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ARMENIANS CALL FOR GENOCIDE ACKNOWLEDGMENT
by Michael Copley
Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)
April 23, 2012 Monday
AE Edition
More than 100 North Jersey residents on Sunday packed buses for their
annual pilgrimage to New York City to add their voices to a chorus
calling for Turkey and the United States to acknowledge as genocide
the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during and after World War I.
Inside the banquet hall of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America, the event began with the singing of the U.S. national anthem.
A 99-year-old survivor in a wheelchair and clutching a white carnation
joined in the singing.
"I never forget it, but I don't like to talk about it," Charlotte
Kechejian, who lives at the New York Armenian Home in Queens, said of
the events in Turkey. "I always tell my children how lucky they are,
and that they should respect the freedom they have."
Rain forced the 97th commemoration of the Armenian deaths indoors
from its usual venue in Times Square.
Dennis Papazian of Woodcliff Lake was the keynote speaker before
roughly 800 people, joining others who renewed their call for Turkey
to acknowledge the killings as genocide. Turkey maintains that the
deaths of Armenians were the byproduct of war and not the result of
a policy of extermination.
Papazian, leader of the Armenian fraternal service organization
that hosted the event, said he felt a sense of responsibility in
leading the commemoration "because ethnic groups are close-knit, like
families. When they go through a trauma like genocide, the historical
rhythm is disrupted."
"I don't dislike anybody," he said, "except people who do bad things.
And I don't like people who did bad things to my ancestors. Why do the
Turks today continue to carry this burden, which they need not carry?"
The United States has yet to join the 21 countries that consider the
Armenian deaths genocide. New Jersey and 42 other states have done
so, but diplomatic and economic pressure from Turkey has been cited
as the reason the United States has not followed suit.
"Armenian genocide is not and should not be an issue for debate," Sen.
Bob Menendez, D-N.J., told the crowd at the commemoration. "It is
a fact."
Menedez, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is
sponsoring a bill that calls on the United States to acknowledge the
deaths as genocide. "What happened in 1915 was nothing but a blatant
act of genocide," he said.
It isn't the first time such efforts have been made in Congress, but
this time there was a difference, another speaker, Rep. Frank Pallone,
D-Monmouth, said.
"No one stood up and denied" in Congress that the deaths amounted to
genocide. But Pallone cautioned that diplomatic relations with Turkey
could still keep the measure from passing.
Listening to the remarks, Haik Gazarian, a 23-year-old from Alpine,
said he hopes that isn't the case. "I feel like as a culture, we
can't afford to not be optimistic," he said. "The biggest risk is
a generation elapses and we lose momentum. We can't afford to lose
steam, so we have to be optimistic."
For others, though, time and space have diminished the urgency. "Of
course there's sadness that your heritage has essentially been wiped
out," said Linda Khorozian, a 32-year-old lawyer from Fort Lee. "But
it's their prerogative to interpret it however they want."
But, she added, "We want to make sure these [commemorations] take
place so you don't forget it happened."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
by Michael Copley
Herald News (Passaic County, NJ)
April 23, 2012 Monday
AE Edition
More than 100 North Jersey residents on Sunday packed buses for their
annual pilgrimage to New York City to add their voices to a chorus
calling for Turkey and the United States to acknowledge as genocide
the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians during and after World War I.
Inside the banquet hall of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America, the event began with the singing of the U.S. national anthem.
A 99-year-old survivor in a wheelchair and clutching a white carnation
joined in the singing.
"I never forget it, but I don't like to talk about it," Charlotte
Kechejian, who lives at the New York Armenian Home in Queens, said of
the events in Turkey. "I always tell my children how lucky they are,
and that they should respect the freedom they have."
Rain forced the 97th commemoration of the Armenian deaths indoors
from its usual venue in Times Square.
Dennis Papazian of Woodcliff Lake was the keynote speaker before
roughly 800 people, joining others who renewed their call for Turkey
to acknowledge the killings as genocide. Turkey maintains that the
deaths of Armenians were the byproduct of war and not the result of
a policy of extermination.
Papazian, leader of the Armenian fraternal service organization
that hosted the event, said he felt a sense of responsibility in
leading the commemoration "because ethnic groups are close-knit, like
families. When they go through a trauma like genocide, the historical
rhythm is disrupted."
"I don't dislike anybody," he said, "except people who do bad things.
And I don't like people who did bad things to my ancestors. Why do the
Turks today continue to carry this burden, which they need not carry?"
The United States has yet to join the 21 countries that consider the
Armenian deaths genocide. New Jersey and 42 other states have done
so, but diplomatic and economic pressure from Turkey has been cited
as the reason the United States has not followed suit.
"Armenian genocide is not and should not be an issue for debate," Sen.
Bob Menendez, D-N.J., told the crowd at the commemoration. "It is
a fact."
Menedez, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is
sponsoring a bill that calls on the United States to acknowledge the
deaths as genocide. "What happened in 1915 was nothing but a blatant
act of genocide," he said.
It isn't the first time such efforts have been made in Congress, but
this time there was a difference, another speaker, Rep. Frank Pallone,
D-Monmouth, said.
"No one stood up and denied" in Congress that the deaths amounted to
genocide. But Pallone cautioned that diplomatic relations with Turkey
could still keep the measure from passing.
Listening to the remarks, Haik Gazarian, a 23-year-old from Alpine,
said he hopes that isn't the case. "I feel like as a culture, we
can't afford to not be optimistic," he said. "The biggest risk is
a generation elapses and we lose momentum. We can't afford to lose
steam, so we have to be optimistic."
For others, though, time and space have diminished the urgency. "Of
course there's sadness that your heritage has essentially been wiped
out," said Linda Khorozian, a 32-year-old lawyer from Fort Lee. "But
it's their prerogative to interpret it however they want."
But, she added, "We want to make sure these [commemorations] take
place so you don't forget it happened."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress