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TROY NEEDS TO FULFILL PROMISE FOR MONUMENT TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Albany Times Union
Sept 13 2012
NY
TROY - It was a promise the Armenian community took to heart.
The commitment came from then-Mayor Harry Tutunjian, who last year
said a parcel in the new waterfront park "will be reserved" for a
memorial to the Armenian genocide.
But the city, it turns out, may not keep its word.
The new mayor is suggesting the granite monument might be more
appropriate in a less prominent part of the city - shocking Armenian
leaders who thought their place on the downtown waterfront was certain.
"All of a sudden the city is backing off from what it said it was going
to do for us," said Ralph Enokian, co-chair of the Knights of Vartan,
the Armenian service organization that's working to build the monument.
The group has been working on the project since 2005. Troy was always
where members wanted the memorial.
That's because Troy was a destination point for Armenian immigrants,
who early last century made the city home to the nation's second
Armenian church. Today, graves bearing Armenian names are common in its
older cemeteries. Troy is where the Armenian Heritage Monument belongs.
The Troy City Council authorized a memorial seven years ago without
mentioning a specific site. The Knights of Vartan hoped to put the
$15,000 monument in the downtown waterfront park, but the city was
planning an overhaul of the greenspace and it wasn't clear if the
memorial would fit the redesign.
The group waited, and waited, for confirmation. Then came the letter
last August from Tutunjian, whose father migrated to Troy from Armenia
in 1963. The mayor said the city would reserve a site to the north
of an existing Vietnam Memorial, within view of busy River Street.
The Armenian monument was a sure thing - or so it seemed.
"Everything was in place," Enokian said. "We did the fundraising. We
had the money."
But in July, Mayor Lou Rosamilia met with members of the Armenian
community to express concern. Would the community, he asked, be
willing to consider Frear Park instead?
Actually, Frear Park sounded lousy to the members, because it's far
less visible. But more worrisome was the mayor's mention that Turks
had voiced opposition to the memorial.
See, Turkey to this day maintains that the killing of 1.5 million
Armenians by the Ottoman Empire wasn't a genocide. The country's
government has suggested that the extermination during and after
World War I was simply a relocation - an assertion most historians
find laughable.
Did genocide deniers sway the city against the memorial?
Absolutely not, said Rosamilia, who tells me the city has made "no
final decision" about relocating the memorial and stresses there's
no organized opposition. The only criticism he heard, he said, came
in casual conversations.
"I know a couple of people who are Turkish, and they mentioned it to
me personally," Rosamilia said. "They don't believe it was a genocide."
But Rosamilia said he's worried only that the construction of an
Armenian memorial will force the city to allow many more waterfront
monuments.
"If we open it up to one ethnic group," he asked, "are we opening it
up to all ethnic groups?"
That probably is a valid concern. The park, after all, already contains
two war memorials. The day could come where there's no room to lay
down a picnic blanket.
But I think it's too late for a discussion about appropriateness of
the Armenian memorial. A promise to a civic group is a promise that
should be kept - even if it came from a prior administration.
Plus, a memorial to the Armenian genocide won't just be significant
to Armenians. It'll be important to all groups who've suffered at
the hands of an exterminating force, and a reminder of the need for
continued vigilance against ethnic cleansing.
Enokian, whose grandparents were killed in the genocide, said backers
of the memorial are growing impatient. After all, construction of
the monument was supposed to be done by August. The monument would
be four feet tall and five feet wide.
"What are we waiting for?" he asked. "We're very anxious to bring
this to closure."
Enokian mentioned that Armenian religious leaders gathered to
consecrate the memorial site last December, at an ceremony attended
by Tutunjian and Rosamilia. That event, he says, made the site
symbolically sacred to Armenians.
The community, he said, will fight any attempt to move the memorial.
"We're not going to throw in the towel," Enokian said. "It's too
important to all of us."
