CEREMONY TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS
By: Scott Whipple, Herald Staff

New Britain Herald, CT
April 20 2007

Saturday will be a day of remembrance for area Armenians.

State Rep. John C. Geragosian, D-25th District, and the Connecticut
Armenian Community will hold a ceremony in recognition of the 92nd
anniversary of the Turkish government’s genocide of the Armenian
population. Events will begin outside the state capitol with a
flag-raising ceremony at 10:30 a.m., followed by a commemoration
ceremony and Requiem Service in the House chambers at 11 a.m. to
honor martyrs and survivors.

Genocide is the organized killing of a people for the express purpose
of putting an end to their collective existence.

During the genocide, over 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
the Ottoman Empire between the years 1915 and 1923. Five hundred
thousand others were driven from their homes into exile, where they
were imprisoned or forced into death marches and massacred.

"As human beings we should never forget the atrocities that were
perpetuated upon the Armenian people," Geragosian said. "The suffering
of the Armenian people was one of the most horrific events of the
20th century and possibly in the history of our world.

With mass killings occurring in places like Darfur today, the lessons
of the Armenian genocide must not be lost on people. We’re hoping the
U.S. Congress will finally pass a resolution to formally recognize
this injustice on the Armenian people."

This year’s ceremony will be in honor of Hrant Dink, an Armenian and
Turkish editor and journalist. Dink was murdered earlier this year
by a Turkish nationalist because of his advocacy for the Turkish
government’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

The keynote speaker will be award-winning artist and filmmaker,
Apo Torosyan of Boston, whose film "Voices" will be shown after the
commemoration ceremony.

"We’re extremely honored to have such an acclaimed speaker at our
commemoration," Geragosian said. "I hope the public will turn out to
hear his powerful words about genocide."

The Armenian Genocide is commemorated on or near April 24. According
to the Armenian National Institute, on the night of April 24, 1915
the Turkish government placed under arrest more than 200 Armenian
community leaders in Constantinople; hundreds more were arrested and
were imprisoned in Anatolia. Most of them were executed.