NORA Mourns President Ronald Reagan's Death

NORA MOURNS THE PASSING OF
PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF REPUBLICAN ARMENIANS MOURNS THE PASSING OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

* Armenian-Americans Remember a True Friend

Washington, DC - The National Organization of Republican Armenians (NORA) today expressed deep regret at the passing of one of history's greatest leaders and a friend to Armenians, President Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan, who passed away on Saturday, June 5, 2004, will be remembered for his leadership in brining an end to the Iran hostage crisis and the instrumental hand he played in the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union. Among Armenian-Americans, President Reagan will be remembered for his principled stance on the Armenian Genocide. As early as 1969, when President Reagan was Governor of California, he attended commemorations at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Montebello, California. Then Governor Reagan made strong statements in support of the Armenians' plight for
justice, "Today, I humbly bow in memory of the Armenian martyrs, who died in the name of freedom at the hands of Turkish perpetrators of Genocide."

"We join with all Americans, and with people around the world, in sharing our grief with Mrs. Reagan on the passing of President Reagan," said NORA Chairwoman Melanie Kerneklian.

"The passing of President Reagan is a loss of a national treasure," said NORA Board Member Ara Bedrosian. "Our community will be indebted to him for his support for the plight of the Armenian people as Governor of California and his humanitarian efforts as President."

In a 1981 proclamation designating April 26 through May 3 annual Day of Remembrance, President Reagan was quoted, "Like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it and like too many other such persecutions of too many other peoples the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten." President Reagan remains the last president to describe the atrocities committed against the Armenians by Ottoman Turkey as Genocide.

Even though throughout several years of his administration President Reagan followed a longstanding Turkey-sympathetic foreign policy pushed by the State Department, he nevertheless saved a struggling piece of legislation that made the United States a signatory of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Towards the end of his presidency in 1988, after a ravaging earthquake devastated Armenia, President Reagan ended a longstanding policy held throughout the Cold War and airlifted numerous planeloads of humanitarian assistance to then Soviet Armenia.

In a weekly radio address President Reagan saluted the people of Leninakan and Spitak, two cities in former Soviet Armenia which were destroyed by the Dec. 7, 1988 earthquake, and praised the international relief effort in Armenia. "Closed borders open. Friends and enemies alike share the burden and hope to help. From Israel and war-torn Lebanon alike, supplies and aid have been sent to Soviet Armenia. And from the United States the response has been staggering," he said. "Relief workers, tens of millions of dollars in private contributions, food, clothing, a cascade of good will and fellow feeling.

The National Organization of Republican Armenians joins the Armenian-American community and the nation in extending its sincere condolences to the family of President Ronald Reagan.

NORA works to expand the Republican Party's outreach into the Armenian American community and to encourage Armenians, at the local, state, and national levels, to become involved in shaping and advancing the Republican agenda. Armenian American Republicans interested in contacting the National Organization of Republican Armenians are encouraged to write to 1745 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 126, Washington, DC 20006, or to contact NORA via the internet at info@nora-dc.org.