Author: Emil Lazarian

The White House
President George W. Bush
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 24, 2005
Statement by the President
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
On Armenian Remembrance Day, we remember the forced exile and mass killings
of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during the last days of the Ottoman
Empire. This terrible event is what many Armenian people have come to call
the “Great Calamity.” I join my fellow Americans and Armenian people around
the world in expressing my deepest condolences for this horrible loss of
life. Today, as we commemorate the 90th anniversary of this human tragedy
and reflect on the suffering of the Armenian people, we also look toward a
promising future for an independent Armenian state. The United States is
grateful for Armenia’s contributions to the war on terror and to efforts to
build a democratic and peaceful Iraq. We remain committed to supporting the
historic reforms Armenia has pursued for over a decade. We call on the
Government of Armenia to advance democratic freedoms that will further
advance the aspirations of the Armenian people. We remain committed to a
lasting and peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We also
seek a deeper partnership with Armenia that includes security cooperation
and is rooted in the shared values of democratic and market economic
freedoms. I applaud individuals in Armenia and Turkey who have sought to
examine the historical events of the early 20th century with honesty and
sensitivity. The recent analysis by the International Center for
Transitional Justice did not provide the final word, yet marked a
significant step toward reconciliation and restoration of the spirit of
tolerance and cultural richness that has connected the people of the
Caucasus and Anatolia for centuries. We look to a future of freedom, peace,
and prosperity in Armenia and Turkey and hope that Prime Minister Erdogan’s
recent proposal for a joint Turkish-Armenian commission can help advance
these processes. Millions of Americans proudly trace their ancestry to
Armenia. Their faith, traditions, and patriotism enrich the cultural,
political, and economic life of the United States. I appreciate all
individuals who work to promote peace, tolerance, and reconciliation. On
this solemn day of remembrance, I send my best wishes and expressions of
solidarity to Armenian people around the world.
Return to this article at:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Der Tagesspiegel, Deutschland
24 April 2005
`Völkermord an Armeniern nicht leugnen’
Berlin – Der Berliner Parlamentspräsident Walter Momper (SPD) hat die
Türkei aufgerufen, den Völkermord an den Armeniern vor 90 Jahren
nicht länger zu bestreiten. Momper sagte am Samstagabend im
Abgeordnetenhaus bei einer Gedenkfeier der Armenischen Gemeinde
Berlin: `Wer Geschichte – oder Teile von ihr – verschweigen will,
leistet Verdächtigungen und gegenseitigem Misstrauen Vorschub.` Wer
die Tatbestände bestreite oder leugne, `kennt entweder die Literatur
nicht oder will die Spur des Völkermordes vertuschen`. Eindeutige
Dokumente belegten, dass der Beschluss zur Vernichtung der Armenier
keine Kurzschlusshandlung gewesen sei, `sondern wohl durchdacht war`.
Momper bezeichnete sich als `Freund des türkischen Volkes`, was ihm
das Recht gebe, die Deportationen und Massaker 1915/16 im Osmanischen
Reich klar zu benennen. Damals hatten mehr als eine Million Armenier
ihr Leben verloren. Der SPD-Politiker warnte aber davor, `die
Vergangenheit als Keule gegen den EU-Beitritt der Türkei zu
benutzen`. Ankara habe einen Anspruch darauf, nach der heutigen
Politik beurteilt zu werden. Die Türkische Gemeinde protestierte mit
Flugblättern vor dem Abgeordnetenhaus.
