TORONTO — Garo Paylan, a member of the National Assembly of Turkey, was in Toronto on April 30 and more than 1,500 attendees from the Toronto-Armenian community gathered to hear him.
The event was sponsored by the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) and organized by a joint Toronto-Armenian organizing committee comprised of the Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Evangelical Church of Toronto, St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church and the St. Gregory Armenian Catholic Church of Toronto along with the Bolsahay Armenian Cultural Association, Nor Serount Cultural Association, and the Armenian National Committee of Toronto.
Representatives of the major Armenian organizations including: the aforementioned organizing bodies along with the Zoryan Institute, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian Relief Society, Armenian Youth Federation, Armenian Seniors Organization of Toronto, Homenetmen and Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Society were all present. Also present was Raffi Bedrosyan, a lead organizer of the Surp Giragos Diyarbakir Church reconstruction project in Turkey.
Representing Toronto’s Kurdish and Assyrian communities were the Toronto Kurdish Community Centre and the Centre for Canadian-Assyrian Relations, respectively.
The event started with a short video presentation highlighting Garo Paylan’s civic activism over the past few years. Sevag Belian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, then took the stage to present the organizing committee message and introduced Paylan. Belian commended Paylan’s ongoing pursuit for equality, justice, and democratic values, proclaiming “Mr. Paylan, your actions are humbling and inspiring. An inspiration that with it displays a tenacity that forces one to fully appreciate the true meaning of our struggle for justice and democracy.”
The parliamentarian took the stage to great applause and appreciation. He provided an overview of the current political climate in Turkey, the aftermath of the constitutional referendum and the ongoing uncertainty and concern regarding the rights and freedoms of the minorities living in Turkey. Paylan stressed the importance of acknowledging history, specifically in regards to the Armenian Genocide, stating, “unpunished crimes lead to new crimes.”