ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SYMPOSIUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
By Hasmik Haroutiunian

Azg Daily
May 6 2010
Armenia

Holocaust Living History Workshop symposium under heading "From Racism
to Genocide: Towards a Hate-Free Campus" was held at the University
of California San Diego (UCSD). The importance of genocide prevention
and the dangers of denial were discussed at the symposium.

According to AAA, Hosted jointly by the UCSD International Affairs
Group and the Hillel Center, the event explored examples of racism
in the 20th century that led to mass murder and genocide. It marked
the first in a series of seminars held on campus to encourage greater
sensitivity and awareness among the student body on issues relating
to everyday cases of racism and genocide.

Moderated by Marina Triner, Program Coordinator for the UCSD Holocaust
Living Workshop, the symposium featured the Assembly’s Western Region
Director Yeghig Keshishian. Keshishian focused on the Armenian
Genocide, and examined discriminatory laws and regulations in the
Ottoman Empire that fostered intolerance and legitimized racially
motivated actions based on certain long-held stereotypes.

"The experience of the Armenian genocide is paramount to any
discussion of genocide, intolerance, and hatred. It is a tragic story,
because of its present denial by the modern Republic of Turkey, the
successor state of the Ottoman Empire responsible for the genocide,"
stated Triner. "Including the story of the Armenians in the present
discussion of racism on the UCSD campus was so important to me,
because the Ottoman Turks relied on the use of certain stereotypes to
fuel their genocidal campaign, and because denial is still occurring,
even in the U.S."