GLENDALE, CA — The Armenian National Committee – Western Region (ANC-WR) has announced that Michael Bazyler will serve as a panelist in “Transnational Justice: Contemporary Approaches,” which will discuss current strategies for Armenian Genocide recognition and reparations. The panel is part of the ANC Grassroots weekend that will take place from Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27, 2011, at the Sheraton Universal Hotel.

Bazyler, along with fellow panelists Ambassador Ara Papian; Professor Jermaine McCalpin; and ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian, will discuss the current approaches to genocide reparations. Bazyler is presently a consultant on the case against the Republic of Turkey and two Turkish banks concerning Armenian-owned land that composes a U.S. airbase in Incirlik, Turkey. The plaintiffs have alleged that Turkey has run commercial operations and thereby profited after committing a violation of international laws – moreover Turkey’s own constitution and the Lausanne Treaty – by confiscating those properties from their rightful owners.

Bazyler is the author of “Holocaust Justice: The Battle for Restitution in America’s Courts,” the definitive analytical study of how the American courts and system of justice were used to address the mass-scale theft initiated by the Holocaust. Bazyler also wrote the introduction to the book “Raphael Lemkin’s Dossier on the Armenian Genocide,” and has asserted that Lemkin was one of the greatest and most influential lawyers and human rights activists in the last century. Lemkin not only coined the word ‘genocide’ but was also the key figure in the enactment of the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Bazyler is currently a Professor of Law and The “1939” Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. He is also a research fellow at the Holocaust Education Trust in London; and the holder of previous fellowships at Harvard Law School and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The three-day ANC Grassroots program is a groundbreaking weekend of workshops and panel presentations that will educate the community about civic leadership arising from grassroots efforts. ANC Grassroots will bookend the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR) Annual Banquet, which will take place on Saturday, November 26 at 7 p.m. The conference and Annual Banquet are open to interested individuals throughout the entire United States, and participants are encouraged to register early.

Tickets for ANC Grassroots, which includes the Friday night cocktail in the Starview Room; as well as conference sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which include breakfast, post-banquet dance, and a keynote luncheon on Sunday, are $150. Tickets for the Annual Banquet are $200. Those interested in attending the Annual Banquet and ANC Grassroots can purchase a package for $300.

Students with valid ID can purchase discounted tickets to the Annual Banquet and Conference.

For more information, to register and purchase tickets, please visit www.anca.org/ancgrassroots.

The Armenian National Committee-Western Region is the largest Armenian American grassroots community organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR works to promote understanding regarding issues of concern to the Armenian American community.