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AYF to Initiate ‘24 Days of Action’ on April 1

GLENDALE—The Armenian Youth Federation-Western United States has announced the launch of its 24 Days of Action, a campaign initiated to bring and spread awareness, justice, recognition, and reparations to the Armenian Genocide. The 24 Days of Action will be initiated on April 1 and will conclude on April 24.

The AYF will be hosting daily actions throughout the 24 days, which include weekly social media campaigns, boycotts, political lobbying, tactical demonstrations, cultural displays, and educational forums. The 24 Days of Action will culminate with a March for Justice beginning at the Pan Pacific Park and ending at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles on April 24.

Over the past century, the Republic of Turkey’s government, through denial and suppression, has led an assault against recognition and reparations for the crimes committed during the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 was not a form of relocation nor a byproduct of war, rather a systematically planned effort by the Young Turk regime to annihilate and rid Anatolia of the Armenian people.

As Armenians, we have heard about the political strife and the forced hardships that were brought upon our ancestors. As Armenians, we have heard their cries of the atrocities committed, the atrocities that were committed in their own homes, in their indigenous and ancestral lands, the lands that they have lived peacefully for millennia. The lands of Van, Erzerum, Kharpert, Bitlis, Dikranagerd, Sepastia, Trebizond, Cilicia, the same lands that have stripped their native inhabitants by the Armenian Genocide. The lands that we, as Armenians demand back.

As Armenian-Americans, we have put our hope and faith in the hands of our American leaders who have left their promised unfulfilled.

As Armenians-Americans, we have put our hope and faith in the hands of our American leaders who have prioritized politics over humanity.

As Armenians, we are tired of waiting and we are done with asking. Recognition, reparations, and restitution is not an option, rather a moral and ethical obligation. Our struggle does not begin, nor does it end with recognition and moral justice, the Armenian people demand material justice in the form of reparations and restitution.

As Armenians, we have put our hope and faith in the idea that as long as there is struggle, there is hope. Our pursuit of justice has no timeline and we have fought, are currently fighting, will fight for until our cause, the sacred Armenian Cause has been answered and justice has been served.

As Armenians, we have not learned how to fight, but we have been forced to learn how to fight back, and this fight will go on, and will not be stopped.

Over the next 24 days, we are calling all Armenians in all communities to action. We will not wait for the figures of today, nor the figures of tomorrow to once again take advantage of the Armenian people for political gain with the use of empty promises of furthering the Armenian Cause. The Armenian struggle is a movement we can call our own and only through us and our will may we shape our destiny. Together, let’s make history and prove that our united call for justice did not end with the Centennial – it only just began!

Information about each day’s action will be available on ayfwest.org and across social media outlets (@ayfwest). Those who wish to participate can contact the AYF at (818)-507-1933 or ayf@ayfwest.org

Founded in 1933 with organizational structures in over 17 regions around the world and a legacy of over eighty years of community involvement, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, educational, and cultural awareness of Armenian youth.

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AYF to Honor the Fallen Heroes of the Four Day War

ENCINO, Calif.—The Armenian Youth Federation’s ‘With Our Soldiers’ campaign has announced that it will host a commemorative event on the first anniversary of the Four Day War to honor the memory of the fallen heroes who gave their lives during last year’s conflict. The event will take place on Sunday, April 2, at 6pm at the Ferrahian Armenian School (5300 White Oak, Encino, California).

“We must remember and honor those who gave their lives to defend our country,” said Verginie Touloumian, chairperson of the committee. “This event is AYF’s way of paying tribute to our fallen heroes.”

For the past year, the AYF has also distributed over $130,000 to the families of those who died during and in the aftermath of the Four Day War. The organization is committed to continuing its efforts aimed at reaching out to those who have lost a loved one from Azeri aggression.

Sunday’s event will feature reports about the activities of the ‘With Our Soldiers’ campaign and performances in honor of our fallen soldiers. The AYF Juniors, Pilibos and Ferrahian Armenian school students, and Armenian youth from the community will perform during the event and a religious service in memory of those who gave their lives for Artsakh will be conducted.

The AYF Central Executive and the ‘With Our Soldiers’ committee call upon our community to join us in honoring the memory of our fallen soldiers. You can find more details regarding the event by following the ‘With Our Soldiers’ Facebook page.

Founded in 1933 with organizational structures in over 17 regions around the world and a legacy of over eighty years of community involvement, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, educational, and cultural awareness of Armenian youth.

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UC Divest Turkey Campaign Enters Final Phase

Los Angeles, CA — On March 14, the Divest Turkey campaign announced that it will formally begin communications with the University of California Board of Regents Office in order to discuss the divestment of the University of California’s $74 million invested in the Republic of Turkey’s government-issued bonds.

Over the past few months the campaign has been preparing financial documents to justify the fiduciary needs to divest alongside the ample ethical, moral, and political reasons to do so.

The campaign is also building a growing coalition with other ethnic and political organizations to potentially expand the campaign and demand further divestment from the Republic of Turkey in other institutions such as the California State University system, California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CALPERS), California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CALSTRS), and beyond. A roundtable meeting and press conference will be announced soon with further details.

