Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933
PRESS RELEASE ~ April 3, 2007
Contact: Mikael Garabedian
Armenian Youth Federation to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide and
Remember Journalist Hrant Dink
WATERTOWN, MA – On April 21, 2007 hundreds of youth will gather at
Union Square in New York for a vigil/protest sponsored by the Armenian
Youth Federation (AYF) Eastern Region. The event will commemorate the
Armenian Genocide perpetrated at the hands of the Ottoman Empire’s
Young Turk government, where 1.5 million Armenians were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1923.
The event will also honor the memory of Hrant Dink, an Armenian
journalist in Turkey. Dink, the editor of the Turkish Armenian
newspaper, Agos, was put on trial three times in Turkey under section
301 of the Turkish Penal Code for, `Insulting Turkishness,’ because of
his articles dealing with the Armenian Genocide. On January 19th he
was brutally murdered outside of his office in Istanbul. Through the
event’s theme `1.5 Million +1,’ the organization considers him the
newest victim of the Turkish government’s continued genocide denial
and persecution of its Armenian minorities.
This event will draw youth and community members from cities all over
the east coast including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Providence,
and Detroit. The schedule, running from 12:00 pm to 12:00 am, will
consist of solemn protests, speakers on the life of Hrant Dink, and a
candle lit vigil in the evening.
`The main purpose of the event is not only to commemorate and remember
those that have perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish
government, but also to increase awareness of these historical events,
as the current Turkish government denies the historical and well
documented facts of the Armenian Genocide and prosecutes all those who
speak of it within Turkey as criminals,’ said Mikael Garabedian of the
Central Hai Tahd Council. `The current Turkish government also has an
illegal blockade on its border with Armenia designed to isolate
Armenia and attempt to choke Armenia economically.’
For more information, visit or contact Mikael Garabedian
at [email protected] or by phone at 610.724.5327.