Zuvor hatte der Ratsvorsitzende der Evangelischen Kirche in
Deutschland, Bischof Wolfgang Huber, das armenische Volk `um
Verzeihung` für den Völkermord gebeten. Bei einer Gedenkrede im
Berliner Dom sagte Huber: `Wir setzen uns für eine offene und
vorurteilslose Erörterung dieser Geschehnisse ein, die den Opfern der
damaligen Gewalthandlungen Gerechtigkeit widerfahren lässt.` Er
schäme sich für die damalige politische Gleichgültigkeit des
Deutschen Kaiserreiches. Unter Hinweis auf den Holocaust sagte Huber:
`Ohne die Erinnerung holen uns solche Ereignisse ein und machen uns
zu ihren Gefangenen.` An die türkische Regierung appellierte der
Bischof, sich mit ihrer Rolle gegenüber den Armeniern in Geschichte
und Gegenwart auseinander zu setzen. `Zukunft kann nur gewinnen, wer
die Vergangenheit nicht verschweigt.` jul/m.m.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS COMMEMORATED IN KARABAKH
24.04.2005 08:15
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The victims of the Armenian Genocide were commemorated in
Nagorno Karabakh. Many thousands of people moved to the Stepanakert Memorial
Complex from the morning. 11 a.m. NKR leaders headed by President Arkady
Ghukasian came to lay flowers to the Memorial of the Victims of the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Priests of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church offered a liturgy for the peace of the souls of the victims
of the tragedy. April 23 a number of youth organizations of Nagorno Karabakh
with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and
Stepanakert Administration arranged planting of trees around the Memorial.
The number of the trees planed totaled 90. Each of them has a label with the
name of the inhabited area, where the Armenian Genocide was held, Regnum
news agency reported.

Pan Armenian News
ARMENIAN SPEAKER: HISTORY CANNOT BE BURIED
24.04.2005 08:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «I think in the 21-st century all civilized humanity will
denounce the Armenian Genocide,» Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Artur
Baghdasarian stated in Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to Victims of the Armenian
Genocide today. In his words, interesting changes referring to the process
of recognition of the Genocide take place in the world today: the Polish
Sejm denounced the Genocide lately, as well as the Armenian and French
Presidents commemorated the Genocide victims. «I am sure progress will take
place and we will fight along with the whole of the civilized world against
repetition of genocide,» he added. Speaking of the Turkey’s possible
accession to the EU without recognition of the Genocide, A. Baghdasarian
noted that though Turkey seeks after EU membership, application of double
standards is inadmissible. Armenia works for the entire region, including
Turkey, to be integrated into European structures. «It is an exclusively
good opportunity to recognize a crime against humanity. I believe Turkey
will have to give political evaluations, as the history cannot be buried,»
the Speaker summed up.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

South Bend Tribune, IN
April 24 2005
World has moral duty to stand against genocide
DIALOGUE: MICHIANA POINT OF VIEW
By MAKROUHI OXIAN
An eternal flame burns at the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial in
Yerevan, Armenia. It is surrounded by a sea of flowers that visitors
carry to the site.
Courtesy of Oneworld.net
Ninety years ago, the first genocide of the 20th century began on
April 24, the Armenian Genocide. Throughout the world, Armenians
today will honor the memory of their loved ones who perished at the
bloody hands of the Ottoman Turkish government.
On April 24, 1915, approximately 200 prominent Armenians —
intellectuals and religious and political leaders — were arrested in
Constantinople (Istanbul) where 21 were hanged. The others were
murdered in the interior regions of Turkey.
The ethnic cleansing of the Armenians then began in all the provinces
of Turkey. No town or city was spared, including my parents’
hometown, the city of Rodosto (Tekirdag) near Constantinople.
Thousands of families, including my parents’ families and my mother,
were removed from their homes and deported into the deserts of Syria.
Along the way, thousands were murdered, tortured and raped. Many died
of exhaustion, starvation, exposure or thirst. From 1915 through
1923, a total of 1.5 million men, women and children perished.
The United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948 defined genocide as
“acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a
national, ethnic, racial or religious group.” In addition to the
Armenians, other ethnic groups experienced such atrocities during the
20th century, including the Bosnians, Jews, Biafrans, Cambodians,
Tutsis, Kurds, Ukrainians the Russians.
Unfortunately, humankind still continues to commit this horrendous
crime. Presently, thousands are being massacred in the African
country of Sudan.
When the tsunami disaster occurred in Asia, the United Nations and
the international community quickly responded to help the survivors.
The relief effort was morally correct.
When ethnic groups experience genocide at the hands of vicious
butchers, the world community does not respond as quickly, if at all.
