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RESIDENTS PROTEST ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Juliet Werner
Queens Tribune
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/12072395 71.html
April 3 2008
NY
The New York Armenian Home in Flushing feels more like a community
center than a nursing home. Residents trade memories of Armenia,
or "our country," during meals. In the evening, the men and women,
many in their 90s, dance in the traditional Armenian style; arguments
over the correct steps frequently overpower the music.
"It's called an adult care facility," case manager Karine Barsoumian
said. "But it's a kindergarten."
Barsoumian spends many hours a week with the home's 79 residents,
all members of what the home's Web site calls, the "global Armenian
community."
"It's not Armenian Home, it's International Home," she said.
Residents speak Armenian, Arabic, Russian and Bulgarian. Turkish is
occasionally heard as well, but not without opposition.
"They'll say, 'don't use that language,'" Barsoumian explained.
Several of the residents are survivors of the Armenian Genocide carried
out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923
that killed 1.5 million.
Onorik Eminian, 95, witnessed the death of her parents and siblings.
The Red Cross picked her up and escorted her to an orphanage. She later
made her way to Greece, and, finally, to the United States in 1930.
In anticipation of the 93rd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
scheduled for April 27 in Times Square, several residents of the
Armenian Home shared their stories of survival with the press on
Sunday. Eminian became anxious as soon as she saw a group had gathered.
"Are there Turks among you?" she wanted to know.
Eminian's paranoia has only heightened as a result of an October 2007
trip to Washington D.C. where she was harassed by a group of Turkish
protestors. The Armenian National Committee had invited Eminian, along
with other survivors, to the capital for the House of Representatives'
Oct. 10 vote on House Resolution 106.
The resolution, which called upon the President to "ensure that the
foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding
and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating
to the Armenian Genocide and for other purposes," was approved by
the Foreign Affairs Committee by 27 to 21 despite President Bush's
warning that it would strain America's relationship with Turkey,
an ally in the War in Iraq. Democratic support exists in the Senate,
but the resolution has lost momentum.
"It's time has passed," Dr. Denis Papazian, Director of the Armenian
Research Center at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, said. "We
are in the election cycle where this issue will be placed on the back
burner. The Turkish government made a big fuss about the resolution,
and the administration caved in. The spin doctors tried to make the
resolution seem anti-patriotic, and succeeded to some extent. There
is no use fighting a losing battle at this point. Better to declare
victory for its passage through the Foreign Relations Committee than
to take it back on the floor during this administration and having
the Armenians look unpatriotic."
Eminian, once she agreed to tell her story, revealed an intense
patriotism.
"Don't forget the American navy is the best in the world," she said.
"I'm not lying what they did to me."
Perouz Kalousdian, 98, also traveled to D.C. to support the resolution,
but quickly slips back into apathy.
"They can feel sorry, that's all. What can they do,"
Kalousdian said. "We're in America. We're saved. But I never forget."
According to Papazian, forgetting exonerates the genocide's
perpetrators.
"The last stage of genocide is denial," Papazian said. "You counter
opponents of Armenian genocide recognition by presenting the truth,
evidence, reason and perseverance. It is a fight of memory against
forgetting."
The fight isn't over and the resolution has a better chance if the
next administration is Democratic - both Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama favor it. But Jenny Akopyan, the Armenian Home assistant director
who accompanied the survivors to Washington, isn't holding her breath.
"If they ask us to bring residents [again] we will do our best,"
Akopyan said. "But time passes by and they're not getting younger."
The April 27 event in Times Square is free and open to the public.
For more information call Linda Millman Guller at (203) 454-9800.
By Juliet Werner
Queens Tribune
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/12072395 71.html
April 3 2008
NY
The New York Armenian Home in Flushing feels more like a community
center than a nursing home. Residents trade memories of Armenia,
or "our country," during meals. In the evening, the men and women,
many in their 90s, dance in the traditional Armenian style; arguments
over the correct steps frequently overpower the music.
"It's called an adult care facility," case manager Karine Barsoumian
said. "But it's a kindergarten."
Barsoumian spends many hours a week with the home's 79 residents,
all members of what the home's Web site calls, the "global Armenian
community."
"It's not Armenian Home, it's International Home," she said.
Residents speak Armenian, Arabic, Russian and Bulgarian. Turkish is
occasionally heard as well, but not without opposition.
"They'll say, 'don't use that language,'" Barsoumian explained.
Several of the residents are survivors of the Armenian Genocide carried
out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire from 1915-1923
that killed 1.5 million.
Onorik Eminian, 95, witnessed the death of her parents and siblings.
The Red Cross picked her up and escorted her to an orphanage. She later
made her way to Greece, and, finally, to the United States in 1930.
In anticipation of the 93rd Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide
scheduled for April 27 in Times Square, several residents of the
Armenian Home shared their stories of survival with the press on
Sunday. Eminian became anxious as soon as she saw a group had gathered.
"Are there Turks among you?" she wanted to know.
Eminian's paranoia has only heightened as a result of an October 2007
trip to Washington D.C. where she was harassed by a group of Turkish
protestors. The Armenian National Committee had invited Eminian, along
with other survivors, to the capital for the House of Representatives'
Oct. 10 vote on House Resolution 106.
The resolution, which called upon the President to "ensure that the
foreign policy of the United States reflects appropriate understanding
and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide documented in the United States record relating
to the Armenian Genocide and for other purposes," was approved by
the Foreign Affairs Committee by 27 to 21 despite President Bush's
warning that it would strain America's relationship with Turkey,
an ally in the War in Iraq. Democratic support exists in the Senate,
but the resolution has lost momentum.
"It's time has passed," Dr. Denis Papazian, Director of the Armenian
Research Center at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, said. "We
are in the election cycle where this issue will be placed on the back
burner. The Turkish government made a big fuss about the resolution,
and the administration caved in. The spin doctors tried to make the
resolution seem anti-patriotic, and succeeded to some extent. There
is no use fighting a losing battle at this point. Better to declare
victory for its passage through the Foreign Relations Committee than
to take it back on the floor during this administration and having
the Armenians look unpatriotic."
Eminian, once she agreed to tell her story, revealed an intense
patriotism.
"Don't forget the American navy is the best in the world," she said.
"I'm not lying what they did to me."
Perouz Kalousdian, 98, also traveled to D.C. to support the resolution,
but quickly slips back into apathy.
"They can feel sorry, that's all. What can they do,"
Kalousdian said. "We're in America. We're saved. But I never forget."
According to Papazian, forgetting exonerates the genocide's
perpetrators.
"The last stage of genocide is denial," Papazian said. "You counter
opponents of Armenian genocide recognition by presenting the truth,
evidence, reason and perseverance. It is a fight of memory against
forgetting."
The fight isn't over and the resolution has a better chance if the
next administration is Democratic - both Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama favor it. But Jenny Akopyan, the Armenian Home assistant director
who accompanied the survivors to Washington, isn't holding her breath.
"If they ask us to bring residents [again] we will do our best,"
Akopyan said. "But time passes by and they're not getting younger."
The April 27 event in Times Square is free and open to the public.
For more information call Linda Millman Guller at (203) 454-9800.