Armenian Genocide commemorated at the Houses of Parliament

On Armenian Genocide Day, Parliamentarians, Armenians and supporters gathered for the first commemorative service within the Houses of Parliament Church (St Mary's-under-Croft), and for a major international conference in the Grand Committee room of the House of Commons. The events were organised by Armenia Solidarity, the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group and Nor Serount Publications. The Church service was led by the Rev Frank Gelli who called for the government to be more proactive in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Soprano Seta Tokatlian sang the Hayr Mer coincidentally with the chimes of Big Ben. Two wreath -laying ceremonies took place, the first one at the Monument to the Innocents, Westminster Abbey, officiated by the Dean R Reece of the Abbey with the participation of representatives of the Darfur Union of the UK and the Aegis Trust. Seta Tokatlian read the poem "We are Few" by Barouyr Sevak. The second ceremony took place at the Cenotaph where E. Williams appealed for more efforts to add to the 104 MPs who have signed Early Day Motion 357 in Parliament, recognising the Genocide, through sustained lobbying by all Armenians. The conference was chaired by distinguished parliamentarian Lord Avebury, Farhad Malikian. director of the Centre for International Criminal Law, Uppsala, Sweden, dealt with the legal aspects of crimes against humanity and genocide. The full force of international law applied to the perpetrators of this genocide as their international obligations under treaties had not been met. Historians Christopher Walker and Greg Topalian focussed on the tactics used by denialist historians and the British government facilitated by the reluctance of the US and UK governments to recognise the genocide. Author Desmond Fernandes stressed that political and ideological trends based on selective documentation meant the reality of the Armenian Genocide was not being allowed to get through. Dr Margaret Brearley brought out the parallels between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Linda Melvern,Vice President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, read the powerful open statement to the Prime Minister of Turkey that the genocide was fully accepted by that organisation and this conclusion could not be varied by bilateral dialogues between Turkey and Armenia. Professor Theo Van Lint brought out the genocide in the context of the rich and varied cultural life that was extinguished with the Armenian communities in Eastern Anatolia. Ambassador Gabrielyan stated any discussions on the detail of history was futile and that politics was at the core of this issue. This explains Armenia's belief in inter-governmental contacts to address the changes in attitudes needed on both side of the closed border. The British government does have a role to play and the Republic of Armenia considers that UK recognition an essential step in this process. A clear and unequivocal message from the UK based Muslim Public Affairs Committee, recognising that what happened to the Armenians was Genocide, Holocaust , and a Crime against humanity, was read by Odette Bazil of the British Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group. She also read a reply from Geoff Hoon , MP on behalf of the government, to the dismay of the attendees that demonstrated that the British government's position was at variance with the position of the overwhelming majority of genocide scholars and experts in the UK and worldwide. A vote of thanks was given by the well-respected campaigner in parliament on the issue, Baroness Cox. The proceedings of the conference, together with statements received from Genocide experts such as Prof. Donald Bloxham (Edinburgh University), Dr. Mark Levene (Southampton University), Prof Martin Shaw (Sussex University) and Armenian intellectuals will be presented to the government in the course of the next few weeks by Lord Avebury and Baroness Cox. This will be supported by documentation including the compilation by John Torosyan presented to the Holocaust Memorial Trust and bibliography for the government to study. The government will also be invited to contact other well-known UK Genocide experts directly such as Professor Jurgen Zimmerer of Sheffield University and Dr. Cathie Carmichael of the University of East Anglia. It is now clear that despite statements to the contrary neither this government or any previous UK government have consulted any of the experts on genocide listed in this release. It is high time for them to review and renounce their present position.