04/24/14 - Media statement on the Armenian Genocide -

Kirk Statement Honoring Victims of Armenian Genocide on 99th Anniversary

CHICAGO ? U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today released the following statement on the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

?In marking this solemn anniversary, we honor the survivors and remember the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Only a few brave survivors remain, including 107-year-old Helen Paloian of Chicago, whose parents and two brothers were among the 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turkey,? Senator Kirk said. ?It has been 99 years since one of history?s worst atrocities began, and it is time for the United States to strengthen our leadership on human rights and join 11 of our NATO allies and the European Union in formally recognizing the Armenian Genocide.?

Background:

Senator Kirk and Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) earlier this month introduced a Senate resolution, S.Res.410, commemorating the Armenian Genocide and calling for the United States to recognize the genocide, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turkey and another 2 million deported from 1915 to 1923. On April 10, 2014, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the resolution by a vote of 12 to 5. The resolution, a copy of which is available here, expresses the sense of the Senate and calls for the following:

To remember and observe the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2014
That the President should work toward an equitable, constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relationship that includes the full acknowledgment by the Government of the Republic of Turkey of the facts about the Armenian Genocide
That the President should ensure that the foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian Genocide

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03/14 - Issued the following statement on Sumgait - ?I join my Armenian-American constituents in Illinois in commemorating the memory of those who perished in anti-Armenian violence in Sumgait, Soviet Azerbaijan twenty-six years ago. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured during three days of horrific violence. The entire Armenian population of Sumgait fled as a result. The perpetrators of these heinous acts have never been brought to justice.

As we remember the Sumgait victims, I call on the current Government of Azerbaijan to immediately halt its campaign of incitement and hatred against Armenia that threatens to de-stabilize the region. It is deplorable that the President of Azerbaijan would pardon and glorify the convicted murderer Ramil Safarov, who killed a sleeping Armenian soldier while both were on a NATO Partnership for Peace program. I strongly condemn repeated statements from Azerbaijani officials that threaten violence against Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.'