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Troy-needs-to-fulfill-promise-for-monument-to-3861006.php
From: Baghdasarian
Albany Times Union
Sept 13 2012
NY
TROY - It was a promise the Armenian community took to heart.
The commitment came from then-Mayor Harry Tutunjian, who last year
said a parcel in the new waterfront park "will be reserved" for a
memorial to the Armenian genocide.
But the city, it turns out, may not keep its word.
The new mayor is suggesting the granite monument might be more
appropriate in a less prominent part of the city - shocking Armenian
leaders who thought their place on the downtown waterfront was certain.
"All of a sudden the city is backing off from what it said it was going
to do for us," said Ralph Enokian, co-chair of the Knights of Vartan,
the Armenian service organization that's working to build the monument.
The group has been working on the project since 2005. Troy was always
where members wanted the memorial.
That's because Troy was a destination point for Armenian immigrants,
who early last century made the city home to the nation's second
Armenian church. Today, graves bearing Armenian names are common in its
older cemeteries. Troy is where the Armenian Heritage Monument belongs.
The Troy City Council authorized a memorial seven years ago without
mentioning a specific site. The Knights of Vartan hoped to put the
$15,000 monument in the downtown waterfront park, but the city was
planning an overhaul of the greenspace and it wasn't clear if the
memorial would fit the redesign.
The group waited, and waited, for confirmation. Then came the letter
last August from Tutunjian, whose father migrated to Troy from Armenia
in 1963. The mayor said the city would reserve a site to the north
of an existing Vietnam Memorial, within view of busy River Street.
The Armenian monument was a sure thing - or so it seemed.
"Everything was in place," Enokian said. "We did the fundraising. We
had the money."
But in July, Mayor Lou Rosamilia met with members of the Armenian
community to express concern. Would the community, he asked, be
willing to consider Frear Park instead?
Actually, Frear Park sounded lousy to the members, because it's far
less visible. But more worrisome was the mayor's mention that Turks
had voiced opposition to the memorial.
See, Turkey to this day maintains that the killing of 1.5 million
Armenians by the Ottoman Empire wasn't a genocide. The country's
government has suggested that the extermination during and after
World War I was simply a relocation - an assertion most historians
find laughable.
Did genocide deniers sway the city against the memorial?
Absolutely not, said Rosamilia, who tells me the city has made "no
final decision" about relocating the memorial and stresses there's
no organized opposition. The only criticism he heard, he said, came
in casual conversations.
"I know a couple of people who are Turkish, and they mentioned it to
me personally," Rosamilia said. "They don't believe it was a genocide."
But Rosamilia said he's worried only that the construction of an
Armenian memorial will force the city to allow many more waterfront
monuments.
"If we open it up to one ethnic group," he asked, "are we opening it
up to all ethnic groups?"
That probably is a valid concern. The park, after all, already contains
two war memorials. The day could come where there's no room to lay
down a picnic blanket.
But I think it's too late for a discussion about appropriateness of
the Armenian memorial. A promise to a civic group is a promise that
should be kept - even if it came from a prior administration.
Plus, a memorial to the Armenian genocide won't just be significant
to Armenians. It'll be important to all groups who've suffered at
the hands of an exterminating force, and a reminder of the need for
continued vigilance against ethnic cleansing.
Enokian, whose grandparents were killed in the genocide, said backers
of the memorial are growing impatient. After all, construction of
the monument was supposed to be done by August. The monument would
be four feet tall and five feet wide.
"What are we waiting for?" he asked. "We're very anxious to bring
this to closure."
Enokian mentioned that Armenian religious leaders gathered to
consecrate the memorial site last December, at an ceremony attended
by Tutunjian and Rosamilia. That event, he says, made the site
symbolically sacred to Armenians.
The community, he said, will fight any attempt to move the memorial.
"We're not going to throw in the towel," Enokian said. "It's too
important to all of us."
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Troy-needs-to-fulfill-promise-for-monument-to-3861006.php
From: Baghdasarian