“Armenia” presented the current Armenian presence in the areas of Western Armenia
On February 24, the “Armenia” cultural association organized a conference on “Are the number of Armenians in Western Armenia today 70,000 or 9 million?” at the MJC Jean Moulin Hall in Cheneviers.
The conference was chaired by Grigor Amirzayan, President of the “Armenia” cultural association and correspondent of the Armenian Press Bureau, and Khosrov Iliozer from Malatya, Western Armenia.
Many guests attended the conference. Among them were Father Lauder Nasanyan (Maranatha Church of Valence), Father Grigor Mikayelian of the Armenian Catholic Church of Valence, elected representatives of Bourg-le-Valence Vilfrid Payls and Jorj Isachian, deputy mayor of Valance Georges Rastklan, co-chairman of the “April 24” and “C24” committees. The Armenian Dashnaktsutyun representative of Valance was also present, as well as the President of Western Armenia Armenag Abrahamyan, the Head of Foreign Diplomacy of Western Armenia Lidia Margossyan, and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Simon Daronyan, originally from the city of Moush in Western Armenia.
Grigor Amirzayan presented the regions occupied by Turkey, which were part of Western Armenia before the 1915 genocide, and inhabited by many Armenians who were Islamized in order to survive. In Dersim region and the Black Sea coastal regions of Western Armenia, their numbers reach into the millions. The number of Armenian-speaking Hamshen people is believed to reach several million in the Eastern Black Sea region of Western Armenia, scattered throughout Turkey, Georgia and Russia.
In many of his statements, Khosrov Iliozer drew attention to the Armenian origin of current Turkish politicians. An origin they deny and hide for the sake of their careers. “Because in Western Armenia it is still difficult to present yourself as an Armenian, because nationalist pressures on national minorities are very strong,” said Khosrov Iliozer.
On this occasion, Grigor Amirzayan showed on a large map the current areas of Armenian settlements. These include Tikranagert in the southeast of Western Armenia, which was recently affected by the earthquake, as well as Alexandrette and Samosat on the Turkish-Syrian border. Meanwhile, the cities of Urfa, Ayntap and Malatya were full of Armenians before the genocide.
Armenag Abrahamyan intervened by explaining in detail the existence of Armenians in occupied Western Armenia and the legal rights of the indigenous Armenian population.
He also presented the final document of the Treaty of Sèvres, signed in France in 1920, which defines the borders of Western Armenia. This speech was highly appreciated by the audience. Lydia Margossyan gave a speech confirming her diplomatic activities on behalf of Western Armenia in international courts, while Simon Daronian presented the legitimacy of the Armenian people in their homeland.
During the conference, many grounds for the right of Armenians to live in Western Armenia were presented, which allowed the audience to better understand the situation of national minorities in Western Armenia and the problems faced by these minorities, especially Armenians. Finally, it is worth mentioning that as a result of many speeches by Western Armenian officials and the audience, information about the 9 million Armenians living in Western Armenia was widely disseminated.
After the conference, especially after the speeches and discussions of Simon Melkonian, Sargis Camavorjian, Jork Rastklan, Jorj Ishachian, the meeting ended with a few drinks and Armenian sweets at the table.
The next meeting of the “Armenia” cultural association will be held on April 21 at 20:30 on the round table “Can there be a new Armenian genocide today?”.
Address: Cheneviers MJC, Jean Moulin in Bourges-les-Vallance.
To contact the “Armenia” cultural association, please call 04 75 83 80 58.