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Pasadena Star, CA
April 25 2013
Armenian Genocide victims remembered in ceremony at Pasadena City
HallCommunity leaders call on U.S. officials to recognize the Genocide
By Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer
PASADENA -- Under gray, mournful skies, local Armenian-Americans
joined city officials Wednesday in honoring the estimated 1.5 million
Armenians slain by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago and called on
U.S. government officials to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The 98th Anniversary Genocide Commemoration, which was held at City
Hall and hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America Pasadena
Chapter, was one of two solemn remembrance ceremonies held in the city
at the same time.
"As we get close to the 100th anniversary, many of our survivors have
passed away, leaving us with their dreadful stories of 1915," Shoghig
Yepremian, chair of the ANCA's Pasadena Chapter, told about 250
attendees. "Our history will never be forgotten and our fight for
justice will never stop. "
No U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has recognized the mass killings
from 1915 to 1923 as genocide and, despite repeated efforts, the U.S.
Congress has not passed a resolution on the matter since 1985.
Turkey, a close U.S. ally, has long denied there was a systematic
campaign to kill Armenians.
On Wednesday, to the dismay of Armenians around the world, President
Barack Obama referred to the massacres using the Armenian phrase "Meds
Yeghern," which means "the Great Calamity" and is used by Armenians
referring to the genocide.
"No, Mr. President - it was not a great calamity, it was genocide pure
and simple," William Paparian, chair of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide
Memorial Committee and former Pasadena mayor, said to applause. "No
other word can be used to describe what happened to the Armenian
people. This is not a semantic quibble because usage of the word
genocide mandates no statute of limitations and demands legal redress,
restitution and punishment for the perpetrators. "
The City Hall ceremony drew several Pasadena City Council members and
staff, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and former Assemblyman
Anthony Portantino.
Councilman Gene Masuda presented a proclamation commemorating the
Armenian Genocide on April 24, which the council issues each year, and
praised efforts by the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee -
one of two proposals in the works from two different groups - to build
a memorial in the city.
"It's our way of recognizing the Armenian Genocide," he said of the
proclamation, "which is a very important fact. "
Ankin Krekorian, 60, of Glendale and her friend Susan Majarian, 66, of
Pasadena were among those seated in the audience.
Krekorian said 35 members of her father's family, including her
grandparents and her cousins, were massacred on April 24, 1915 in what
is now Turkey. Her father had refused to eat soup, she said, since as
a 7-year-old boy he watched as Ottoman soldiers stormed their home
while his mother was making soup and decapitated her in front of his
eyes.
"This is a memorial day for us, to remember them and honor them and to
demand whatever was left there," she said.
Majarian said she is still haunted by the graphic stories told by her
grandmother about the tragedy.
Another remembrance ceremony, hosted by the Pasadena-based Armenian
Community Coalition, was held at Memorial Park Wednesday at the same
time.
In what his office called "a historic first," Rep. Adam Schiff,
D-Glendale, the lead sponsor of the American Genocide Resolution in
Congress, gave a speech in Armenian on the House floor Wednesday.
"I speak to you in their language to thank you for sharing your
history with me," Schiff said according to a translation of his
speech. "And I speak to you from this place, this House, because
Americans have always shown the courage to look horror in the eye and
speak its name, and I look forward to the day when its leaders will do
the same. "
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_23101240/armenian-genocide-victims-remembered-ceremony-at-pasadena-city
From: Baghdasarian
April 25 2013
Armenian Genocide victims remembered in ceremony at Pasadena City
HallCommunity leaders call on U.S. officials to recognize the Genocide
By Brenda Gazzar, Staff Writer
PASADENA -- Under gray, mournful skies, local Armenian-Americans
joined city officials Wednesday in honoring the estimated 1.5 million
Armenians slain by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago and called on
U.S. government officials to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide.
The 98th Anniversary Genocide Commemoration, which was held at City
Hall and hosted by the Armenian National Committee of America Pasadena
Chapter, was one of two solemn remembrance ceremonies held in the city
at the same time.
"As we get close to the 100th anniversary, many of our survivors have
passed away, leaving us with their dreadful stories of 1915," Shoghig
Yepremian, chair of the ANCA's Pasadena Chapter, told about 250
attendees. "Our history will never be forgotten and our fight for
justice will never stop. "
No U.S. president since Ronald Reagan has recognized the mass killings
from 1915 to 1923 as genocide and, despite repeated efforts, the U.S.
Congress has not passed a resolution on the matter since 1985.
Turkey, a close U.S. ally, has long denied there was a systematic
campaign to kill Armenians.
On Wednesday, to the dismay of Armenians around the world, President
Barack Obama referred to the massacres using the Armenian phrase "Meds
Yeghern," which means "the Great Calamity" and is used by Armenians
referring to the genocide.
"No, Mr. President - it was not a great calamity, it was genocide pure
and simple," William Paparian, chair of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide
Memorial Committee and former Pasadena mayor, said to applause. "No
other word can be used to describe what happened to the Armenian
people. This is not a semantic quibble because usage of the word
genocide mandates no statute of limitations and demands legal redress,
restitution and punishment for the perpetrators. "
The City Hall ceremony drew several Pasadena City Council members and
staff, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and former Assemblyman
Anthony Portantino.
Councilman Gene Masuda presented a proclamation commemorating the
Armenian Genocide on April 24, which the council issues each year, and
praised efforts by the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee -
one of two proposals in the works from two different groups - to build
a memorial in the city.
"It's our way of recognizing the Armenian Genocide," he said of the
proclamation, "which is a very important fact. "
Ankin Krekorian, 60, of Glendale and her friend Susan Majarian, 66, of
Pasadena were among those seated in the audience.
Krekorian said 35 members of her father's family, including her
grandparents and her cousins, were massacred on April 24, 1915 in what
is now Turkey. Her father had refused to eat soup, she said, since as
a 7-year-old boy he watched as Ottoman soldiers stormed their home
while his mother was making soup and decapitated her in front of his
eyes.
"This is a memorial day for us, to remember them and honor them and to
demand whatever was left there," she said.
Majarian said she is still haunted by the graphic stories told by her
grandmother about the tragedy.
Another remembrance ceremony, hosted by the Pasadena-based Armenian
Community Coalition, was held at Memorial Park Wednesday at the same
time.
In what his office called "a historic first," Rep. Adam Schiff,
D-Glendale, the lead sponsor of the American Genocide Resolution in
Congress, gave a speech in Armenian on the House floor Wednesday.
"I speak to you in their language to thank you for sharing your
history with me," Schiff said according to a translation of his
speech. "And I speak to you from this place, this House, because
Americans have always shown the courage to look horror in the eye and
speak its name, and I look forward to the day when its leaders will do
the same. "
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_23101240/armenian-genocide-victims-remembered-ceremony-at-pasadena-city
From: Baghdasarian