Due to political reasons, nations do not want to get involved in the
internal affairs of the countries committing such atrocities. Is it
morally correct to ignore such heinous crimes against humanity and
allow thousands to die?
The Armenian Genocide is slowly being recognized by numerous
countries that will not succumb to pressure from the Turkish
government. Some of them include Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland,
Greece, Lebanon, Russia, Slovakia, Argentina, Uruguay and the
Vatican.
For 90 years, Turkey has adamantly denied that it committed genocide
against the Armenians during World War I. The Turkish government not
only dismisses the evidence but is attempting to rewrite history by
paying historical revisionists to write false accounts. How would
people throughout the world react if Germany would attempt to deny
historical truth regarding the Holocaust?
To date, the U.S. Congress has not passed a resolution recognizing
the genocide. Turkey is a strong U.S. ally and NATO partner. The
government of Turkey and its highly paid lobby groups in Washington
have pressured many members of Congress to vote against any
resolution that would recognize the genocide.
Nevertheless, cities such as Galveston, Texas, Fresno, Calif., and
Boston, as well as 27 states, have officially recognized the
genocide. A few of the states are Alaska, California, Colorado,
Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Utah and
Wisconsin. Unfortunately, our great state of Indiana has not taken
the initiative to join the other enlightened states.
To honor the memory of those who perished during the genocide,
numerous events will place in large as well as smaller communities
throughout the world.
The largest commemoration in the United States will take place in New
York City where the events will center around the themes of
remembrance, justice and prevention. Thousands of Armenian Americans
from throughout the Northeast will attend church services April 24
followed by a memorial gathering at noon at Times Square. Those in
attendance will hear noted speakers and honor elderly genocide
survivors. Then a solemn ecumenical requiem service will be held at
St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral with many religious, diplomatic and
political dignitaries in attendance.
In Providence, R.I., an art gallery will have an exhibit honoring the
90th anniversary of the genocide. All types of media will be on
display such as photographs, sculptures and paintings. Young people
in California will participate in a March for Humanity to make the
public aware of the genocide.
In Poland, a demonstration will take place near the Turkish Embassy
in Warsaw. A monument dedicated to the genocide will be placed in one
of the squares in Varna, Bulgaria. Twelve tribal leaders from Syria
went to Armenia to honor the memory of thousands of innocent
individuals who perished during the genocide.
The largest gathering in Armenia will be at the genocide memorial at
the top of Tsitsernakaberd Hill near Yerevan, the capitol. Thousands
will climb up to the monument to lay flowers near the eternal flame
that is encircled by 12 slabs representing the 12 lost provinces in
Turkey — the ancestral homeland of Armenians for some 3,000 years.
The complex also consists of a museum and a 100-meter wall that
displays the names of towns and villages where massacres took place.
I am dedicating this article in memory of the innocent victims of the
Armenian genocide — including family members who perished. They must
not be forgotten.
Makrouhi Oxian lives in South Bend.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Amersfoortse Courant (Dutch regional paper)
Utrechts Nieuwsblad,
April 22, 2005
Almost 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in Turkey between 1915
and 1923. Turkey has always systematically denied the genocide. If the
country wants to have a chance at becoming an EU member, Ankara will have to
come to terms with this dark chapter. This weekend, it is the ninetieth
anniversary. Time to admit mistakes.
VAKIFLI
By Fidan Ekiz
The Armenians of Vakifli, in the province of Hatay on the south coast of
Turkey, knew how to escape from the Turks by hiding themselves for 40 days
on Mount Musa (Moses) in Antakya. “Without food and drinks they waited
there, in the cold,” says Havadis Demirci.
The 90-year-old Armenian was born during the “dark days” on the mountain. In
Vakifli, the last Armenian village in Turkey, no more than a miserable 130
Armenians live there.
Of the 5000 Armenians from seven villages, who found their refuge on Musa,
many died of hunger and cold. The survivors were saved by French seamen who
were sailing across the Ak Sea. Among them was Havadis Demirci. “We were
taken to Egypt. When I was four, I returned to Vakifli with my parents and
other inhabitants.” They were received by those who stayed behind and
astonishingly survived the massacre.
