Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
March 19, 2008
Contact: Ani Garabedian
Armenian Genocide Survivor Passes Away
– 106-year old Hayganoush Markarian, was one of the Bay Area’s last
two survivors
Walnut Creek – One of only two remaining survivors of the 1915
Armenian Genocide living in the Bay Area passed away on March 13,
2008. Hayganoush Markarian died of natural causes earlier this week at
the age of 106.
Last October, Hayganoush’s story of survival was presented by Rep.
Lynn Woolsey to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (HCFA) during
the mark up of H. Res. 106 (the Armenian Genocide resolution). Rep.
Woolsey displayed Hayganoush’s photograph to committee members prior
to the resolution being passed. It now awaits a full House vote.
"Our community was formed by the survivors of the Armenian Genocide,
therefore it is heart-wrenching for us to see the very last of them
leave us. They are the only link left that ties us to the atrocious
events of 1915, but they also represent the will of our people to
survive and rebuild," said Roxanne Makasdjian, Bay Area ANC
chairperson. "We are especially sad that before Hayganoush Markarian’s
passing, she was not able to witness her adopted country’s official
recognition of the Armenian Genocide," she added.
Markarian was born Hayganoush Azarian on January 24, 1902, in the city
of Kharpert. Beginning in 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government forcibly
deported and massacred 1.5 million Armenians in a systematic campaign
of annihilation.
Later in life, Hayganoush Markarian settled in Lebanon and the United
States and became an active member of the Armenian Relief Society
(ARS). The ARS, the oldest Armenian social service organization, was
established in 1910 in New York City to provide humanitarian
assistance to Armenians in need. She continued her membership until
her unfortunate death earlier this week.
The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR advances
the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.