PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SANTA ANA, CA. MARCH 22, 2022
We were recently made aware of a November 2020 meeting Irvine Mayor, Farrah Khan had with Mr. Ergun Kirlikovali, LA Turkish Consul General Can Oğuz, and others where she and Mr. Kirlikovali positively acknowledge, with dark humor, the pleasure of making Armenians “disappear.” The event, and video footage, were solely covered in Turkish-language websites, otherwise it would have been addressed at our meeting with Mayor Khan on November 8, 2021.
Disparagingly, Mayor Khan has also appointed Ergun Kirlikovali to a Mayoral committee. Kirlikovali has been previously identified as America’s most notorious denier or sympathizer of the Armenian Genocide.
Let it be known that the City of Irvine, Orange County Board of Supervisors, State of California, and the US House of Representatives, Senate and the President have all recognized the Armenian Genocide, which affirms the historical facts of this tragedy.
On behalf of the Orange County Armenian community, we find this video unacceptable and its contents hurtful. We condemn the appointment of a genocide denialist or sympathizer. We have written to the Mayor seeking an apology as well as other steps to right this wrong.
Full video: https://drive.google.com/…/1C4i_ktyr…/view…
link with subtitles: https://drive.google.com/…/1o81v8y9n0IptiZZ1LXK…/view…
ANCA Orange County
5305 W. McFadden Avenue
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Email: oc@ancawr.org
The Armenian National Committee of America is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.
