Friday, July 2, 2010
Contact: Harout Manougian, 416-988-3535

TORONTO - When the news was received that the 2010 G20 meeting, which would be attended by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, would be held in Toronto, the Armenian National Committee, ARFYOC, and Armen Karo Student Association came together to formulate a response.  Through these discussions, it was decided that a traditional protest (with signs and chanting) should not take place due to the expected violent methods of other protesters.  Instead, it was agreed that a mass email campaign would be the best way to defend the Armenian Cause under the circumstances.

Thus, by partnering with g20humanrights.com, an initiative of Scarborough-Agincourt MP and longtime human rights activist Jim Karygiannis, the Armenian community was successful in sending Prime Minister Stephen Harper thousands of emails urging him to confront the Turkish delegation about their abysmal human rights record and end its denial of the Armenian Genocide.  Confirmation on whether this discussion took place is yet to be received but there is no doubt that Armenians made sure their voice was heard.  The campaign was also picked up by others such as newsfromplanetearth.com, panorama.am, and Seta's Armenian Blog, who directed their audiences to the petition site.  In the end, the response was overwhelming.  Not only did Armenian-Canadians respond to the call, but the petition site hosted a global reaction.  Emails to Canada's Prime Minister, responsible for the official recognition of the Genocide by the Canadian government in 2006, poured in from the United States, Armenia, Australia, Argentina, and Europe.  Thankfully, many respondents also participated in the parallel email campaigns for the other activist groups on the site including the Greeks, Kurds, Copts, and Burmese, which proved to be an added benefit of the co-ordinated effort.

An important note is that this campaign is not over.  The G20 will meet again in Seoul, South Korea on November 11-12, 2010.  It is encouraged that readers continue to send emails, through www.g20humanrights.com, and ensure that world leaders truly honour Remembrance Day 2010 by addressing the human rights concerns that continue to plague our planet.

About ANCT
The Armenian National Committee of Toronto is a chapter of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, a grassroots organization that was founded in 1965 to address the concerns of the Canadian Armenian community on a broad range of issues.  www.anctoronto.org