Phrygian Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 WWII hero returns medals to Britain in protest 23.04.2004 18:18 YEREVAN (YERKIR) - Haroutiun Shilkarian, a former British Air Force serviceman, held a news conference on Friday to announce he was returning the two medals he was awarded by the British Government in October of 2003 for his participation in the World War II. The Armenia Revolutionary Federation (ARF) member said he was returning the awards in protest of the UK Ambassador Thorda Abbott-Watt's remark that the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were not a genocide. Shilkarian also expressed his disappointment with the inadequate reaction the Armenians showed after the British diplomat's impertinent statement. "I thought people would march in peaceful protest against the embassy," he complained, adding the Armenians would have done so had the incident happened anywhere else in the world. http://www.yerkir.am/eng/index.php?sub=news_arm&id=5778 WWII VETERAN GIVES BACK MEDAL AWARDED BY UK GOVERNMENT YEREVAN, APRIL 23. ARMINFO. WW II veteran Haroutyun Shikhlanyan has given back the medal granted to him by UK government for serving in the British air forces during the war. The reason is the statement of UK ambassador to Armenia Thorda Abbot-Watt that the Armenian massacres in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 were a crime but not a genocide. Shikhlanyan regrets that this statement received no appropriate reaction. This is the second case of genocide denial after the one by Israeli ambassador to Armenia. Shikhlanyan says that the Armenian government must adopt a law banning such statements impairing the dignity of the Armenian people. "This is not the ambassador's personal opposition but the stance of the British government. I advice them to search in the archives for the notes of the British ambassadors of the early XX." Shikhlanyan was born in Jerusalem in 1923. In 1943 he was drafted to the Royal British Air Troops. He perused air photos to find possibilities for attacking the enemy. Shikhlanyan took the photos of the leaders of the ally-countries during the Cairo discussion of D Day. He also accompanied alliance bombardiers during their sorties in Germany. In 1963-2002 Shikhlanyan lived in the US. He came to Armenia in 2002 and decided to stay.- Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bgo Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 he is a honorable man!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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