Author: Kanayan Tamar

France 5 TV has shot a film about Armenia. The film presents the country’s picturesque landscape and rich culture.

A camera fixed on a drone has flown above different settlements of Armenia and has caught exceptional shots for the film.

On 4 May Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan received observers, who had arrived in Nagorno Karabakh from Abkhazia and Transnistria to carry out observation mission at the 2015 parliamentary elections, Central Information Department of the Office of the NKR President reports.

President Sahakyan noted in his speech that in Artsakh they attach particular importance to the sustainable development and deepening of relations with Abkhazia and Transnistria, accentuating its importance from historical, political and moral perspectives.

RAKEL DINK: A CENTURY OF GENOCIDE

04.24.2015 10:01NEWS

Rakel Dink, in the article titled ‘A Century of Genocide’ she wrote
for the April 24, 2015, issue of Cumhuriyet newspaper, relates what
befell her family and relatives in 1915, how she met Hrant Dink,
and the struggles they put up together: Today, first at Balıklı, at
my Cutak’s grave, then in Ã…~^iÃ…~_li, at Sevag’s grave, and finally,
in Taksim Square, to commemorate the ones we lost during the 1915
Genocide, I will silently wait for this country to become free.

Today, the day you read this article, is April 24. A heavy, and very
painful day of mourning. Today, I will briefly try to write for you,
with the help of God, my own story.

I was born in 1959, in the Armenian Varto Tribe, which is today
administratively linked to Å~^ırnak. Today its name has been changed
to Yolagzı Village. Varto is the name of my father’s grandfather;
it comes from the name Vartan. Back in the day, my great grandfather
Vartan migrated to this area from Van. The lands of the tribe are
in the southern foothills of Cudi Mountain. Close to the borders
with Iraq and Syria. The Cudi Mountain presents a majestic view when
seen from our lands. And from our neighbouring Hasana Village, the
mountain appears as if it has spread its wings over the land. Today,
neither the Hasana Village, nor the Armenian Varto Tribe exist. In
1915, the firman (edict) for destruction arrived. In our tribe, they
used to call it ‘Fermana Me Xatibi’, in Kurdish. Our tribe managed
to survive this firman with the help of an Arab Muslim tribe we knew
as the “Tribe of Tayans”, in the depths of the Cudi Mountain, hiding
for many years in the highlands, in coves and caves. “Cudi is the
name of a saint. Christ protected us for her sake,” the elders used
to say. In fact, there is even a legend claiming that the caves they
sought shelter in did not actually exist…

Did she fall prey to the wolves, or perhaps to the birds?

As they escaped in 1915, the newly born child of a relative began
to cry, and could not be silenced. The mother-in-law said, “You keep
walking, pass the baby to me, my daughter,” and took her, and then…

I can’t utter the words, you can guess what happened. That baby was
the child of my maternal grandmother’s elder sister… Another person
in the convoy could no longer carry their daughter, blindfolded her,
and left her below a tree. They placed a piece of dry bread in her
hand. They blindfolded her so when harm did come, she was not afraid.

Every time they tell this story, they begin to cry, saying, “Did she
fall prey to the wolves, or perhaps to the birds”. Who knows? Maybe
she is the grandmother of one of you out there…

My father Siyament’s surname was Vartanyan, but it was changed to
Yagbasan when the Surname Law came into force. My mother was Delal.

They were both highly skilful people who did whatever they did in
the best possible way, and they were courageous and honest. They made
their living the hard way, never set eyes on other people’s property,
never breathed a lie, and always defended what’s right, true and just.

Even in the face of persecution. And they gave and taught us what they
carried within themselves, setting an example with their very lives.

My mother fell ill when she was 35. I was eight years old. She passed
away into eternal peace. During that year a group of philanthropists
visited our village. Encouraged by our Patriarch Shenork Srpazan back
then, they travelled to the villages in Anatolia to find remnants of
the sword. Since not a single Armenian school was left in Anatolia,
their aim was to take children of a suitable age and bring them
to Istanbul. Along with my father, Hrant Guzelyan and Orhan Yunkes
brought 12 children to Istanbul. We were the second group. We were
placed in boarding school to learn our language and religion and to
receive education.

