The life of United States Senator Ted Kennedy is being remembered in Armenia today as tributes are recorded in a commemoration book on hand at the US Embassy in Yerevan.

The 77-year old Senator, who served 47 years representing Massachusetts died last week and was buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Ambassadors, officials and ordinary citizens in Armenia, like 64 year-old engineer Gagik Tadevosyan who together with his wife Greta went all the way from the city outskirts where they live to the US Embassy in Armenia located outside city center to give their condolences in the memorial book opened there.

“I have deep respect for him and his brothers, and no matter how hard it was to get here I had to come and pay tribute to him for having helped Armenians and in general assisted the struggle for establishing democracy,” says Tadevosyan, scientific worker at the Institute of Physics.

In Washington, D.C. lobbyists for Armenian issues including Genocide Recognition mourned the senator’s death, while recalling his support of Armenian causes.

"Throughout his career, Senator Kennedy embodied the principles we hold dear -- promoting democracy, championing civil rights and human rights, and standing up for those in need,” said Carolyn Mugar, Board President of the Armenian Assembly of America. “His support of the Armenian people and contributions to reaffirm the U.S. record on the Armenian Genocide are invaluable. We thank him for his extraordinary service to this great nation and the cause of freedom and democracy around the world. Senator Kennedy will be greatly missed."

In a press release devoted to the Kennedy legacy, the Assembly wrote of the senator who:

“For decades, led by example when it came to support for the Armenian people. Just after the devastating 1988 earthquake, Senator Kennedy appealed to many private companies for donations to assist Armenia in its time of need. In early 1990, he initiated a letter urging then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney to authorize airlifts to Armenia. These airlifts provided bedding, electric heaters, winter clothing and other desperately needed items for the influx of refugees coming from Azerbaijan and to those still suffering as a result of the earthquake. Senator Kennedy's leadership was instrumental and helped save lives during a critical time.

“Senator Kennedy pressed for a variety of programs to help Armenian refugee communities across the globe, including those who fled from Iran after the fall of the Shah and those who rebuilt their communities after being caught in the civil war in Lebanon. He also worked to facilitate the exit of Armenian refugees from the Soviet Union in the 1980s. His long-standing support of the Armenian cause has earned Senator Kennedy accolades from the Armenian-American community, including the ‘Friends of the Armenians Award’ from the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America.

The Assembly recalls that Kennedy supported Karabakh’s right to self-determination and supported restricting US aid to Azerbaijan because of its blockade of Armenia. Further:

“In regard to the Armenian Genocide, Senator Kennedy was a relentless advocate for affirming this historical fact and the proud chapter in U.S. humanitarianism. During the 85th Commemoration in Boston, Assembly President Mugar had the distinct honor of introducing the senator at Copley Square's Trinity Church the day after Easter with two thousand in attendance. When His Holiness Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians and the first President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian, both visited the U.S., Senator Kennedy hosted them together with the New England Armenian American Community at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.

The senator was similarly hailed by the Armenian National Committee of America, which recalled that “Sen. Kennedy’s support for passage of Armenian Genocide legislation has been consistent, emphatic and vocal. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1989, Sen. Kennedy joined with then Committee Chairman, now Vice-President Joe Biden and former Illinois Senator Paul Simon in leading the fight for Committee passage of a resolution which would mark April 24, 1990, as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Over the pronounced objections of the U.S. State Department and the Turkish Government, the Committee adopted S.J. 212 with a vote of 8 to 6.”

“We join with ANCA leaders on the national, regional and local levels and our community in Massachusetts in honoring the life and legacy of Sen. Kennedy and extend our deepest condolences to the Kennedy family,” said ANC of Massachusetts Co-Chair Dikran Kaligian.