CENTRAL VALLEY ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO BREAK GROUND ON GENOCIDE MONUMENT
Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
Contact: Berj Apkarian, Chair
Email [email protected]
Cell: 559-696-0190
Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Email: [email protected]
Office: 559-278-2669 or cell 559-917-1382
Fresno - On Sunday, November 2, the Armenian Community of the San
Joaquin Valley will break ground on a monument dedicated to the 100th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The event will begin at 2:30
p.m. and take place at the Fresno State Maple Mall, located south of
the Satellite Student Union. Free parking will be available in Lots
P15, P16 and Lots P5, P6. The groundbreaking ceremony is open to the
public and all are welcome.
Built from béton brut (architectural concrete) and tufa stones, the
monument will embody symbols of cultural meaning to the Armenian
people. Its principal components will be arranged in a circular
pattern and angled inwards, reminiscent of the Tzitzernagapert
Armenian Martyrs Monument in Armenia. The nine pillars that will
comprise the body of the structure represent the six provinces of
historic Armenia, Cilicia, the Diaspora, and the Republic of
Armenia. An incomplete halo will be set above the columns, signifying
both the fracture left by the Genocide and the unity of the Armenian
people.
Sunday's ceremony will mark construction of the memorial, which will
be christened on April 24th, 2015.
As many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the period
1915'1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government. On April
24th 1915, the Young Turk regime arrested and eventually executed
hundreds of Armenian religious, academic, and political leaders'it was
the first step in its intent to exterminate an entire people. Many
succumbed to starvation and exhaustion during state-mandated
deportations or `death marches' that left Western Armenia devoid of
its native inhabitants even to this day. Others were murdered
outright, often in ways that defy all sense of humanity. According to
historians, legal experts, and more than 20 nations throughout the
world, the planned and systematic nature of these atrocities clearly
constitute a genocide as defined by the United Nations' Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee'Fresno is an organization
made-up of representatives from religious, educational, social, and
political organizations of the Central Valley. The group's goals are
to commemorate the 1.5 million martyrs who perished at the hands of
the Ottoman Turkish Government; to educate others about the Armenian
Genocide and historical injustice; and to inspire people to overcome
adversity through the story of the survivors' of the Armenian
Genocide. In addition to the monument, the AGCC'Fresno is organizing
and promoting numerous events in the coming year. For more
information, visit the AGCC'Fresno website at www.agcfresno.org and on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/agcfresno.
From: Baghdasarian
Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
Contact: Berj Apkarian, Chair
Email [email protected]
Cell: 559-696-0190
Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Email: [email protected]
Office: 559-278-2669 or cell 559-917-1382
Fresno - On Sunday, November 2, the Armenian Community of the San
Joaquin Valley will break ground on a monument dedicated to the 100th
Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The event will begin at 2:30
p.m. and take place at the Fresno State Maple Mall, located south of
the Satellite Student Union. Free parking will be available in Lots
P15, P16 and Lots P5, P6. The groundbreaking ceremony is open to the
public and all are welcome.
Built from béton brut (architectural concrete) and tufa stones, the
monument will embody symbols of cultural meaning to the Armenian
people. Its principal components will be arranged in a circular
pattern and angled inwards, reminiscent of the Tzitzernagapert
Armenian Martyrs Monument in Armenia. The nine pillars that will
comprise the body of the structure represent the six provinces of
historic Armenia, Cilicia, the Diaspora, and the Republic of
Armenia. An incomplete halo will be set above the columns, signifying
both the fracture left by the Genocide and the unity of the Armenian
people.
Sunday's ceremony will mark construction of the memorial, which will
be christened on April 24th, 2015.
As many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the period
1915'1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government. On April
24th 1915, the Young Turk regime arrested and eventually executed
hundreds of Armenian religious, academic, and political leaders'it was
the first step in its intent to exterminate an entire people. Many
succumbed to starvation and exhaustion during state-mandated
deportations or `death marches' that left Western Armenia devoid of
its native inhabitants even to this day. Others were murdered
outright, often in ways that defy all sense of humanity. According to
historians, legal experts, and more than 20 nations throughout the
world, the planned and systematic nature of these atrocities clearly
constitute a genocide as defined by the United Nations' Convention on
the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee'Fresno is an organization
made-up of representatives from religious, educational, social, and
political organizations of the Central Valley. The group's goals are
to commemorate the 1.5 million martyrs who perished at the hands of
the Ottoman Turkish Government; to educate others about the Armenian
Genocide and historical injustice; and to inspire people to overcome
adversity through the story of the survivors' of the Armenian
Genocide. In addition to the monument, the AGCC'Fresno is organizing
and promoting numerous events in the coming year. For more
information, visit the AGCC'Fresno website at www.agcfresno.org and on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/agcfresno.
From: Baghdasarian