Our fathers would keep guard

When we were in the village, many nights, our fathers would keep
guard. Dogs would howl. It seemed as if a spirit of fear wandered. Of
course, they tried not to let the children realize, but you would
sense it from their mood, and from the women’s incessant whispering of
prayers, and you would see the anxiety. At different times, twice our
shepherds were murdered. The week before the last remaining people
of the tribe migrated to Istanbul, they murdered a man from the
neighbouring Hasana Village, which was another Christian village,
and hurled each part of his remains in a different corner. Fear
gradually increased.

The agha of the neighbouring Dadar Village, a tenant of my father,
had conjured up a fake deed and filed a lawsuit against my father. For
40 years, my father pursued these cases and the field surveys. He was
injured many times, at times he tired, but he never gave up. My father
passed away at the age of 72 in Brussels, while, to use your phrase,
as a member of the “Diaspora” his “land demand” continued. The case
is still open.

I met my beloved husband at boarding school. We first met at the
summer residence of the boarding school, the Tuzla Armenian Children’s
Camp. Together, we played knucklebones, we ran, we sang hymns, and we
learned to help each other, to console each other, to cry with those
who cried, to laugh with those who laughed, and to love and respect.

We learned righteousness, honesty and sharing. We learned how to
separate the good from the bad. On April 23, 1977, on Children’s Day*,
we two children got married. Let me tell you something: We loved each
other, and we loved to love.

In 1978, they shot our camp director Guzelyan. He was injured but
survived. In 1979, they imprisoned him on the pretext of raising
Armenian militants. We, a family with two children, took responsibility
as directors of the camp during summers. Hrant was a student at
university on the one hand, and our struggle to make a living continued
on the other. In 1986, our third child was born. And then, the Tuzla
Camp was seized by the state. It still stands today, dilapidated. I
wish they had used it for a good purpose. They took it from us and
gave it back to its former owner. Then it apparently changed hands
several times. It brought no good to any of its new owners.

And the places in Istanbul where the children stayed were closed one
by one during the winter.

Today, in this age of information, no one has the right to say ‘I
don’t know’. My life story, or other people’s life stories… One
observes how each person who survived during that period managed it
only by a miracle.

There is even more to it than murder

These days, the pathetic Perincek and his like make up stories saying,
“Hrant did not call it genocide”. They have teamed up with state cadres
in their pursuit for “freedom of expression”… Talaat Pasha and his
friends… Thus we see that there is even more to it than murder. We
saw the trials that took place after 19 January 2007. And at those
trials I saw the anger and hatred that is not satiated by murder.

My dear Cutak**… He wanted for you to reach the honour and greatness
of seeing the consequences through your own means, and he wanted
to do that without offending you. Because he was good. He loved
you very much. His wish and aim was to help you. We have seen many
guises of racism, heartless, blinded, and inhuman. In the middle of
the courtroom, they kicked and stamped the remains of the dead. Both
while we lived with the threats, and after the assassination. Is that
not the mentality of the Genocide?

Saying “No one is left… They are all gone, that is all”, “I wish
they had not left. They went, and with them, the abundance of the land
disappeared as well”, “We got along well, it was external powers that
sew discord” means nothing. It is necessary to sincerely recognize
the atrocity that took place, the grave robbing, the evil in laying
waste to all forms of intimacy, that all those rights you call the
rightful share of the servant of God were trampled under foot, that
belongings, property and dignity were destroyed and that no right
whatsoever was protected.

Which heart can comprehend the magnitude of that whole?

What I know, what I have heard, what I have experienced are perhaps
trivial. Perhaps they constitute a mere fraction of a larger whole.

But which mind, which heart can comprehend the magnitude of that whole?

Now I stand and look. I observe how grotesque and ridiculous humanity
looks in the garb of denial. Mine is a bitter smile. A smile turned
sour, full of tears. A smile in part full of anger and expectation.

