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REMEMBERING THE CATASTROPHIC EVENTS OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE; ANNIVERSARY IS APRIL 24
By Olivia Kurajian Birmingham
Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/apr/23/no-headline---olivia_essay/
April 23 2012
Although I am only in high school, I have traveled all around the
world and have lived in Colorado, Michigan and Florida.
This summer, I am participating as a People to People Ambassador
Program alumna, and I will be traveling to France, Austria, Switzerland
and Italy.
People to People, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, promotes
"peace through understanding."
My love for travel and experience didn't start with People to
People though. My thirst for knowledge originated with my paternal
grandparents, Victoria and George Kurajian, now of Naples.
My grandfather is my idol. He has told me stories of his childhood and
his life as a professor at the University of Michigan. My quest for
understanding other cultures and an in-depth knowledge of myself and my
surroundings only begins with the stories I have heard from my family.
Being of Armenian descent, I appreciate the struggles that Armenians
have faced throughout the longevity of their existence as a people.
I co-taught an elective in one of the honors programs at my high
school on the gruesome topic of the Armenian genocide with my favorite
teacher, Dawn Whitehead. I also received an honorable mention for the
paper on the genocide that I crafted for the annual Armenian Genocide
Essay Competition in Michigan.
The Armenian genocide was not a random act. Bitter hatred paired with
the lack of understanding of a people rich in culture and history
led to the attempt to annihilate the Armenians. This mission of
destruction was pursued by the Young Turkish government, influenced
by the Hamidian massacres of the late 1880s, an attempt to exterminate
the Armenians 20 years earlier.
The Young Turks were in turmoil. Not only did the Ottoman Empire
start and continue to crumble, but the government realized that the
intellectual body of their state was held by Armenians. Who was to
blame for the problems that the empire was facing? The Armenians,
they said.
April 24, 1915, marked the start of an unimaginable tragedy.
Approximately 800 Armenian intellectuals, writers and leaders residing
in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) were arrested by Turkish
officers. Many of them were murdered.
In addition, around 5,000 of the poorest of Armenians in Constantinople
were butchered in the streets in front of their loved ones.
Armenians continued to be murdered and slaughtered by members of
the Young Turkish government until 1923. Hidden behind the first
world war, the devastation continued. The war covered up the deaths
of the Armenian people, but there was only so much the Young Turkish
government could conceal before news leaked out. Several international
governmental officials, including Henry Morgenthau Sr., U.S.
ambassador to Turkey, recognized the atrocities taking place in the
falling Ottoman Empire.
Djemal, Enver and Talaat were the three heads of the mission to
annihilate the Armenians. They succeeded in killing 1.5 million
of them.
They were found guilty of the crimes.
Shouldn't the United States be found guilty too? Historians have
recognized the truth for decades, and almost 100 years later, many
states within the U.S. provide their recognition, but the federal
government will not.
The Turkish government continues to hold the United States hostage in
many respects of acknowledging the massacres. Strategic military bases
to fight the war in the Middle East hold the United States captive
from admitting the truth - the truth that is waiting to be told.
How long must the Armenians wait to be noticed and to be offered help?
They watch as their churches dating back to the fourth century are
demolished, along with some of their hope.
Remember the horrifying acts perpetrated by the Young Turkish
government and remember the lack of aid to fellow humans.
As the years advance, the displayed bitter hatred seems less and less
important. History is something that defines who we are, what we came
from. To twist it, manipulate it and destroy evidence of it is doing
an injustice to all of humanity.
From: A. Papazian
By Olivia Kurajian Birmingham
Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/apr/23/no-headline---olivia_essay/
April 23 2012
Although I am only in high school, I have traveled all around the
world and have lived in Colorado, Michigan and Florida.
This summer, I am participating as a People to People Ambassador
Program alumna, and I will be traveling to France, Austria, Switzerland
and Italy.
People to People, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, promotes
"peace through understanding."
My love for travel and experience didn't start with People to
People though. My thirst for knowledge originated with my paternal
grandparents, Victoria and George Kurajian, now of Naples.
My grandfather is my idol. He has told me stories of his childhood and
his life as a professor at the University of Michigan. My quest for
understanding other cultures and an in-depth knowledge of myself and my
surroundings only begins with the stories I have heard from my family.
Being of Armenian descent, I appreciate the struggles that Armenians
have faced throughout the longevity of their existence as a people.
I co-taught an elective in one of the honors programs at my high
school on the gruesome topic of the Armenian genocide with my favorite
teacher, Dawn Whitehead. I also received an honorable mention for the
paper on the genocide that I crafted for the annual Armenian Genocide
Essay Competition in Michigan.
The Armenian genocide was not a random act. Bitter hatred paired with
the lack of understanding of a people rich in culture and history
led to the attempt to annihilate the Armenians. This mission of
destruction was pursued by the Young Turkish government, influenced
by the Hamidian massacres of the late 1880s, an attempt to exterminate
the Armenians 20 years earlier.
The Young Turks were in turmoil. Not only did the Ottoman Empire
start and continue to crumble, but the government realized that the
intellectual body of their state was held by Armenians. Who was to
blame for the problems that the empire was facing? The Armenians,
they said.
April 24, 1915, marked the start of an unimaginable tragedy.
Approximately 800 Armenian intellectuals, writers and leaders residing
in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) were arrested by Turkish
officers. Many of them were murdered.
In addition, around 5,000 of the poorest of Armenians in Constantinople
were butchered in the streets in front of their loved ones.
Armenians continued to be murdered and slaughtered by members of
the Young Turkish government until 1923. Hidden behind the first
world war, the devastation continued. The war covered up the deaths
of the Armenian people, but there was only so much the Young Turkish
government could conceal before news leaked out. Several international
governmental officials, including Henry Morgenthau Sr., U.S.
ambassador to Turkey, recognized the atrocities taking place in the
falling Ottoman Empire.
Djemal, Enver and Talaat were the three heads of the mission to
annihilate the Armenians. They succeeded in killing 1.5 million
of them.
They were found guilty of the crimes.
Shouldn't the United States be found guilty too? Historians have
recognized the truth for decades, and almost 100 years later, many
states within the U.S. provide their recognition, but the federal
government will not.
The Turkish government continues to hold the United States hostage in
many respects of acknowledging the massacres. Strategic military bases
to fight the war in the Middle East hold the United States captive
from admitting the truth - the truth that is waiting to be told.
How long must the Armenians wait to be noticed and to be offered help?
They watch as their churches dating back to the fourth century are
demolished, along with some of their hope.
Remember the horrifying acts perpetrated by the Young Turkish
government and remember the lack of aid to fellow humans.
As the years advance, the displayed bitter hatred seems less and less
important. History is something that defines who we are, what we came
from. To twist it, manipulate it and destroy evidence of it is doing
an injustice to all of humanity.
From: A. Papazian