Sherman Oaks Sun, CA
May 2 2008

Community gathers to remember Armenian Genocide at Encino service

BY TIFFANY CARTER

Hundreds of locals packed Encino’s Holy Martyrs Armenian Elementary
and Ferrahian School’s gymnasium on April 20, in one of many
commemorations held throughout the San Fernando Valley to mark the
93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The genocide is also known as the Armenian Holocaust, in which nearly
two million Armenians were systematically massacred and driven out of
Turkey, during and immediately after World War I. Under the Muslim
Turks’ rule, Armenians living within the Ottoman Empire carried out a
policy to eliminate the area’s Christian population. Armenians around
the world recognize this period every year on April 24.

At Holy Martyrs, young and old joined together to recall this dark
moment in their history, while making sure to look toward the future.

`We carry on their memory and celebrate their survival,’ said Mico
Melkonian, who attended the event, of those who lived during that
time. `We have to teach our kids the ugly side of humanity and how you
can rise from the ashes. That’s why this day is so important.’

While much of the event was conducted in Armenian, some shared their
messages for the future in English.

Speaker Harout Keosian, Esq. said that although Turkey still refuses
to acknowledge the displacement and deaths of its Christian citizens
between 1915 and 1918, `there must be consequences¦If this
continues to go unpunished, [future genocides] will be repeated, as
we’ve seen in Cambodia and Rwanda.’

This belief was echoed by others in attendance. Steve Dadeian is a
local member of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), an
advocacy group that promotes genocide awareness in America through
education and politics. As a member, Dadeian said, `Armenians want
justice and for America to pressure Turkish officials to acknowledge
this happened to us.’

While the program’s theme was somber, there were some lighter
contributions from the school’s arm dance and music groups.

Few survivors are alive today to give first-person accounts of what
they endured, but for their descendants, the stories will live on
through oral and written history.

City Councilmember Dennis Zine, who has been on the Los Angeles City
Council for seven years, said he is proud to be the `first of Middle
Eastern decent to hold this position in 200 years.’

`My parents came here from Beirut, Lebanon, so I am very sensitive to
the concern of the community, and I know how important it is for me to
show my support,’ Zine added.

Event organizer Vic Melkonian’s grandfather survived the Armenian
holocaust. He said he remembers his grandfather telling him how the
Armenian women, even under such horrific persecution, `would bake
bread and make crosses in the dough to represent the sign of
Christianity.’

Melkonian’s greatest hope is that the younger generations `don’t
forget.’