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    Categories: 2022

Bay Area Community Commemorates Armenian Genocide

MSN.com
NBC Bay Area
NBC Bay Area staff

People gathered at Mt. Davidson in San Francisco Sunday to mark the 107th anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide.

On Sunday, April 24, 1915, the first steps were taken that ultimately led to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Turkish government.

The Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is a public holiday in Armenia.

Every year on this day, Armenians around the world, including the Bay Area remembers those killed in the genocide.

Last year, President Joe Biden was the first U.S. president, to refer to what happened, as genocide.

On Sunday, Biden released the following statement, saying while reflecting on the genocide, it's important to remain vigilant of hate's influence.

"After enduring a genocide, the Armenian people were determined to rebuild their community and their culture, so often in new homes and new lands, including the United States. Armenian Americans are a vital part of the fabric of the United States."

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS