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George Washington
Place d'Iéna 75016 Paris
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- To the Secretary of State
From: Rev. Dr. George Hobson, Canon Theologian of the American Cathedral in Paris, and Mrs. Hobson
We have visited Armenia six times in the context of theological courses given for the patriarch at the University in Yerevan and at the seminary in Etchmiadzin, and humanitarian work both of us have done in that country among that fine Christian people so sorely wronged by history. We are deeply embarrassed by the lamentable record of the United States in recent decades in relation to the Armenian genocide, and the recall of Ambassador Evans has added to our shame for our country, under an administration that makes much of the Christian commitment of many of its leaders. Our own Ambassador Morgenthau announced to the world the horrors being perpetrated on the Armenians by the Young Turks in 1915, and Lemkin, the Jewish coiner of the term genocide, did so in connection with the eradication of the Armenian people from their historic homeland in Anatolia.
To all educated people, in this time when the genocide is being recognized by state after American state, and nation after nation, it is a scandal that we place oil and military bases above the welfare of the descendants of the first Christian nation on earth. The present Turkish negationist position, as Elie Wiesel has pointed out so cogently, is a continuation of that genocidal policy. The United States should require Turkey to acknowledge the wrongdoing of its predecessors, which would be the best way for the Turkish leaders to provide evidence that they are no longer participants in their forbears' policies of murderous nationalism and racist hatred. As a
Turkish ally, the United States owes it to the Turkish people to hold them accountable for the truth of their history.
They would gain stature in the international community if they could distance themselves from the evils of a previous government to which they have no obligation to give allegiance.
We are ashamed of what our country has done to Ambassador Evans, who had the courage to speak the truth; we are ashamed that his richly deserved award was withdrawn. God has taken note, even if men do not.
Respectfully yours, Rev. Dr. George Hobson and Mrs. Victoria Hobson
Paris 05/06/2006
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"Over the Horizon"
Poetry
Reading by George Hobson
including poems from Rumours of Hope (2005)
and the just-published (January 2006) group collection
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Sponsored by Les Arts George V
The American Cathedral
23,avenue George V, Paris 8
(metro: Alma/George V)
Friday, 17 March 2006
6:30 p.m. (18h30) - 8:30 p.m. (20h30)
The poet will be available to sign copies of his books
Entry Free
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