Homenetmen Glendale Ararat commemorates Armenian Genocide
12:05 02/05/2014 » SOCIETY
In observance of the 99th year of the Armenian Genocide, Homenetmen
Glendale Ararat Chapter Cultural Division held a panel titled `Red
Poppy,’ commemorating the brutal events that took the lives of 1.5
million Armenians. The red poppy has been used as a symbol of
remembrance since 1920, honoring those who have lost their lives in
battle, El Vaqueroreports.
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Multiple members of the Armenian community participated in a visually
interactive forum, which was held on April 12 and 13 at the Glendale
Ararat Chapter main building.
The room was adorned with museum-like images and maps of Armenian
villages, including a 40 by 60-foot map of the countless deportation
centers within the Armenian homeland and surrounding countries. A
large screen displayed a slideshow of haunting images of those
victimized by the 1915 genocide.
Before the panel officially began, two musicians used the duduk, a
traditional Armenian wind instrument, to build a sense of eerie
nostalgia, while guests observed the life-sized visual displays from
their homeland.
Among the panelists were Barbara Mulvaney, a senior trial counsel
leading the prosecution team against the military officials
responsible for the Rwandan Genocide; Anthony Portantino, board member
for the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee; and Gevork
Nazaryan, creator of , a website dedicated to
Armenian history and studies.
Notable attendees included Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan; Consulate
General of Armenia in Los Angeles, Suren Vardanyants; GUSD Board
member Dr. Arminah Gharpetian; and Glendale City Clerk Ardashes
Kassakhian.
David George Gevorkyan, the audit commissioner for the city of
Glendale, hosted the event.
The panel began with Nazaryan providing context for the series of
events that led to the first genocide of the 20th century. After the
Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Balkan Wars, the Turkish national
reform party, known as the Young Turks, wanted to preserve the Ottoman
Empire and hang on to as much land mass as they could.
After Turkey joined the Central Powers during the first World War, the
three ring leaders, Talaat, Enver, and Djemal Pasha wanted to
implement Pan-Turkism to unite all Turkish-speaking peoples to rebound
from the crumbling Ottoman Empire. The Armenians were the largest
group that stood in the way of this Turkification ideology. Thus, by
the command of Talaat Pasha, the death marches and massacres of
Armenians began.
According to Nazaryan, the term `genocide’ was not coined until 1943,
when Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin combined the Greek word
`genos,’ meaning race or tribe, and the Latin word `cÄ«dere’ or `cide,’
meaning to kill.
The Pasadena memorial committee created an Armenian Genocide
remembrance in Memorial Park. It is surrounded with ornamental
pomegranate trees, which stands as the symbolic fruit tree of Armenia.
The central feature of the memorial is known as `The Teardrop.’
`At the center, a teardrop will fall every 21 seconds and every 21
seconds in a year is 1.5 million,’ said Portantino.
Each teardrop represents one life lost. They plan to have it fully
constructed by the 100th anniversary, according to Portantino.
`We have to point out that this is a global issue,’ said Nazaryan.
`This is not specifically related to Armenians, and that’s the way
forward.’
Major genocides of the 20th century include the Rwandan Genocide, the
Bosnian Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian Genocide, among
others.
`This project has really become a benchmark on how we advocate,
commemorate, remember, and reflect about the atrocities of the
Armenian Genocide,’ said Gevorkyan.
From: A. Papazian
http://www.elvaq.com/news/2014/05/01/local-organization-commemorates-armenian-genocide/
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2014/05/02/glendel/
www.armenianhighland.com