Fresno honors 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Your Central Valley
April 25 2026

Fresno honors 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

by: Jason Takhtadjian

Hundreds of people gathered at Fresno State’s Armenian Genocide monument to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who died between 1915 and 1923 during the Armenian Genocide. 

“As a grandchild of genocide survivors, we always commemorate the one and a half million Armenians that were killed,” Glendale resident Jano Boghossian said.

At 6:30pm, one by one, people stepped forward to lay flowers along the memorial. It’s a symbol of loss and resilience. 

“I am a first generation of survivor parents. A testament to show resilience that even though, yeah, you wanted us to die, but we will not die,” Nazik Kotcholosian Messerlian said.

Then at 7pm, the program began with speakers, music, and time for reflection. 

“We have little ones, we have the elders, and that really shows how the story of our ancestors resonates through all of us,” Executive Member of the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee Marine Vardanyan Peters said.

But talk to almost any Armenian, and you’ll realize this isn’t just a footnote in history; it’s a memory passed down through generations.  

“Since I was a little girl, she shared stories of her father’s survival and her mother’s survival… and it’s something I’ve always grown up hearing,” Executive Member of the AYF Karina Messerlian said.

But organizers said that remembering the past also means paying attention to the present.

“The Republic of Azerbaijan is engaged in a campaign to destroy Armenian cultural monuments. Just in the month of April, they destroyed the Mother Cathedral in the city of Stepanakert and destroyed the Saint James Church, also in Karabakh,” Fresno State Professor Barlow Der Mugrdechian said.

A reminder that remembrance isn’t just reflection, it’s a warning. 

“If we forget what that means, we die. We don’t want to die,” Nazik Kotcholosian Messerlian said.

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