The announcement comes on the heels of news from last December, when the University of California, Merced (UC Merced) became the ninth and final UC undergraduate campus to vote in favor of divesting university funds from Turkey.

Since the Divest Turkey campaign’s inception in December 2015, all 9 UC schools, including Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz have voted overwhelmingly to divest, representing the will of a combined 238,000 students across the University of California, one of the largest university systems in the world.

“Big gears are turning towards social justice and human rights. As the last UC to pass such legislation, the task and spotlight now lay on the UC regent system for the next step in action,” said Alexander Hokikian, a student organizer at UC Davis, who joined various students of UC Merced, including members of the Armenian Student community, to speak out about the Republic of Turkey’s active campaign of genocide denial, and the need for divestment.

“Over the last two years, students from every UC campus and all walks of life have joined the “#DivestTurkey” campaign and have become the catalyst for its success and growth. We look forward to the expansion of the campaign as we mark this milestone. The outpouring of support from the universities, students, and communities in solidarity with our cause has been a driving force behind these accomplishments. As we look ahead to the future of this initiative, we urge the UC Regents to mirror the will of the over 238,000 students who have unanimously, on every campus, demanded the full divestment of funds in the Turkish government” stated AYF member Gev Iskajyan.

The Divest Turkey campaign is a collaborative initiative between the All-Armenian Students’ Association and the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) Western United States – a grassroots community organization dedicated to justice for the Armenian cause and the Armenian people. For any questions, comments or inquiries on the #DivestTurkey campaign, please email divestment@ayfwest.org.

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AYF Statement on Turkish Propaganda Film

We write to inform our community about the film The Ottoman Lieutenant, a primarily Turkish-funded production that perpetuates denial of the Armenian Genocide under the guise of neutrality. We urge you to refrain from watching this film in theaters or supporting it in any way, but we do feel it is important for our community to be aware of the fact that genocide denial is present and still a major issue, even outside of the Republic of Turkey.

The Ottoman Lieutenant, starring Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett, and Ben Kingsley, pretends to be an “objective” love story set in Ottoman Turkey during World War I, but in reality, the movie furthers the currentRepublic of Turkey’s campaign of genocide denial through feel-good historical revisionism. It portrays the Armenian Genocide as a ‘two-sided’ conflict of equal suffering in the fog of war. At face value, this may signal a willingness to discuss the Armenian Genocide. However, this is a new chapter in the classic state-sponsored genocide denial which seeks to recast the narrative as two-sided suffering.

While one character in this film stated that measures were taken to stamp out the Armenian “rebels” who sided with the Russians against the Ottoman Empire, another character acknowledged that there was, in fact, a campaign to rid Anatolia of its Christian population. It seems the writers of this film aimed to take a neutral stance on the issue, attempting to represent multiple viewpoints. But let this be clear: it is not possible to be neutral on the issue of genocide, and attempting to do so merely supports the modern propaganda of the Turkish government.

A producer of the film is quoted almost verbatim repeating the contemporary Turkish state’s language of genocide denial in a Turkish daily newspaper saying, “As objective and respected to common sufferings of both Turks and Armenians, we wanted to show the audience what happened during World War I in Eastern Anatolia, a subject that has not been handled before.”

While Turks were inherently affected by the state of war in the region — along with all civilians of the Ottoman Empire — their suffering cannot be equated with the systematic massacres and campaign of extermination suffered by the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks living on those lands.

Thankfully, some objective viewers of this film were able to see through the veil of neutrality and soft propaganda it attempts to push. Film critic Dennis Harvey, in a review featured on Variety.com, states, “Violent tensions between Armenian Christians and Turkish Muslims are already beginning to impact this remote area, soon to be exacerbated by the outbreak of WWI. But in this primarily Turkish-funded production, the historical, political, ethnic and other intricacies — not to mention that perpetual elephant in the room, the Armenian Genocide, which commenced in 1915 — are glossed over in favor of a generalized ‘Whattaya gonna do… war is bad’ aura that implies conscience without actually saying anything.”

We cannot stress enough that going to see this film in theaters will only give it support and undeserved positive attention in the long-run. In the coming days, the AYF will be writing letters to theaters and campuses hosting screenings to educate them about our concerns with this film. We recommend others join us, and we are ready to provide resources and language translations for individuals who wish to do so.

Take the creation of this film as a reality-check. Denial is real and is present, and it is now being pushed in new and subtle ways through avenues one would not expect. The Turkish narrative and strategy of evading reparations has changed multiple times in the last 102 years, and has included everything from claiming Armenians committed genocide against the Turks, to minimizing the severity and describing it with words like “civil war” and “common pain.” We must always remain vigilant, and should never tolerate any form of denial no matter how mild or well-disguised it may be. The softer form of denial this film perpetuates is the most dangerous form of all, and it often goes unnoticed.

Founded in 1933 with organizational structures in over 17 regions around the world and a legacy of over eighty years of community involvement, the Armenian Youth Federation is the largest and most influential Armenian-American youth organization in the world, working to advance the social, political, educational and cultural awareness of Armenian youth.

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