I observe the world in 1915. I cry bitter tears for all humanity, and
its policies. I observe the humanity of 2015, and my soul wails inside
me. My life is drained out. I observe my country. I am ashamed. I cry.

A lump sticks in my throat. I cannot swallow. I let loose my voice. My
tears flow from my chest. I speak to God, I pour out my grief to Him.

And by faith in His name, I beg to Jesus. For Him to show mercy to
humanity. To lead hearts to repentance. Then the Lord will descend
upon the earth, and humanity will move on with sincere recognition.

Hearts will unite, wounds will be salved, and healing and joy will
come. And thus the old rotten mentality will be cast aside like a
dirty ragged garment. People will become pure, redeemed; they will
shed their weight and emancipate themselves from the noose of history.

Today, first at Balıklı, at my Cutak’s grave, then in Ã…~^iÃ…~_li,
at Sevag’s grave, and finally, in Taksim Square, to commemorate the
ones we lost during the 1915 Genocide, I will silently wait for this
country to become free.

* April 23, in commemoration of the establishment of the Grand National
Assembly of Turkey on that day in 1920, is celebrated in Turkey as
Children’s Day.

** Cutak means ‘violin’ in Armenian. It is also Rakel Dink’s nickname
for Hrant Dink, and a pseudonym Hrant Dink used when he began to
write columns.

LEADING WORLD TV CHANNELS OFFER LIVE BROADCAST FROM GENOCIDE CENTENARY COMMEMORATION IN YEREVAN

12:22 24/04/2015 ” SOCIETY

A number of leading world TV channels, including CNN, Mir, Euronews,
France 24 and Russia 24, are broadcasting live the Armenian Genocide
centenary commemoration ceremony at the Armenian Genocide Memorial
Complex Tsitsernakaberd.

A commemoration ceremony dedicated to the Armenian Genocide centenary
is underway in Yerevan. Over 60 foreign delegations, including the
Presidents of Russia, France, Serbia and Cyprus, are participating
in the ceremony.

ARMENIA’S GENOCIDE AND OBAMA’S SHAME

Asia Times Online
April 23 2015

Author: David P. Goldman April 22, 2015 2 Comments

Spengler

Despite a 2008 campaign promise “to recognize the Armenian genocide,”
President Obama refuses to follow Pope Francis’ example and call the
murder of 1.5 million Armenian civilians by its right name. Of all
the despicable things this administration has done, this one stands
out for vile hypocrisy. CNN reports:

President Barack Obama, wary of damaging relations with Turkey amid
growing unrest in the Middle East, won’t use the 100th anniversary
of the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire to declare the
brutal episode a genocide.

Despite Obama’s campaign promise in 2008 to “recognize the Armenian
Genocide” as president, the White House on Tuesday issued a carefully
worded statement on a high-level administration meeting with Armenian
groups that avoided using the term “genocide.”

An administration official said Obama, who will mark the centennial
this Friday, would similarly avoid using the word. The term angers
Ankara, which denies that Ottoman Turks carried out a genocide.

“President Obama’s surrender to Turkey represents a national disgrace.

It is, very simply, a betrayal of truth, a betrayal of trust,” said Ken
Hachikian, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America.

Despite the threat of retaliation against Turkey’s small and
defenseless Christian community-the remnant of what once was a fifth
of the Turkish population-the Vatican has had the courage to use the
word genocide, and first did so in 2000. Not Obama, whose concern
for Muslim sensibilities outweighs every other consideration.

If you don’t think telling the truth matters, think again: The world’s
disgusting indifference to the Armenian genocide is what convinced
Adolf Hitler that he could get away with genocide, too. This is what
Hitler said about the matter in 1939:

My decision to attack Poland was arrived at last spring. Originally,
I feared that the political constellation would compel me to strike
simultaneously at England, Russia, France, and Poland. Even this risk
would have had to be taken….Our strength consists in our speed and
in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to
slaughter — with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in
him solely the founder of a state. It’s a matter of indifference to
me what a weak western European civilization will say about me.

