KTVB Boise
April 24 2014

Armenian-American community gathers to commemorate genocide

Credit: Paul Boehlke/ KTVB

BOISE — The Treasure Valley Armenian-American community gathered
Thursday night to honor Armenians killed during the first genocide of
the 20th century.

The event has come to be known as the Forgotten Genocide.

Participants gathered at a stone marker to pray and share stories
about ancestors killed by the Ottoman Turks. Despite the weather, they
continued the solemn memorial by dropping flowers into the Boise River
in memory of those lost.

“My mother was 12-years-old when the Ottoman Turks massacred nearly 2
million Christian Armenians, and she was the sole survivor of her
family of 37 family members. She hid in a pit the night they came and
exterminated the rest of her family,” said Jo-Ann Kachigian, daughter
of an Armenian Genocide survivor.

In 2004, Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne issued a proclamation
declaring April 24, an Idaho Day of Remembrance for the Armenian
Genocide.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress