LOCAL SCHOOL REMEMBERS 1.5 MILLION SLAIN
By Airan Scruby

Pasadena Star News
125
April 24 2009

PICO RIVERA – Children offered flowers and sang songs in remembrance
of what community leaders say is a genocide not recognized by the
U.S. government.

Pico Rivera’s Armenian Mesrobian School and its 220 students joined
with City Council members and members of the Armenian community to
remember the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915
to 1923 by the Ottoman Turks.

The killing began 94 years ago today.

"Armenian genocide should never be forgotten," Mayor Gracie Gallegos
said. "We will always remember, and we will always remember your
beautiful and effervescent culture."

More than 40 states and many countries including Uraguay, Cypress
and Canada have formally recognized what Armenians call "The Great
Calamity" as genocide, but delicate relations with Turkey have
prevented the United States from doing so.

During his campaign, President Obama promised to more formally
recognize what he identified as a genocide.

In Pico Rivera, attorney and Armenian activist Levon Kirakosian spoke
about the need to formally recognize the genocide, especially before
the last survivors, now in their 90s and older, are gone.

"For 94 years, Turkey has refused to recognize this darker chapter
in its Ottoman past," Kirakosian said. "You must recognize the fierce
urgency of now."

A tree had been newly planted at Rio Hondo Park and a plaque was
unveiled while the Armenian Mesrobian School’s students, from preschool
to high school, looked on.

Gallegos said a tree in remembrance of the Armenian Genocide had been
planted there several years ago, but it "disappeared" after the park
was renovated.

The city has hosted an annual remembrance of the genocide for several
years, Armenian Mesrobian School Principal Hilda Saliba said.

"Year after year, this community does not hesitate to remember the
Armenian genocide that killed 1.5 million."