NY ARMENIAN COMMUNITY COMMEMORATES MASS GENOCIDE
MEREDITH TRAINA
New York’s PIX11 / WPIX-TV
ocide,0,2785909.story
April 25 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX) – New York’s Armenian community is commemorating the
first genocide of the 20th century: the Armenian Genocide.
All the week, Armenians around the world are lighting candles in memory
of the estimated 1,500,000 Armenians slaughtered by the Ottoman Turks
between 1915 and 1923.
New York City’s St. Vartan’s Cathedral on Second Avenue — the largest
Armenian Church in America — welcomed hundreds of visitors Sunday
to hear local politicians speak on the historical tragedy, and the
apparent reluctance of the government to formally recognize it.
The mass extermination began on April 24, 1915, when the Ottoman
Turks rounded up and executed 300 Armenian leaders in Constantinople,
now Istanbul. Shortly thereafter, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were
murdered in the streets.
In the months afterward, the hate movement spread to Anatolia, or
present day Turkey. Deportations and death marches ensued, condemned
by representatives of the British, French, Russian, German and Austrian
governments stationed in Turkey.
Through the years, Turkish governments have denied that any genocide
took place.
"I come here always with a heavy heart… because we’ve been here for
so many years trying to make the United States government and congress
recognize the Armenian genocide," said New Jersey congressman Frank
Pallone, Jr. "Some say we haven’t had success, that it hasn’t happened
yet. Maybe now we reported the resolution out of the committee,
but it still hasn’t gone to the floor of the House of Representatives."
Though Pallone vented his frustrations on the issue, he also applauded
the community’s success: "I want to tell everyone that even though we
haven’t done that — and we will, and we won’t stop until it happens —
you have achieved so much success. There are so many states, so many
countries… that have recognized the Armenian genocide."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
