon the Government of Turkey to end its unlawful military occupation of the Island.

For 37 years, Greek Cypriots have had to live with the memory of being forcibly removed from their homes only to become refugees in their own country. For years, they endured a policy of systematic ethnic cleansing and, despite the insistence of the international community, to this day Cyprus remains under occupation. Forty-three thousand Turkish troops occupy a third of the island, making the area they control among the most militarized regions in the world.

For 37 years, it has been the goal of the international community to reunify Cyprus into a stable and prosperous country where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can live together in peace and security.

Attempts to reunify the country have undergone various levels of negotiation for over 45 years yielding few lasting achievements along the way. Even the occasional success has produced little of enduring material value.

For example, in 1979, the U.S. and UN applauded Turkey's agreement to withdraw and handover the uninhabited city of Famagusta to its rightful inhabitants. Every year, the UN calls upon Turkey to honor its commitment, but, to this day, Famagusta remains in the hands of the Turkish government.

The U.S. and the EU and the UN have demonstrated their willingness to work with Turkey toward a lasting settlement in Cyprus that reunifies the country into a bi-zonal federation. By continuing its occupation, by closing its seaports to Cypriot-flagged ships, and by refusing to follow through on its promises, Turkey has continued to ignore the will of the international community.

So, on this 37th anniversary of Turkey's illegal occupation of Cyprus , I ask my colleagues to join me in condemning the continued occupation and join me in calling for Turkey to withdraw its troops from the island.

10-28-11 - Azerbaijan America Alliance Corporation contacted Ken Cummings from Representative Van Hollen's office on behalf of the government of Azerbaijan regarding Introduction to the Azerbaijan America Alliance

10-28-11 - Azerbaijan America Alliance Corporation contacted Representative Van Hollen on behalf of the government of Azerbaijan regarding Introduction to the Azerbaijan America Alliance