For centuries the Orthodox Christian Armenian minority lived harmoniously
with the Muslim Turks. When the Ottoman Empire began to crumble at the
beginning of the twentieth century, Turkish tolerance also came to an end.
During World War I, instigated by strong nationalistic sentiments, the Turks
turned against the Armenians, whom they accused of rebellion. The Armenians,
according to Turks, wanted to abuse the chaotic war situation to create an
independent Armenia that would need parts of Turkey and the Russian Empire.
The anti-Armenian pogroms began with the execution of Armenian leaders who
were hanged from the Galata bridge in Istanbul, followed by genocide on
hundreds of thousands of Armenians in other parts of the country.
The small Vakifli is now mostly inhabited by old Armenians, who live there
undisturbed. Most of the youth has left the village. But in the summer it is
dominated by a happy crowd. Armenians from the diaspora smell the sea air
and visit the local church.
The people here have little to complain about and some are therefore not
pleased with the heated debate that is now taking place concerning the
Armenian genocide. “Why now? The massacres took place 90 years ago. A
Turkish recognition will not bring back my murdered grandfather,” says the
head of village Berc Kartun. “By bringing back the memories, our minority
position is accentuated even more, which is painful.” The fear, even after
so many years, still seems very great. Many Armenians do not dare to be
among Turks now, according to the head of the village. “It is hypocritical
that countries like England and France now, much too late, take our side.
While they are themselves guilty of causing enmity between Armenians and
Turks.” The Western countries realized at the time that there was only way
to force the Ottoman Empire onto its knees, he claims. The minorities were
called to rebel. The nationalistic Turkish sentiments were therefore
instigated because of British and French meddling.
The son of the old Havadis thinks it is good that, after years of silence,
the issue of the genocide is becoming debatable in Turkey. “For years
already the word “Armenian” in Turkey has been synonymous with a
swear-word,” says Artin Demirci. “That we find the Turkish recognition
important has nothing to do with revenge. Turkey has to admit its mistakes
in order to become a fully fledged democracy.” For the commemoration of the
genocide next Sunday nothing special is planned in Vakifli. In previous
years Armenians gathered in the church, but that has not been in use for a
while now. “People will pray at home,” Artin thinks.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Troy Record, NY
April 24 2005
Armenians mark painful anniverary
By: Steven S. Couse, The Record04/24/2005
TROY – Today, Armenians around the world will commemorate Armenian
Martyrs Day to remember the 1½ million Armenians put to death by the
Ottoman Turkish government from 1915 to 1923.
On April 24, 1915, 90 years ago, 200 Armenian dignitaries, clergymen
and intellectuals were rounded up and killed. This date is considered
the official start of the Armenian Genocide.
The killings had begun earlier and would continue until 1923,
according to Rafi Topalian, of the Capital District Armenian Genocide
Committee.
The CDAGC was founded in 2000 to increase awareness of the genocide
and remember the Armenians whose lives were cut short.
Today, members will be heading for Times Square in New York for a
Milestone Commemoration. Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham
Clinton will be among the speakers.
After a Mass at St. Vartan Cathedral in Manhattan, more than 5,000
people are expected to gather at noon in Times Square for the
commemoration. A memorial service will follow at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral. Many religious and political leaders are participating.
For many Armenians, it is very important to educate the world about
the genocide because they feel the present-day Turkish government is
trying to rewrite history in their favor.
“How can we talk about this if they dispute us?” Topalian said.
He calls the Armenian Genocide the “template” for other genocides in
the 20th Century and suggests that if the world had had a better
understanding of what happened to them, other genocides might have
been prevented.
He said the Jewish Holocaust during World War II is more familiar to
people because many of the perpetrators were brought to justice at
the Nuremburg Trials and because news gathering – especially movie
footage – was more sophisticated later in the century.
According to Topalian, Armenia “has been around for over 3,000
years.” In 301 AD Armenians adopted Christianity as a nation, a
decade before the Roman Empire.
