Concert dedicated to the memory of the Armenian Genocide

Brussels, - On April 13th 2004 in Brussels' Royal Conservatoire was the venue for a Gala Evening Concert organized by the Assembly of Armenians of Europe (AAE) attended by 350 guests. These included members of the European Parliament, EU Commission, Belgian Federal and local parliaments, Ambassadors and diplomats, representatives of international and local organizations as well as the general public. The concert of classical music was dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of 20th century.

At the opening ceremony of the concert Ms. Irene Shaboyan AAE's representative thanked the invited guests and the high officials for their solidarity with the struggle for the prevention of further genocide and crimes against humanity. She also reminded the audience of all those honorable Europeans who, endangering and sometimes sacrificing their lives by exposing it to war and epidemic tried to save even few human lives from inevitable death. Ms. Shaboyan introduced the audience to the tragic life story of Monk Komitas, Armenian musician, collector of folk music and composer and a prominent victim of the 1915 Genocide (the Bella Bartok of Armenian Music), and observed that if Komitas hadn’t collected the songs to be performed during the concert, they would have disappeared as their authors without leaving any trace and one could claim that they had never existed.

Mrs. Ursula Schleicher the Chairwoman of the EU-South Caucasus delegation in the European Parliament said that in spite of the terrible genocide, the annihilation and deportations, Armenians never forgot about their ancestors, their culture and religion and they never got tired of believing in a brighter future.

Mr. Didier Ramoudt the President of the Interparliamentary group between Armenia and Belgium emphasized the importance of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. “The recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the European Parliament in 1987 and by the Belgian Senate in 1998 was an important step towards the prevention of the further genocide”. He also deplored the denialest policy of the actual Turkish Government and as a European he considered that such behavior was unacceptable and intolerable.

Mr. Willy Fautré the Director of the Human Rights without Frontiers in Belgium started his welcome speech by the poem of Daniel Varoujan (Armenian poet, arrested and executed by the Turkish Government among the Armenian Intellectuals on April 24th, 1915) whose sensitive soul had the presentiment of the horror and tragedy to be endured by the Armenians. “Nowadays Turkey is asking for the EU membership, but it still denies the genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. Would Germany be accepted in the European Union if it hadn’t recognized the genocide of Jews committed by the Nazi regime and hadn’t apologized? Could Turkey claim the accession to the European Union unless it recognizes the Genocide of 1, 5 million Armenians? “, said Mr. Willy Fautré.

The invited guests had the pleasure to enjoy the Armenian folk songs of Komitas performed by the Simonian Quartet. Hasmik Papian, world famous soprano then gave a superb and gracious performance of arias by Verdi and Puccini and songs of Komitas and Kanatchian.

“It is our duty as European citizens to uphold European values and, to this end, ensure that perpetrators of genocide and those who deny it are exposed and rejected. Denial of genocide is the continuation of the act of genocide and should not be tolerated on European soil”, said Mr. Bagrad Nazarian, member of the AAE’s Administrative Board at the closing of the concert.

The concert was sponsored by the Austrian Airlines and the Thierry Graduate School of Leadership in Brussels.