I have issued the command — and I’ll have anybody who utters but
one word of criticism executed by a firing squad — that our war
aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical
destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head
formations in readiness — for the present only in the East — with
orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion,
men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only
thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum)which we need. Who,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

43 countries-including Russia, Italyk, France, Sweden Poland and the
Netherlands-recognize the Armenian genocide. Not the United States
of America. It is a shame and disgrace.

ARMENIA MARKS CENTENARY OF MASS KILLINGS BY OTTOMAN TURKS

1 hour ago
24/05/15

Ceremonies are being held in Armenia and around the world to mark the
centenary of the start of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.

The presidents of France and Russia joined other leaders for the
memorial in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died, a figure disputed by
Turkey.

Turkey strongly objects to the use of the term genocide to describe
the killings and the issue has soured relations between the nations.

Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues there was no
systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people. Turkey
says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.

A memorial service was held in Turkey on Friday and its prime
minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said the country would “share the pain”
of Armenians. But he reiterated Turkey’s stance that the killings
were not genocide.

Jump media player Media player help Out of media player. Press enter
to return or tab to continue.

Media captionFergal Keane recorded the voices of some of the remaining
survivors of the Armenian massacre

Turkey is on Friday also hosting ceremonies to mark the 100th
anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gallipoli.

However, the actual fighting there began on 25 April, and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan has accused Turkey of “trying to divert
world attention” from the Yerevan commemorations.

‘Never Again’

After a flower-laying ceremony in Yerevan, Mr Sargsyan addressed
the guests, saying: “I am grateful to all those who are here to once
again confirm your commitment to human values, to say that nothing
is forgotten, that after 100 years we remember.”

In his address, French President Francois Hollande said: “We will
never forget the tragedies that your people have endured.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “There cannot be any
justification for mass murder of people. Today we mourn together with
the Armenian people.”

Elsewhere:

In Lebanon – home to one of the largest Armenian diasporas – tens of
thousands of people took part in a march and a commemoration service
in the capital Beirut In Jerusalem, Armenian priests held a two-hour
mass in the Old City.

Posters were hung outside the church calling on Turkey to recognise the
mass killings as genocide And in Tehran, hundreds of Armenian-Iranians
attended a rally which began at an Armenian church and ended outside
the Turkish Embassy

At the scene: BBC’s Rayhan Demytrie in Yerevan

The purple forget-me-not is the symbol of the centenary. It can be
seen everywhere in Yerevan: from window shops and windscreen stickers,
to lapel pins that many are proudly wearing.

There is also a centenary slogan which reads “I remember and demand”.

But what is it that the Armenians are demanding? I asked some of the
people in Yerevan’s Mashtotz Avenue.

“We demand fairness from the world community, that’s it,” said Sergey
Martirossyan, “but for me personally it won’t make any difference.

What we actually need in Armenia is for the government to take serious
steps towards economic growth.”

‘I remember and demand’

Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the day the Ottoman Turkey
authorities arrested several hundred Armenian intellectuals in
Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, most of whom were later killed.

Armenians regard this as the beginning of the Ottoman policy of mass
extermination of Christian Armenians suspected of supporting Russia,
the Ottoman Empire’s World War One enemy.

Tens of thousands of Lebanese-Armenians marked the centenary with a
march in BeirutCeremonies were held at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial
in YerevanFrance, represented by Francois Hollande, has been a strong
advocate of recognising the killings as genocide

US President Barack Obama issued a carefully worded statement for
the anniversary, referring to “one of the worst atrocities of the
20th Century”, without using the term genocide.

During his 2008 presidential election campaign, then senator Obama had
vowed to “recognise the Armenian genocide” and in his new statement
said: “I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915,
and my view has not changed.”

However, his phrasing has angered Armenian Americans.

Bryan Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America,
said in a statement: “President Obama’s exercise in linguistic
gymnastics on the Armenian genocide is unbecoming of the standard he
himself set and that of a world leader today.”