In 404 AD the Armenians developed an alphabet so the Bible could be
read by more people.
Throughout the centuries, he said, Armenians fought off invaders. “We
fought hard to maintain our Christian faith.
“Armenians advanced in intellect and commerce, and others around were
jealous,” he said.
>From 1894 to 1896, 300,000 Armenians were massacred under the order
of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
Hamid’s reign ended in 1908, when a coalition known as the Young
Turks came to power. By 1914, a triumvirate of Young Turk dictators
set out to rid the country of minorities, beginning with Armenians.
Between 1915 and 1923, 1½ million Armenians perished and more than
500,000 were exiled.
>From 1918 to 1920, Armenia enjoyed a brief period of self-rule before
becoming part of the Soviet Union. Armenia declared independence on
Sept. 21, 1991.
Members of the CDAGC meet once a month or every other month and give
lectures at high schools and colleges. They work with other groups to
get the word out.
One of the major goals of the group, and others like it around the
world, is to get the present-day Turkish government to acknowledge
the genocide.
The committee will host an event at the state Assembly on May 16,
when lawmakers will formally recognize the genocide with a resolution
and proclaimation.
New York is one of only 30 states to recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The U.S. government does not.
According to Topalian, there are 2,500 Armenians in the Capital
District. There are three local churches, St. Peter Armenian
Apostolic Church in Watervliet, Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church
in Troy, and United Armenian Calvary Congregational Church, also in
Troy.
One of those Armenians is Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian. He learned
about the genocide from his grandmother and other family members and
traveled to Armenia in 1997 with a select group of young Armenian
professionals.
He met the president and other dignitaries, and saw monuments to the
genocide.
Tutunjian pointed out that in 1899, Troy established the second
Armenian parish in the country after Worcester, Mass.
That parish, St. Peter, moved to Watervliet in 1970.

Boston Globe
April 24 2005
Armenians remember the horror
By Yvonne Abraham, Globe Staff | April 24, 2005
Today is the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the mass
killings and deportations by Ottoman Turks that led to the deaths of
as many as 1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923. Few survivors
of those attacks — which the Turkish government says were part of a
civil conflict, not a genocide — remain. Some settled here in
Massachusetts, where Armenian-Americans now number about 30,000.

In the excerpts below, they share some of their memories.
Yeghsa Giragosian, 105, North Andover (native of Harput)
‘You don’t know who’s coming. And you don’t know what’s going to
happen. But you’re young and you take it.’
”I was 14. Everything was going good, then the genocide started one
morning. In every village, Armenian people, everybody has to go to
the cemetery. We are in the cemetery and the soldiers right away
start to take the girls. Turkish men took my two sisters [and married
them]. A Turkish man, a friend of my grandfather’s, he held my hand
and took me to his home. I lived with them. He had a wife and
children, and I didn’t know so much of what was happening. I was
young. And I didn’t know life. The wife was so good to me. She never
says, ‘You are Armenian girl,’ or this and that. They didn’t use me.
She wash me, she cook for me, she was good just like a mother. They
had two boys and a girl, and she talk Armenian and she was my age,
and we became two sisters. About three years later, my aunt, she come
back. And she told me my mother died. She told me, ‘If you can, run
away, because the war is stopped and the Turks can do nothing.’ I
did, right away. . . . My mind grew up and now I know the difference.
I run away. I didn’t say nothing . . . even [to] the girl I was with.
My second sister ran away too. I went to [an] Armenian orphanage. Two
years I stay over there. We come to Aleppo . . . and Marseilles. Then
we are here [in America], then a couple of years later, my sister
says she finally found out where [our older sister] is. She was still
in Turkey. My second sister, she went to her house [in Turkey] and
she says ‘Sister, run away, come on.’ She says, ‘I can’t, I have five
children.’ Last time I saw [my eldest sister] was in that cemetery. I
don’t know if she died. . . . She’s going to be 108. It must be she
died.”
