Armenian President Warns about Danger of Genocide Denial, Brazilian Congressman Marco Feliciano Denounces Genocide of Armenian Christians
By Julio Severo
Armenian President Serge Sargsyan warned Wedsnesday about the danger to the world of the denial of the genocide of over 1.5 million Armenians by Muslim hordes of the Ottoman Empire.
“Genocide is a failure of the international community and its impunity is the premise for its repetition,” said Sargsyan in his opening speech in an international forum on the genocide, held in the Armenian capital.
Sargsyan will pay homage to the dead in the massacre Friday, in a ceremony that will include the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President François Hollande.
The Armenian president made several references to Turkey, but without mentioning it directly.
“Genocide denial contains components of a new wave of national hatred and it is followed on many occasions by intolerance and a justification for the genocides committed,” said Sargsyan.
Sargsyan stated that Armenians have a moral obligation, but also a right to remember the death of over 1.5 million people, the suffering of other hundreds of thousands in deportations and the extermination of the material and spiritual legacy accumulated over millennia.
The president remembered the Russian, European and American missionaries, diplomats and businessmen who helped the persecuted Armenian and saved several lives.
The genocide anniversary is stained by the Turkish denial, because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists on saying that Turkish Muslims did not commit any genocide against Armenian Christians.
So far, just 22 nations have recognized the Armenian genocide, among them France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Greece, Russia, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Bolivia.
The United States, the largest Protestant nation in the world, and Brazil, the largest Catholic nation in the world, have never recognized the Armenian genocide in order not to make Turkey “angry.” And now under Barack Obama, it is much harder for the U.S. government to recognize it, because Turkey is one of the main allies of the U.S. policies in the Middle East.
By officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, Germany, Canada and Russia took the lead over the U.S. and Argentina, while Chile and Venezuela took the lead over Brazil.
Even with the resistance of the Brazilian government, in the Brazilian Congress a voice has risen to remember the genocide of Armenian Christians. In April 22, 2015, Congressman Marco Feliciano shouted from the Congress floor:
“From this floor I declare my solidarity with the Armenian People for the occasion of the centennial commemoration of the genocide committed by Turks against their defenseless population in the Ottoman Empire, where 1.5 million lives were destroyed.”
“This the first genocide in modern history left lasting scars among Christians around the world, because the overwhelming majority of the victims in this massacre were Christians descended from the first groups converted to Christianity around the third century AD.”
“Yet, as taught by Jesus, His followers will experience suffering, but not in vain. Today the courageous Armenian people maintain their culture, language and customs and, most importantly, a free homeland, and they commemorate this event in order to hinder its repetition and so that the world may more and more recognize the inhumanity committed against them.”
That same day, Feliciano, who is also an Assemblies of God minister, sent an official letter to the Armenian Embassy in Brazil, saying:
“It is with great honor that I express my solidarity with you and with all the Armenian people for the occasion of the centennial commemoration of the genocide committed by Turks against your people.”
“It is important in this centennial commemoration, with its sad memory, for us to fraternize with one another in one ideal of faith and forgiveness to build a better world for our children and so that deplorable facts such as this may never happen again.”
With the recognition of the Armenian genocide, Congressman Marco Feliciano shows that he cares about the feelings of Christians in Armenia and Brazil.
With information of Terra, EFE and Marco Feliciano.
Reviewed by Don Hank.
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