Dear Editor:
The Legislature of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is considering a Genocide Education measure for the high schools. Working with one of the sponsors of the original measure, the reference to and teaching of the Armenian Genocide was included. Unfortunately—but not surprisingly—the Turks heard about it. A Turkish official has been making the rounds of the state’s Senators and Representatives (but not the original group!) and I have been informed that more than one bill is in the works—and none will include any reference to the Armenian Genocide!
Therefore, I am writing in hopes that readers of this publication residing in Pennsylvania will write to their State Senators and State Representatives urging them to be sure that the reference to and study of the Armenian Genocide be a part of any bill that comes before the Legislature. Readers who have relatives in Pennsylvania are urged to contact them and ask them to get involved.
The length of the letter is up to the individual, but it should include the facts that:
1. Unbiased historians and countless historical organizations accept without qualification that the Armenian Genocide was the first state-conceived, state-planned, state-executed genocide of the 20th century.
2. The steps that the Ottoman Turks undertook for the genocide set the template for future genocides.
3. When he was asked to explain the word “genocide,” which he coined, Raphael Lemkin said, “What the Turks did to the Armenians, and the Nazis did to the Jews.” In that interview, Lemkin explained that he had begun to pursue the task of making “genocide” an international crime when he was a law student, in the early 1920’s, and learned about the events in Ottoman Turkey, during World War I.
4. With the Centenary of the start of the genocide fast approaching, Pennsylvania, with the inclusion of the genocide, will have paid due homage to the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed.
Readers can explain that any study of genocide must begin with that of the Armenians, or it will be incomplete. Although the key, original legislators have been provided with this material, if readers have material to spare, include it with the letter. Community members can also indicate that they will be following up on the matter, and offer to provide more information as needed. Offer to meet during the summer break.
Be aware that this is a major battle. The Turks have failed to get similar measures removed from the education curriculum of other states, so their tactic is to ensure that nothing about the Armenian Genocide appears on any education program in the first place.
If we are successful, this could well be one of the key achievements of the Centenary in April 2015—100 years since the beginning of the genocide.
Avedis Kevorkian
Philadelphia, Pa.
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Check out the efforts in Massachusetts, be persistent and vocal, if possible get TV and radio coverage and DO NOT give up! There are many Armenians in PA and they can all contact their respective politicians to promote this issue and make their concerns/interests known, just as others do to accomplish their goals…
My grandmother lost two sons on a forced march. My Aunt Martha spent over a year as a slave in a Turkish horror story. But why take my word for the Armenian Genocide or even the New York Times Articles from that period. Just let the politicians go to the Holocaust Museum in Philadelphia and see the documentation on exhibit.