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Banner On Treasure Island Commemorates The Armenian Genocide

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  • Banner On Treasure Island Commemorates The Armenian Genocide

    BANNER ON TREASURE ISLAND COMMEMORATES THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    April 6, 2015

    TREASURE ISLAND, Calif. (ABC7News) --Drivers taking the Bay Bridge
    to San Francisco will get some history with their commute in the form
    of a sign for the month of April.

    Armenians around the world are remembering the genocide against them on
    its 100th anniversary. This was the first genocide of the 20th century.

    They put up signs, memorials, even one on Yerba Buena Island. A sign
    like this hasn't been seen in this area until now.

    "And it will be on Muni trains and BARTs and on the 101 and off the
    Bay Bridge. You'll be seeing in the next week," Armenian-American
    Kim Bardakian said.

    Bardakian is one of 30,000 local members of the Armenian community,
    many of whom pitched in to pay the Treasure Island Development
    Authority $10,500 for the prime ad space, one that is supposed to
    be non-political.

    But is it?

    "We did not evaluate it to be political, but more of a memorial of
    historic events," Treasure Island Development Authority spokesperson
    Robert Beck said.

    The Armenian Genocide began 100 years ago this month. 1.3 million
    Armenian Christians died at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish
    government.

    "They were killed in the deserts and by starvation and by gruesome
    acts of violence," Bardakian said.

    Even today, however, the Turkish government denies that the genocide
    ever happened, which does bring in the possible political ramification
    and begs a question about free speech.

    What is to stop another more potentially controversial group from
    asking for the same space as well or for causing demonstrations?

    "We haven't had a problem in the past with messages of a controversial
    nature being requested or permitted. And we don't see that this opens
    up a door for that, either," Beck said.

    "It's about genocide in general. Hitler is often referred to with
    a famous quote that he said, 'Who today remembers the Armenians,'"
    Bardakian said.

    This month on the Bay Bridge, we all will.

    http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/65075



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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