Daily Illini, IL
April 25 2005
Campus remembers Armenian genocide
Candlelight vigil on Quad honors 1.5 million killed in genocide 90
years ago
By Gina Siemplenski
The Armenian Association (ArmA) held a candlelight vigil on the Quad
Sunday night to remember the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide by the Turkish military.
About 20 attendants remembered the annihilation of 1.5 million
Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and the deportation of almost the entire
Armenian population from its ancestral lands in the Asia Minor that
began on April 24, 1915.
Selected readings, poetry and prayers were read in addition to a
90-second moment of silence. A song called “Krunk” was also played on
a violin by ArmA treasurer and business major Lauren Buchakjian. The
song was composed by a victim of the genocide.
Zaruhi Sahakyan, president of ArmA, said there were two purposes for
the ceremony.
“First, we want to remember those innocent victims in 1915 and the
years after. Second, if we do not learn from the past then we are
doomed to repeat it,” Sahakyan said.
Controversy continues to surround the mass killings. While virtually
everyone acknowledges that the massacre happened, Turkey disputes
that it was planned and carried out by the state – thus the label
“genocide” does not apply, it says.
“The evidence is absolutely overwhelming and not just in the American
archives,” said Robert Krikorian, professor at George Washington
University in Washington, D.C.
However, more and more countries, regions and cities recognize the
Armenian genocide, Sahakyan said.
“This is an important development since a greater acknowledgement of
genocide by the community of nations will serve the purpose of
preventing and condemning a genocide in the future and will
ultimately promote the understanding of the issue in Turkey itself,”
Sahakyan said.
Sahakyan asked that the world community heed the lessons of the
Armenian Genocide.
“First to recognize the early ‘seeds’ of genocide and act speedily to
prevent a full-blown genocide and secondly, to resist and rebuke the
deniers of genocide because denial will only encourage rogue states
to attempt genocide in the future,” Sahakyan said.
Many people believe that because the international community did
nothing to punish Turkey for its crimes in Armenia, Hitler became
more confident that he could successfully carry out the massacre of
six million Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, Sahakyan said.
“Hopefully one day humankind will be freed of the scourge of genocide
once and for all,” he said.
The vigil drew many people of Armenian heritage, including Jacob
Portukalian, freshman at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Ind., to
attend the ceremony.
“I would like to think of this as an opportunity to remember what
happened to my people and reflect on their tragedies,” Portukalian
said.
The vigil’s goal was to offer prayers for the soul, but today a more
academic approach will be taken to understanding the historic event,
Sahakyan said.
Students who want to know more about the Armenian killings are
encouraged to attend the seminar “American Genocide and Historical
Memory,” delivered by Krikorian. It is at 2:00 p.m. at the Illini
Union, room 210.