Daily Sundial, CA
California State Univ. Northridge
April 22 2006
Armenian community gathers to commemorate genocide
Sandy Archila
Issue date: 4/24/06 Section: News
The 1915 Armenian genocide was commemorated by more than 200
Armenian-American students, parents, CSUN faculty and community
members as they gathered for a candlelight vigil April 20 on the
Matador Bookstore Lawn.
The Armenian Student Association held its annual candlelight vigil to
commemorate the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were killed as
result of the genocide.
“(The vigil is about) remembering and commemorating all those 1.5
million souls that were massacred, and also as a way of saying that
the youth generation hasn’t forgotten about our ancestors,” said
Christina Malyan, CSUN alumni and current president of Alpha Omega
Alpha Sorority.
The event included several speeches, student performances, and a
video highlighting the history and struggles of the Armenian
community since the genocide.
Many people who attended the event wore black clothing – a
traditional sign of mourning.
“We’re fighting to preserve our culture,” said Marina Terteryan, vice
president of the ASA.
Terteryan said Armenians are constantly fighting to validate their
history.
“All we have is our culture, the minute we let go of that ? we have
nothing,” she said.
Ani Asatryan, president of the ASA, said the event was held to build
a greater social, cultural and political awareness of the Armenian
genocide at CSUN.
“Our goal is to educate the diverse community of students on campus,”
Asatryan said. “A majority of students interviewed by the ASA on
campus didn’t know about the Armenian genocide.”
She said the information about the Armenian genocide should be taught
at CSUN, adding that there is a lack of recognition and classes
available about Armenian history.
“This is an educational institution and it’s not right to omit parts
of history that factually happened for social and political reasons,”
Asatryan said.
She said the Armenian genocide is just as important for all students
to know as any other subject in history.
During her speech, Asatryan said people need to know what happened to
Armenians 91 years ago, because they should not be ignored or
forgotten.
Students who attended the vigil expressed why the commemoration of
the genocide was important to them and to the community.
“We like to educate the non-Armenians about the Armenian genocide and
what happened because it happened to the Armenians, it happened in
Africa, it happened to the Bosnians, to the Jewish people, and one
day it might happen to other races, and we’d like everybody to be
aware of it, and to fight for recognition of the genocide because
once there is worldwide acceptance of all these genocides, then other
governments would be fearful of committing another genocide because
they would be held accountable for it,” said Armen Oganesian,
president of the Alpha Epsilon Omega fraternity.
Allen Minas, junior political science major, said the vigil was about
honoring those Armenians who suffered and died during the genocide,
adding that the vigil was also aimed at uniting the Armenian
community.
“It’s about Armenians uniting and recognizing our heritage for what
it is,” Minas said.
Organizers and speakers at the event said the “Young Turk” government
of the Ottoman Empire carried out the genocide, adding that Turkey
has not recognized or admitted to any responsibility for the
genocide.
United States Congressmember Adam Schiff, a Democrat whose district
runs from Burbank to Pasadena and Monterey Park, and other members of
the House of Representatives proposed the Armenian Genocide
Legislation (Resolution 195) that urges Turkey to acknowledge the
role of the Ottoman Empire in the 1915 Armenian genocide.
The House International Relations Committee passed the resolution;
however, the resolution has not been enacted by the House.
“There is no hiding the fact that one and a half million Armenians
where deliberately murdered at the beginning of the 20th century, and
it is high time that we as a nation recognized these heinous crimes
for what they were: a genocide. We need to acknowledge these horrible
atrocities of the past in order to progress towards a brighter
future,” Schiff said through his spokesperson Sean Oblack.
Malyan said the resolution allows for more recognition of the
Armenian genocide.
“It’s a very crucial moment in our time, in our history because
finally a non-Armenian in Congress and our larger government body is
actually accepting it, and it’s one step closer to voicing our
opinion at Washington D.C.,” Malyan said.
Oganesian expressed similar sentiments.
“The importance of getting this issue recognized is that it would
force Turkey to recognize what they did. America is a major political
player around the world. If America accepts this ? we’re one step
closer to having Turkey accept it ? which is our ultimate goal,”
Oganesian said.
The Alpha Epsilon Omega fraternity is also trying to increase
recognition of the Armenian genocide and crimes against humanity
through the “Never Again” campaign that launched last year.
“We know that the United States has such tremendous power that it can
actually influence the world, so if the U.S. does end up accepting
the genocide then we might actually see a change from other
countries, and that will be (a) step forward for everybody,” Malyan
said.