President Vladimir Putin also attended and addressed the
guestsArmenians around the world, like here in Jerusalem, insist the
killings were genocide

German MPs are meanwhile debating a non-binding motion on the genocide
issue, a day after President Joachim Gauck used the word to describe
the killings.

This month, Turkey recalled its envoy to the Vatican after Pope
Francis also used the word genocide in a reference during a Mass.

France has been a strong advocate of recognising the killings as
genocide and President Hollande has pushed for a law to punish
genocide denial.

In Turkey on Friday, the media largely focused on Gallipoli, but one
of Turkey’s oldest newspapers, Cumhuriyet, carried a surprise headline
in Armenian – “Never Again”.

“The wounds caused by the events which took place during the Ottoman
Empire are still fresh. It is time to face up to this pain which
paralyses the human mind, the feeling of justice and the conscience,”
it said.

Jump media player Media player help Out of media player. Press enter
to return or tab to continue.

Media captionArmenia’s mass killings – explained in 60 seconds

What happened in 1915?

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915 at the hands of the
Ottoman Turks, whose empire was disintegrating.

Many of the victims were civilians deported to barren desert regions
where they died of starvation and thirst. Thousands also died in
massacres.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey says the
number of deaths was much smaller.

Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide – as
do more than 20 states, including France, Germany, Canada and Russia,
and various international bodies including the European Parliament.

Turkey rejects the term genocide, maintaining that many of the dead
were killed in clashes during World War One, and that many ethnic
Turks also suffered in the conflict.

PAIN NEVER SHARED: TURKEY OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO ARMENIANS WITHOUT SINCERITY

APRIL 24TH, 2015

Instead of condoling, Davutoglu could have offered his sincere
apologies to the handful of survivors, like Aaron Manoukian

RELATED POST…

Our View: Turkey should acknowledge and apologise for genocide

Anastasiades and MPs attend genocide events in Armenia

Turkey says Austrian accusation of Armenian genocide damages ties
permanently

By Aram Ananyan

AARON Manoukian, one of two dozen Armenian genocide survivors living
in Armenia, celebrated his 101st birthday on March 20, a month before
Davutoglu’s statement offering condolences to the grandchildren of the
Ottoman Armenians, who survived systematic murders and death marches
a century ago. Aaron’s eyes reveal the qualities of his character,
as a look at his hands tells a lifelong story full of turbulence
and hardships. Aaron’s passport indicates Turkey as his birthplace,
but what he calls home was the American orphanage in Armenia.

Turkey’s prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, following his boss Erdogan,
with almost a year’s interval, made quite a predictable statement ahead
of the Genocide Remembrance day, and on April 20 offered condolences
to the descendants of the Ottoman Armenians, who had suffered all the
horrors of the Armenian genocide in 1915. These condolences come right
after Pope Francis boldly called the 1915 massacres a ‘genocide’,
the European parliament called Turkey to face its troubled history,
and Germany and Austria, once World War I allies of Turkey, moved
closer to the full recognition of this crime against humanity.

In reality, it is a misleading indication of Ankara’s readiness for
dialogue, and for those who are well aware of this issue, Turkey’s
statement runs as another attempt to swap the necessity of recognition
of the Armenian genocide from the most important historical, political
and legal domains to a debate based on emotional manipulations.

In around 450 words, Davutoglu advocates to follow his lead, “to
relieve the pain of the past century and rebuild our humanitarian
bond”. Furthermore, Turkey’s chief diplomat proclaims, that this
year, on April 24 a divine liturgy will be organised by the Armenian
Patriarchate of Istanbul, to commemorate the tragic events. He fails
to mention that this is the first time ever that Armenians in Turkey
will do so – fast enough, since the corpses of hundreds of thousands
Armenians were left unburied in Asia Minor and the Syrian deserts
100 years ago. In this regard, Turkey’s condolences lacked sincerity
and honesty, and were aimed at trivialising the crime to an own
interpretation of history. In fact, when talking about the Armenian
genocide, Turkey uses an interchangeable vocabulary, depending on
the consumers and the occasion. For instance, on one day Turkish
officials threaten the Pope and on the next day they talk about the
human duties of remembrance.

