Press & Sun-Bulletin, NY
April 24 2005
Armenians mark genocide
Binghamton contingent unveils monument honoring victims
BY SCOTT ROCKEFELLER
On Saturday, Vahe Garabedian recalled a bittersweet story. Many years
ago, his Armenian grandfather was working, stringing power lines,
when Turkish soldiers were prepared to take him into custody.
Photo: Standing behind the Armenian flag, Dr. Garabed Fattal of
Binghamton reads a list of countries that have officially recognized
the Armenian genocide.
SCOTT ROCKEFELLER/Press & Sun-Bulletin
Luckily, his grandfather’s boss was Turkish and convinced the
soldiers to keep moving. Had he not, Garabedian might have never been
born.
“This is a commemoration of a people who were nearly wiped out,” he
said Saturday while standing at the south entrance of the Washington
Street Bridge.
Garabedian, of Binghamton, was one of about 30 members of the local
Armenian community who gathered near the bridge to acknowledge
Armenian Memorial Day, which is today. Attendees remembered the 1.5
million Armenian Christians who were killed because of their faith
and nationality between 1915 and 1923, under Ottoman Empire rule.
Many Armenian families arrived in the Tier after escaping the
genocide.
During the remembrance, a monument near the bridge entrance was
unveiled. The black marble monument joined several trees that have
been planted out of respect to the Armenians who were killed.
Ghazaros Kerjilian of Vestal said the aim of remembrances throughout
the country and the world is to put pressure on the Turkish
government to accept responsibility for the slaughter, and for the
American government to officially recognize it as genocide.
“The important thing to remember is man’s inhumanity to man has no
bounds,” he said. “If we don’t do something about it, it will happen
again.”
Binghamton Mayor Richard A. Bucci and city councilmen Chris Papastrat
and Stephen P. Jensen attended Saturday’s event. Letters of support
from several state politicians were read during the ceremony.
Kerjilian said Saturday’s ceremony was not only an opportunity to
speak out against the genocide, but also to thank the City of
Binghamton.
“We came here, we settled,” he said. “And we’ve prospered.”