Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Some locals dismayed Armenian genocide not acknowledged

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Some locals dismayed Armenian genocide not acknowledged

    Some locals dismayed Armenian genocide not acknowledged
    MIKE MOORE

    [email protected]
    JournalTimes.com
    Posted: Sunday, May 1, 2011 11:32 pm


    CALEDONIA - While they're unhappy President Barack Obama hasn't
    acknowledged genocide the Ottoman Empire committed against their
    ancestors nearly a century ago, members of a local Armenian congregation
    said Sunday they understand it's a touchy political subject.

    About 175 people attended an annual liturgy and program at St. Mesrob
    Armenian Apostolic Church, 4605 Erie St., to remember more than 1.5
    million Armenians who were killed between 1915 and 1923. The Easter
    holiday pushed the service back a week from the usual date.

    Among those attending the service were Racine native Ryan Weber, 34, and
    his wife, Lussia Kamberian, 28, who met in 2007 while doing volunteer
    work in Armenia and are preparing for a Peace Corps mission to Kenya.

    Like protesters in other parts of the country, they're upset Obama has
    been no more willing to refer to the 20th-century atrocities as genocide
    than the predecessors he criticized.

    The couple, who now live in Milwaukee, said using that term is an
    important step.

    "It just recognizes what it truly is, instead of beating around the
    bush," Kamberian said.

    Bill Bedoian, 62, knows he might never have been born if a stroke of
    luck hadn't allowed his grandparents to reunite. A Turkish military
    officer who knew the family spotted Bedoian's grandmother and prevented
    a soldier from making her part of his harem.

    Despite entering the White House with good intentions, it's going to be
    hard for a U.S. leader to recognize the genocide while Turkey remains a
    strategic ally, he said. In part, Turkish officials maintain the
    killings came in response to an armed rebellion.

    "I don't defend the fact they don't make that public statement," said
    Bedoian, a teacher who lives in Racine. "I understand why it happens."

    The Rev. Yeprem Kelegian, pastor at St. Mesrob, said it's really up to
    Armenia and Turkey to resolve this and move relations forward.

    His family suffered so many losses that the only Armenian words he
    learned as a child meant "the poor orphans."

    The program included a traditional "madagh" meal of meat and wheat pilaf
    and a documentary showing a filmmaker's search for survivors of the
    genocide.

    During the service beforehand, Kelegian urged the congregation to go out
    and act as "witnesses" against things like hate, racism and
    anti-Semitism.

    Younger generations have absorbed stories from those terrible times to
    put things in perspective.

    "My parents always remind me, `You think you have it bad now
    with problems with boys and grades and stuff. What you don't know is you
    could be walking in the desert, starving,' " said Bedoian's daughter
    Grace, 16, a junior at Walden High School. "It gives you a lot of hope
    and makes you thankful for what you have."

    Copyright 2011 JournalTimes.com. All rights reserved. This material may
    not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X