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HUNDREDS GATHER IN ADVANCE OF 97TH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY
ARMENPRESS
APRIL 16, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS:Hundreds of people on Sunday commemorated
the 97th anniversary of the Armenian genocide through art, dance and
music outside St. Mary's Apostolic Church, reports Armenpress citing
glendale News-Press. Verginie Touloumian, 19, said the event - hosted
by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation - was one of
the first in April to "pump up" the youth as the community prepares its
upcoming remembrances and rallies surrounding the April 24 anniversary.
"Even though we've mourned for 97 years, now it's more of a fight to
get justice for all of them," Touloumian said. "We have survived and
we're going to live on and we're going to get stronger and justice
is going to be served to us one day."
April 24 marks the 97th anniversary of the genocide that lasted from
1915 to 1923 and saw the death of more than 1.5 million Armenians
killed by Ottoman Turks. The Turkish government refuses to recognize
the massacre as genocide.
Shoghak Kazandjian, 20, said that the group would join in upcoming
candlelight vigils, a protest, and a bicycle ride in the San Fernando
Valley called "Cycles of Denial."
But Sunday's performances were for "freedom of expression," she said.
"It's more than just commemoration, it's a celebration of our culture,
to show that we survived all these years," Kazandjian said.
Guitarist Raffi Semerdjian, who performed Sunday with the folk-rock
band Palm of Granite, grew up in Glendale as a member of the Armenian
Youth Federation, which he joined at age 9.
The singer and songwriter has spent months at a time in Armenia,
sometimes with other Glendale members of the federation, working
at youth camps during the summer. He said he has worked many of his
experiences into his songwriting for the band.
"The arts and music collaborating with social consciousness is the best
way to get things done," Semerdjian said. "I don't trust politics. I
think music and art are the truth and purest form of waking people
up to change."
From: A. Papazian
ARMENPRESS
APRIL 16, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 16, ARMENPRESS:Hundreds of people on Sunday commemorated
the 97th anniversary of the Armenian genocide through art, dance and
music outside St. Mary's Apostolic Church, reports Armenpress citing
glendale News-Press. Verginie Touloumian, 19, said the event - hosted
by the Glendale chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation - was one of
the first in April to "pump up" the youth as the community prepares its
upcoming remembrances and rallies surrounding the April 24 anniversary.
"Even though we've mourned for 97 years, now it's more of a fight to
get justice for all of them," Touloumian said. "We have survived and
we're going to live on and we're going to get stronger and justice
is going to be served to us one day."
April 24 marks the 97th anniversary of the genocide that lasted from
1915 to 1923 and saw the death of more than 1.5 million Armenians
killed by Ottoman Turks. The Turkish government refuses to recognize
the massacre as genocide.
Shoghak Kazandjian, 20, said that the group would join in upcoming
candlelight vigils, a protest, and a bicycle ride in the San Fernando
Valley called "Cycles of Denial."
But Sunday's performances were for "freedom of expression," she said.
"It's more than just commemoration, it's a celebration of our culture,
to show that we survived all these years," Kazandjian said.
Guitarist Raffi Semerdjian, who performed Sunday with the folk-rock
band Palm of Granite, grew up in Glendale as a member of the Armenian
Youth Federation, which he joined at age 9.
The singer and songwriter has spent months at a time in Armenia,
sometimes with other Glendale members of the federation, working
at youth camps during the summer. He said he has worked many of his
experiences into his songwriting for the band.
"The arts and music collaborating with social consciousness is the best
way to get things done," Semerdjian said. "I don't trust politics. I
think music and art are the truth and purest form of waking people
up to change."
From: A. Papazian