Canadian minister: we all believe in memory

April 22, 2015 - 10:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Canada’s Minister of National Defense, the Hon. Jason Kenney, delivered a speech this week during the Unity March in Toronto.

“I believe in memory. We are here today, because we all believe in memory. Canada believes in memory. This is why in 2002 the Senate of Canada recognized the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide. This is why in 2004 the House of Commons, in a motion that I was honored to sponsor, recognized the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide. And this is why in 2006 the government of Canada recognized the historical reality of the Armenian Genocide,” Kenney said.

“This is why in the new National Canadian museum of human rights, at the center of our country in Winnipeg, there is a permanent exhibit of the greatest genocides of the 20th century, including specifically the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century,” he continued.

“This is why I was so honored to represent Canadians in visiting and paying my respects, the respects of all Canadians, to the 1.4 million victims of the genocide at Tsitsernakaberd near Yerevan in Armenia last summer. And this why my colleague Bred Butt MP, has put forward the motion 587 that will recognize April as Genocide commemoration month, recognizing the Armenian Genocide, the Holodomor, the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide,” the minister concluded.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.