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A BITTER REMEMBRANCE: ARMENIANS HONOR LIVES LOST LONG AGO
By Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press, MI
April 24 2008
On a church lawn in Southfield just off Northwestern Highway, a sea
of white crosses catches the eye.
Planted last week, they're a striking reminder of the 1 million-plus
Armenian Christians who died under the Ottoman Empire in the early
20th Century.
"Never Again!" reads a banner that flutters near the rows of crosses
outside St. John Armenian Church.
"If we don't remember, the world will forget," said the Rev. Garabed
Kochakian, pastor of the church. "If we forget, the crimes of the
past will be repeated."
The church's youth group planted more than 1,000 crosses, each
representing roughly 1,000 people who died under Turkish rule. The
commemorations this year come just months after Congress failed to
pass a nonbinding resolution that would have labeled the mass killings
by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the resolution
passed a committee but was stalled after pressure from the Bush
administration and lobbyists who argued that Turkey is an important
Muslim ally and would be offended by the resolution. The Turkish
government maintains the deaths were not genocide.
And so it becomes even more important, say local Armenians, to remember
the killings.
"When Washington doesn't proceed to acknowledge what happened for
political reasons, that motivates us further," said Harry Derderian of
Farmington Hills, whose relatives were killed. At his church tonight
in Dearborn, St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenians will
walk around the church in a symbolic representation of the Armenians
who wandered the desert after being forced from their homes.
Marty Shoushanian, a member of St. John Armenian Church, said the
crosses are a reminder to the general public, but also to young
Armenians.
"Our children will remember," he said. "It has not been forgotten."
By Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press, MI
April 24 2008
On a church lawn in Southfield just off Northwestern Highway, a sea
of white crosses catches the eye.
Planted last week, they're a striking reminder of the 1 million-plus
Armenian Christians who died under the Ottoman Empire in the early
20th Century.
"Never Again!" reads a banner that flutters near the rows of crosses
outside St. John Armenian Church.
"If we don't remember, the world will forget," said the Rev. Garabed
Kochakian, pastor of the church. "If we forget, the crimes of the
past will be repeated."
The church's youth group planted more than 1,000 crosses, each
representing roughly 1,000 people who died under Turkish rule. The
commemorations this year come just months after Congress failed to
pass a nonbinding resolution that would have labeled the mass killings
by the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the resolution
passed a committee but was stalled after pressure from the Bush
administration and lobbyists who argued that Turkey is an important
Muslim ally and would be offended by the resolution. The Turkish
government maintains the deaths were not genocide.
And so it becomes even more important, say local Armenians, to remember
the killings.
"When Washington doesn't proceed to acknowledge what happened for
political reasons, that motivates us further," said Harry Derderian of
Farmington Hills, whose relatives were killed. At his church tonight
in Dearborn, St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenians will
walk around the church in a symbolic representation of the Armenians
who wandered the desert after being forced from their homes.
Marty Shoushanian, a member of St. John Armenian Church, said the
crosses are a reminder to the general public, but also to young
Armenians.
"Our children will remember," he said. "It has not been forgotten."