The Post-Standard – Syracuse.com
April 24 2010
Armenians in Syracuse and around the world honor those killed almost
100 years ago
By Lyndra Vassar
April 24, 2010, 4:24PM
With candles in hand, more than 50 people gathered at St. Paul’s
Armenian Church on Saturday to honor an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians killed around the time of World War I.
The killings began in 1915 when members of the Turkish government
issued a removal of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Many Armenians
were deported, exiled from their homes without food or water, and
murdered.
Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide,
saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of
civil war and unrest.
Now almost 100 years later, people around the world hold services to
remember the victims. Services are typically held on April 24 ‘ the
day Ottoman authorities arrested more than 200 Armenian leaders.
`This is the most important thing that will bring our people together
today,’ said the Rev. Daniel Kardjian, of St. Paul’s.
Church members lit candles, prayed, and read scriptures during the
service. Others signed a letter asking the U.S. government to
recognize the killings as genocide.
`It’s the kind of thing that we should not tolerate as a civilization
anywhere,’ said Steve Kimatian, a member of St. Paul’s. `And when it
does occur in a situation like this we should recognize it for what it
is: an outright desire to eradicate another ethnicity.’
Many church members hope the services will also encourage people to
uphold peace in their communities.
`This day will keep our memories fresh and continue to ask the world
to not kill nations again and again,’ Kardjian said.
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