The Assyrian Democratic Organization
A capacity audience attended the British premiere of Lina Yacoubova’s “A Forgotten Page of One Nation”, a documentary about the Assyrian and Armenian genocides of 1915. The audience also included members of the Armenian and Turkish press.
The film-event took place at Assyrian House (London) and was organised on the occassion of U.K. Holocaust Memorial Week 2006 by the Gomidas Institute with the support of New Generation Assyrians-Youth, The Assyrian Club, Zinda Magazine and Firodil Institute.?The whole event, which included a photographic exhibition and a panel discussion, took three hours and was a great success.
“A Forgotten Page of One Nation” was produced in Armenia and first shown in Yerevan, where it had a great impact on Armenian intellectuals, academics, politicians and members of the public. According to Lina Yacoubova, for many Armenians, this film was an eye-opener that the events of 1915, in Ottoman Turkey, did not aim at the extermination of only Armenians, but also other minorities, such as the Assyrians and Greeks. The documentary included archival films and photographs, as well as contemporary footage from Turkey and Iraq.
One member of the audience, who was brought up as a Muslim Kurd, was so moved by the film that he asked to make a statement. He related how Lina’s film brought him to tears, as he remembered how his grandparents had had to renounce their faith and become Muslims in 1915 to save their lives.
The film was followed by a lively question and answer session with Lina Yacoubova, Nineb Lamassu, Gregory Topalian, and Ara Sarafian. The discussions focused on the genocides of 1915 and different ways of approaching the subject in the academic and political arenas. All agreed that Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Turks and Kurds should work together for a just and peaceful resolution of these issue.
There is already a great momentum within the Assyrian community to make progress on these issues. On 24 January 2006 the Assyrian community will have a special event at the British House of Commons to discuss the Assyrian Genocide (Seyfo) for the benefit of British Parliamentarians. On Friday, there will be a special screening of two Swedish documentaries on the Armenian Genocide at Riverside Studios in London (organised by the Gomidas Institute and the AGBU).
Nineb Lamassu, a respected Assyrian activist, thanked the Gomidas Institute for taking the lead in addressing the Assyrian-Armenian issue in such a forthright fashion. Many members of the audience, both Armenian and Assyrian, also hoped that other Armenian organisations will also work with the Assyrian community in the future.
