Armenian Genocide Memorial Day
April 25, 2006 - Post No. 64
While Armenians around the world normally commemorate the Armenian
genocide on April 24, it is the custom to celebrate a closing Badarak for the Armenian pilgrims
in Jerusalem on Easter Monday, April 24th this year, before they leave
to return to their home countries. For this reason, this year's
commemoration of the genocide takes place today, Easter Tuesday.
It seems best to let the Armenians speak for themselves on this
occasion, and what follows is the text of a document circulated among
those attending the memorial services this morning.
The genocide memorial services included a memorial Badarak, followed
by a procession to the nearby Armenian Cemetery for a ceremony at the
cenotaph, and ending with a brief reception in the main hall of the
seminary.
April 24, 2006
More than 90 years have elapsed since the ghastly events during the
years of 1914-1918. On April 24, 1915, Turkey lunched a massive
deportation drive of its Armenian population which developed into the
first genocide of the 20th century.
The Armenians were forcibly driven from the 3000 year-old homeland
into the southern deserts. On the way they were ambushed by heavily
armed gangs and peasants. They were indiscriminately murdered and
robbed, very few could reach their destination. One and a half million
deportees met their death under horrible conditions, two-thirds of them
were murdered in cold-blood, by axes and blunt objects, while a third
succumbed to the rigors of the death march.
In less than six months, the historical homeland of the Armenians in
Eastern Turkey became a ghost-land. The pre-meditated plan to depopulate
Armenia was accomplished brutally. The destruction of the three thousand
years of material culture meant the total razing of the land of its
people and history.
The world then condemned the genocide vehemently but no active
measures were taken to stop it. The only help which was to be extended
was on the humanitarian level. World-wide solidarity was extended to the
the few hundred thousand surviving children and widows. This made the
civilized world fee self-righteous. Luckily, diplomats, missionaries and
members of the international community who happened to be on the spot
recorded their testimonies, thus providing first-hand evidence for
posterity.
The survivors in their newly adopted countries reorganized their
lives and became culturally vibrant communities. The continuing silence
of the world and Turkey's attempts at denial triggered the decision of a
new generation of Armenians to demand from the world and from Turkey,
acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide.
The process of bringing these horrible events to the attention of
world public opinion has not been an easy task. Specially since last
year, the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, there is an ever
growing number of nations who are assuming their moral responsibilities
and according recognition of the genocide. Throughout this long period,
officially and unofficially Turkey has never expressed regret. On the
contrary, in its school
curriculum
it accuses the victims of the genocide to be the perpetrators of the the
atrocities.
Over the past few years, there is a growing number of Turkish
intellectuals who have supported a proposal that the Turkey officially
recognize the Armenian genocide. Unfortunately, the Turkish government
has put many writers and journalists on trial, the most celebrated being
the case of writer Orhan Pamuk.
On this memorial day when 8 million Armenians worldwide remember
their dead, we are hopeful that the international community will demand
from Turkey a final recognition of the Armenian Genocide, thus ushering
in a new chapter in the history of both nations.
The text, above is from a document distributed at the memorial
services commemoration the Armenian Genocide, on Tuesday, April 25, 2006.
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