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Pasadena officials speak out against denial of Armenian Genocide aft

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  • Pasadena officials speak out against denial of Armenian Genocide aft

    Pasadena Star-News, CA
    Aug 31 2012


    Pasadena officials speak out against denial of Armenian Genocide after
    Turkish official's visit


    PASADENA - When Councilman Terry Tornek learned about the Holocaust as
    a boy, his mother gave him the novel "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh"
    based on events in Armenian during 1915.

    His mother wanted her 10-year-old son to understand that genocide
    wasn't something that only happened to Jews; it had already been
    perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks against the Armenian people, Tornek
    said.

    So when a Turkish consular official visited City Hall on Aug. 9 and
    took issue with the term genocide for a proposed memorial the Armenian
    community wants to erect in a city park, Tornek felt the move was
    "very strange" but not entirely surprising.

    "Apart from the Turkish government, there are very few people who
    subscribe to the notion there wasn't a genocide" against Armenians,
    Tornek said. "The whole concept of denial is not something I can wrap
    my arms around frankly."

    As many as 1.5 million Armenians were slain from 1915 through 1923 in
    what was then the Ottoman Empire.

    While the vast majority of historians assert the mass killings of
    Armenians that started in 1915 was the 20th century's first genocide,
    Turkey - a strong U.S. ally - has long denied there was a systematic
    campaign to kill Armenians.

    The nonprofit Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee last month
    called for design proposals for the architectural design of the
    memorial to be proposed in Memorial Park. Local Armenian-American
    leaders say the memorial, if approved, would be paid for with private
    funds.

    Councilman Gene Masuda said while it's a free county and Turkish
    officials can visit City Hall, using the word genocide for a proposed
    Armenian monument is "very appropriate" since the city has long issued
    a proclamation each year formally recognizing the Armenian genocide.

    Having an memorial to commemorate the genocide, he said, "is a
    longtime coming."

    "It would be very respectful, appropriate and it shows that Pasadena
    really supports the Armenian people," Masuda said.

    Tornek, however, said it's "not a foregone conclusion" that an
    Armenian Genocide Monument would be approved in Memorial Park since
    all proposed monuments have to adhere to a number of city guidelines.

    "I'm not sure what our policies are in terms of erecting monuments in
    a city park, particularly concerning events that occurred overseas and
    didn't involve Americans," he said.

    While Tornek said he's not objecting to it, "I just don't know how it
    fits in the context of our policy."

    In the past, some memorial proposals have evolved significantly over
    time during the approval process, he said.

    According to the city's monument policy, all proposals "should be to
    memorialize a person, place or event that is significant to Pasadena."

    Proposals are also evaluated on criteria including appropriateness,
    compatibility with the surrounding environment, impact on park use,
    aesthetics, maintenance and safety.

    Khatchik "Chris" Chahinian, chairman of the Armenian Community
    Coalition, said the genocide's survivors have worked hard to make the
    events known to the world, battling cover-ups, misinformation and
    denial.

    "As a community, we should stand together and join our Armenian
    brothers and sisters in an effort to memorialize these fallen
    ancestors and ensure this horrible act is not repeated," he said.

    http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_21445144/pasadena-officials-speak-out-against-denial-armenian-genocide


    From: Baghdasarian
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