Davutoglu recaps what Erdogan said a year ago, that it could be
meaningful for Turkey and Armenia to commemorate the events. What he
avoids to mention is the following: Erdogan received an invitation
to be in Armenia on April 24, along with the other heads of state,
to commemorate together, but instead, on the exact Remembrance day,
he preferred to orchestrate a pompous celebration of the Gallipoli
battle on that date.

The cause is always more important than the effect and reconciliation
in the future takes much bigger effort rather than manipulating with
the consequences. Davutoglu offers not to politicise the history,
but does the opposite, by supporting the century-long denial of Turkey.

Genocide scholars agree that the Armenian genocide was a masterminded
act to solve a number of issues. The Ottoman leadership exterminated
the Armenian political, economic and intellectual elites; deported
the Armenians from their ancestral homeland, with a reason not only
to avoid implementing Ottoman international obligations, but also
the comprehensive political and social reforms to protect universal
and core human rights and values that Christian minorities were
undelivered but deserved in the Ottoman Empire; and, eradicated the
Armenian issue by annihilating the Armenian people.

Instead of condoling, Davutoglu could have offered more reasonable
steps, first of all sincere apologies to the handful of survivors,
like Aaron Manoukian, who felt the inhumane atrocities right on their
skin. And there is the dark side of the reality that the Prime Minister
of Turkey wants to avoid when he refers to pain that has never been
shared by the absolute majority of the Turkish elite. In moral terms,
this approach seems rather cynical, because it equates the suffered
pain of the victim with the un-suffered of the perpetrator.

The author, Aram Ananyan, is a historian and Director General of
Armenpress News Agency

CHICAGO TRIBUTE: AND 1.5 MILLION ARMENIANS WERE KILLED

14:33 – 24 / 04 / 2015

Armenian Genocide victims are commemorated in Istanbul President
Sargsyan delivers toast at state dinner at the Presidential Palace
President of Cyprus: Both Armenia and Cyprus are victims of impunity
Paris-based Turkish NGOs to commemorate Armenian Genocide

At the origins of commemoration: April 24 as a day of mourning and
commemoration of the Armenian Genocide

Chicago Tribune published an article by columnist John Kass about the
story of an Armenian-American judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan and the fact
that people allow their memories to be washed. The article reads:

Pope Francis set off a diplomatic furor recently when he said what
historians and most diplomats have been saying for almost a century
now:

That Turkey participated in the first genocide of the 20th century
by slaughtering 1.5 million Armenians in 1915.

Friday, April 24, marks the 100th anniversary of the genocide that is
still not officially recognized here in the United States as genocide.

And so I sat down at breakfast with U.S. District Judge Samuel
Der-Yeghiayan, America’s first immigrant of Armenian descent to be
named federal judge.

“The pope acknowledged, as have historians since the beginning of this,
that it was a genocide,” Der-Yeghiayan said. “It was unspeakable. But
still, we speak of it, to remember.”

The Turkish government denies genocide and says the deaths were the
result of civil war. It withdrew its ambassador from the Vatican.

President Barack Obama wrung his hands.

“That’s politics,” said the judge. “But whatever they call it, it
was genocide. It wasn’t an accident.”

The U.S. ambassador of the time, Henry Morgenthau described the
Turkish policy as one of systematic, “wholesale slaughter.”

I’d call it a Muslim cleansing of Christians, with fire and sword.

Armenians weren’t the only ones. Thousands of Greeks and Assyrian
Orthodox were also killed by the Turkish army and its surrogates.

And 1.5 million Armenians were killed.

Think of it as low-tech killing. The Armenians were slaughtered in
their villages. They were chopped to pieces and thrown into rivers.

They were raped and shot and sabered by cavalry as they ran with
their children on their backs.

The fine actor, Russell Crowe, has directed a controversial movie
coming out Friday called “The Water Diviner,” about Turkey of that
troubled era.