Peter Bilezikian, 92, Newton (native of Marash)
”The dream I used to have, a Turk would cut my ears off, cut my
nose, pull my teeth, gouge my eye out.’
”All I remember is, we were hungry, and I thought that was a normal
thing. . . . There were so many people dying. . . . I remember
children dying with the big stomachs . . . dropping dead right in the
middle of the street. And a cart would come along, pick them up as if
they were nothing, and throw them up on the cart and keep going.
There’d be a big hole somewhere, they’d just dump it in there. During
the 1919 war, when the . . . Turks rebelled against the French . . .
there was a war in the city. We were in one place and it was fenced.
A lady was baking bread. I was hungry and I went over there and asked
for a piece of bread. She wouldn’t give it to me: ‘This is for my
children. If I give it to you, then my children won’t have any.’ So I
waited, I was hoping she would take her eyes off the bread, I could
steal. She never took her eyes off it, but they were shooting from a
minaret . . . I had a cowlick, like an Irish boy, you know . . . [the
bullet] singed my hair and hit her between the eyes. She died. I
grabbed all the bread that she had baked, ran under a stairway and
ate it all up. I didn’t care what anybody [thought]. It wasn’t a nice
thing to do, looking back. Poor woman died, and do you know, I never
thought anything of her dying? These are all dreams to me today. When
I came to this country I lived in Newtonville. At night I used to
find myself under the bed in a cold sweat. The dream I used to have
was, a Turk would cut my ears off, cut my nose, pull my teeth, gouge
my eye out. I would wake up all wet. . . . I never had these dreams
in the old country.”
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Arminé Dedkian, 92, Watertown (native of Tekirdag)
‘I didn’t know so much of what was happending. I was young. And I
didn’t know life.’
”I was just born when they killed my father. Everybody had to keep
going. We were walking towards the desert . . . to Syria. My mother
got a job in a hospital over there. Then this young man, he was
Armenian, he was working there too. They got married. He was ashamed
to say he had married a widow . . . you know, 17, 18 years old, she
had a child. They [left me with my grandmother]. They told her,
‘After we settle, we are going to come and get her.’ But then, again
things happened. The Turks chased us three times, we had to abandon
everything. We didn’t know where [my mother] was. . . . We didn’t
know who had died, who hadn’t. We found a way of finding each other
by writing in the Armenian papers. [We placed an ad, looking for my
mother.] My mother’s cousin saw the ad and he knew my mother was in
America. I was seven days on the boat by myself. I was 15. Whoever
had sponsored you had to be there to pick you up. My mother wasn’t
there. She had made a mistake. So they took me to Ellis Island. Six
or seven days there. You just sit there and your ears are wide open
and you hope that you are going to hear your name. You don’t know
who’s coming. And you don’t know what’s going to happen. But you’re
young and you take it. When my mother opened the door I just had a
feeling it was her, she was a very pretty woman. But because we never
knew each other, like two strangers we stood together, you know, no
hugging, no kissing, no nothing. That’s why my family always tell me,
‘We’re not a kissing family.’ I made something out of my life, but I
feel cheated that I didn’t have a childhood. I should have talked to
her: ‘What happened? Why did you leave me?'”
John D. Kasparian, 98, Worcester (native of Van)
”There was nothing to be eaten. I ate grass for days. That’s the way
we live. …It was a hell life to live.’
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”All I know, I was 7 years old, and I seen this fighting . . . all
the time. You get kind of sick of it, you get used to it in a way.
But things got so much worse, that Turks in 1915 start to go from
house to house, take the people out — father, mother, children, they
don’t care. One night . . . a Turkish friend of my father . . . woke
my house . . . and took my father and says ‘You know this is the
section they coming after tonight, you get out right away. If not
then you won’t be living to see the light tomorrow.’ We run away for
life. . . . By early morning the [same] man came and says . . .
