STORMING THE STREETS
By Carl Kozlowski
Pasadena Weekly, CA
April 27 2006
Hanging red, blue and orange Armenian flags throughout Glendale and
LA, thousands of Armenian Americans took to the streets Monday for
an annual demonstration memorializing the 1915 genocide of more than
1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turk government.
Goals of the protesters were twofold: To draw an admission of guilt
and the offer of reparations from the Turkish government, and to
inspire Congress to officially recognize the genocide and pressure
Turkey into doing so as well.
Whether packing the gymnasium of Glendale High School for a
commemoration assembly produced by the school’s 400-member Armenian
Club or taking part in the 2,500-person march to the Turkish Consulate
at 6300 Wilshire Blvd., the day’s events may have remained on a
smaller scale than the city’s recent immigration protests, but were
intensified by the same type of righteous energy.
“Basically, the purpose of this type of activity is to keep the public
aware of what happened in 1915, what’s the current situation, and what
needs to be done,” said Vahe Bozoyan, a math teacher at Glendale High
and sponsor of the Armenian Club.
As for Turkey, “The only way the continuing intransigence on the
part of the Turkish government will change is when we withdraw US
military aid to the government of Turkey,” said Bill Paparian, an
Armenian American and former mayor of Pasadena who is running for
Congress as a member of the Green Party.
“We must begin a program of divestment similar to what happened in
the government of South Africa in order to shun their government into
ending apartheid.”