I can’t wait to see it. I’ve read that in his film, Turks are
sympathetic figures. It is the Christians — notably the Greeks —
who are the savages.

But just Google “Armenian Genocide” and check “images.” And you will
see how brutality becomes viral.

One photo I just can’t shake depicts Armenian girls who’ve been
crucified by Turks.

The girls are naked. Their long, black hair covers their faces. The
crosses are set on the side of a dusty road. It demands vengeance.

“My great-grandfather was an Orthodox priest,” Der-Yeghiayan said.

“The Turks rounded up the family, his sons and daughters, his wife.

They gathered them. Then they dishonored him.

“First they cut off his beard. They laughed. They told him to deny
Christ. He refused. And when he refused, they chopped off his hands.

They chopped off his feet. They threw him in the river.”

I saw an old family photo. There was a tiny, 5-foot-tall woman,
a great-aunt in the back row. She was the only survivor.

The Turks had killed her infant daughter. She jumped in the river
to die.

“She told me from her own mouth,” Der-Yeghiayan said. “The river was
called the River of Blood. She became lost in all the bodies.

Downstream she was fished out, saved by a kind Turkish family. And
there were kind Turkish people too.”

I liked visiting Turkey. I liked the culture and the people very much.

That’s what makes writing this column so difficult. But the dead
compel me.

Americans forget too easily. We allow our memories to be washed,
from generation to generation, in the interests of commerce. Yet the
dead can’t be coerced by capitalism.

Der-Yeghiayan’s grandfather, who had been living in the U.S. working
in a steel plant, went back in 1919 to find those who were left.

“He never smiled,” said the judge. “As a boy, late at night, I would
hear him from the other room, on his knees, praying for all their
souls. But I never saw him smile once. My grandmother never smiled.

All the Armenian people of the time, they lived, they survived,
they raised families.

“But they never smiled. Ever.”

SECRETARY GENERAL OF FRANCOPHONIE JOINED COMMEMORATION OF CENTENNIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

13:41, 24 April, 2015

YEREVAN, 24 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The Secretary General of Francophonie,
Her Excellency Mrs. Michaëlle Jean joins the commemorative events of
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, which, today on 24
April, are held in the Armenia’s capital Yerevan and around the world.

The Press and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Armenia informed “Armenpress”, that in the
statement of April 24 released by the International Organization of
the Francophonie said about this.

“The duty of memory is strictly necessary for continuing to build
the future and particularly, because today the current generation
lives by those wounds,” the Secretary General underscored. “I share
the grief of the descendants, grandchildren and children of that
tragedy’s victims, which had taken the life of more than one and a
half million human beings,” Michaëlle Jean added.

LA MAIRIE DE VALENCE (DREME) DEVOILE DES BANDEAUX SUR LE 100EME ANNIVERSAIRE DU GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS – PHOTOS

VALENCE-GENOCIDE DES ARMENIENS-100 ANS

Jeudi 23 avril a 19h30 une foule de plus de 200 personnes etait reunie
devant la Mairie de Valence (Drôme) pour assister au devoilement de
deux larges bandeaux dedies au 100ème anniversaire du genocide des
Armeniens. Nicolas Daragon, le Maire de Valence a rappele le devoir
de memoire et a appele la Turquie a reconnaitre le genocide. Il
a egalement souligne l’engagement de la Ville de Valence pour les
nombreuses manifestations du genocide des Armeniens a l’occasion
du centenaire. Près de Nicolas Daragon, Marlène Mourier, Maire de
Bourg-Lès-Valence, Annie Koulaksezian-Romy conseillère communautaire,
l’Adjoint Franck Daumas-Diratzonian, les conseillers municipaux Georges
Rastklan, Myriam Kenan et Nathalie Iliozer. Après l’allocution Nicolas
Daragon aide d’Annie Koulaksezian-Romy, de Marlène Mourier et de
Frank Daumas-Diratzonian deroula les banderoles sur lesquels etaient
inscrits