‘After you left, they gathered 200 men, women, and children and put
in the armory. They closed the door and put kerosene, and lit up that
place.’ Men, women, children, they perished that particular night. If
we didn’t get out we would have been gone, for sure thing. We would
have been dead. We couldn’t eat nothing [on the road]. There was
nothing to be eaten. I ate grass for days. That’s the way we live,
till we came to Yerevan. It was a hell life to live. My brother got
lost . . . on the road to Yerevan. Somebody [found him] and brought
[him to Yerevan]. Now we were looking for our brother and we went
every place. Finally we went to this park, he was all by himself
sitting on a huge stone, so everybody could see and recognize him. He
was crying. ‘Where’s my parents? Where’s my folks?’ My father
naturally grabbed him and broke down and we got all together. But
unfortunately he didn’t last long. He died because of starvation and
no water. . . . Thank God we find him. That was a sad day for me
really. I don’t look back. I forget about it, just looking forward.
Thank goodness, I live in such a heavenly country.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pan Armenian News
MEMORIAL TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS FIRED UPON IN SAN PAOLO
24.04.2005 06:23
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The monument to victims of the Armenian Genocide,
established in Santos Dumod St. that crosses Armenia Square in San Paolo,
was attacked April 23 at about 3 a.m. As reported by the State Commission
for Organization of Events marking the 90-th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, getting out of a car, unknown people fired upon the monument. The
city police investigate the case in compliance with the suit of Armenia’s
Consul General A. Eghiazarian and Armenian National Committee local office
head S. Kerimian. Experts, who arrived at the scene, determined that 5
bullets of average diameter hit the monument. Upon a demand of Armenia’s
Consulate General the military police has put intensified guard at site of
the occurrence, where events marking the anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide had been planned on 23-24 April.

Agence France Presse — English
April 23, 2005 Saturday 7:56 PM GMT
Thousands march through Yerevan on eve of Armenian massacres
anniversary
YEREVAN
Over 10,000 people Saturday marched through the streets of Armenia’s
capital on the eve of the 90th anniversary of mass killings by
Ottoman Turks, demanding that Turkey recognize the episode as
genocide.
Meanwhile, Armenian President Robert Kocharian made a conciliatory
gesture towards Ankara, saying Yerevan would not ask for financial
compensations for the killings if Turkey recognized them as
genocidal.
“We are not talking about compensations, this is only about a moral
issue,” Kocharian told Russia’s Rossiya television, which is also
broadcast in Armenia.
“There is no talk about material consequences,” he added.
“We understand that we must look towards the future, and not the
past, although that should not be forgotten … We feel no hatred
today, only sorrow remains,” Kocharian said.
Thousands of demonstrators, mostly young people, marched through the
center of Yerevan, holding torches and chanting “Armenia!
Recognition!” as they proceeded towards a memorial commemorating the
1915 slayings.
“This is not a mourning march,” one of the organizers, Zinavor
Megrian, told AFP.
“Young people are demanding that the human rights that were violated
by Turkey many years ago be reasserted, and that Turkey recognize the
genocide,” added Megrian, who also belongs to the youth organization
of Armenia’s ruling party.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire,
the predecessor of modern Turkey, was disintegrating.
Ankara counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were
killed in “civil strife” during World War I when Armenians rose
against the Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
Many members of the Armenian diaspora worldwide came to Yerevan to
take part in Saturday’s march and Sunday’s official ceremonies, at
which organizers say 1.5 million participants are expected.
“This is a very important event for me, because it allows me to
express my discontent at countries that do not recognize the
genocide,” said 21-year-old Ami Aratelian, an Armenian woman from
Iran who was among the marchers Saturday.
“The Turks who committed this crime must answer for it not only
before the Armenians, but before the whole world,” said 16-year-old
Dvin Pipizian, from Canada.
Ceremonies will begin Sunday with the laying of a wreath at the
genocide memorial, which will be attended by Kocharian. A mass will
be celebrated later that day and a minute of silence will be observed
throughout Armenia at 7:00 pm (1400 GMT).
On Tuesday Poland joined a list of 15 countries that have officially
acknowledged the killings as genocide when its parliament passed a
resolution condemning the Armenian massacres.
The decision has already drawn protest from Ankara where officials
called it “irresponsible,” and said it would hurt relations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress