95TH ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE SET FOR NEXT SATURDAY
Lowell Sun
April 11, 2010 Sunday
Massachusetts
LOWELL — Area Armenians will mark the 95th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide with a procession and flag-raising ceremony downtown on
Saturday, April 24.
The event is being organized by the Merrimack Valley Chapter, Armenian
National Committee, and will begin with a procession from John and
Merrimack streets to City Hall, where the mayor and other city and
state dignitaries will speak.
A city proclamation has been drafted declaring the week of April
18-24 as Armenian Genocide Week in Lowell.
The featured speaker will be Dro Kanayan, of North Andover, grandson
of an Armenian Revolutionary General by the same name and a catalyst
in promoting genocide education in high schools throughout Merrimack
Valley.
Members of the Armenian Youth Federation and Armenian Christian Youth
Organization of America will join together in raising the Armenian
flag in commemoration of the 1.5 million lives lost to the Ottoman
Turks during 1915-1923.
"The Armenian Genocide was a crime against all humanity," Aram
Jeknavorian, ANC chairman, said in a prepared statement.
"We gather in spirit and solitude to remember those martyrs who
perished and those who survived to make America and Lowell a better
ethnic community," he said.
Those wishing to join the march are asked to gather at 9:30 at the
corner of Merrimack and John Streets in downtown Lowell.
A reception will follow inside City Hall.