|
Armenian-Americans Commemorate Genocide
(KFWB) -- Armenian-Americans in Southern California are today remembering what historians call the Armenian Genocide. Most historians say that during the period of 1915-1923, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the Ottoman Turkish Empire during massive deportations and organized killings.
The Turkish government denies the genocide took place, and says Armenian deaths were part of the casualties of World War I.
Throughout the U.S. today, Armenians are commemorating April 24 -- the day that symbolizes the beginning of the genocide in 1915. It was on that day that the Turkish government rounded up the first wave of Armenian intellectuals and political leaders, according Richard Hovannisian, professor emeritus of history at UCLA and author of a number of books on the history of Armenia.
"This is a day of both remembrance and reaffirmation," Hovannisian said.
It is also a day of marches and protests. In Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., Armenian groups are demonstrating in front of Turkish embassies, demanding that the Turkish government acknowledge the genocide.
Numerous witness accounts tell similar stories of Turkey's Armenian residents abruptly told to round up belongings and to evacuate their towns for relocation. They were made to march in long caravans through desert, not given food or water, and "were killed in a long process of starvation and thirst," Hovannisian said. There are also reports of gruesome killings and rapes when caravans were attacked.
The U.S. ambassador to Turkey during 1915 wrote a number of communiqués corroborating accounts of atrocities.
One survivor, Sam Kadorian, lost a large part of his family during the marches. He was around seven years old when they took place. He describes one instance in which Turkish soldiers gathered up the boys around his age in a large pile, and began stabbing them indiscriminately with their bayonets.
Kadorian pointed to a scar on his cheek. He escaped with his life because he was only nicked and played dead, Kadorian said.
In Los Angeles, a number of ceremonies are marking the 86th anniversary of the genocide. The group United Armenian Students staged a march through Hollywood's "Little Armenia" neighborhood. L.A. Mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa attended a 1pm ceremony at the Armenian Martyrs' Monument in Bicknell Park in Montebello.
Villaraigosa's communications director, Elena Stern, says the former state Assembly speaker has always supported remembrances of the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide.
President George W. Bush released a written statement calling the day a commemoration of "the forced exile and annihilation of approximately 1.5 million Armenians," but he stopped short of using the word "genocide." (Read Bush's Statement)
The Armenian National Committee, a Washington D.C. based lobbying organization, has been strongly pushing the White House to use the word "genocide," and has spearheaded the mailings of some 100,000 postcards to the White House. The committee's Elizabeth Chouldjian says "anything short of that [use of "genocide"] mischaracterizes events."
Also, the lobby group got more than 100 members of the House of Representatives to cosign a letter to the president asking for the use of the word "genocide."
Past attempts to officially acknowledge the Armenian Genocide have failed in Washington, because of strong objections from Turkey.
However, despite those objections, France recently passed a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Turkey responded with the cancellation of some business contracts.
Armenian historian Richard Hovannisian says it is important to remember the genocide because it was a "prototype" of other mass killings that followed. The Armenian Genocide was the first of the 20th century's worst mass killings, he said.
Hovannisian points to a quote from Adolph Hitler. During the invasion of Poland, Hitler was asked if severe measures against the Polish people was prudent.
Hovannisian recalled Hitler's response: "Who afterall remembers
the annihilation of the Armenians."
Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News Archives