ARMENIANS OF COLORADO GATHER IN DENVER FOR COMMEMORATION
Armenian Weekly
Thu, Apr 29 2010
DENVER, Colo.-Celebrated Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos spoke
about the Armenian Genocide in his "Reparations: Beyond Recognition"
speech, as part of the Armenian Genocide remembrance events organized
by Armenians of Colorado (AOC), Inc. Geragos spoke to an engaged
gathering at the Waring Theatre of Arapahoe Community College. He
was one of the lead lawyers in a pair of groundbreaking federal
class action lawsuits against New York Life Insurance and AXA for
insurance policies issued in the early 20th century during the time
of the Armenian Genocide. These two cases settled for over $37.5
million in 2004 and 2005.
Community activists with Geragos "The statistical data about the
case that Mr. Geragos shared was amazingly powerful confirmation of
the genocidal process of the Armenian people and the crowd really
appreciated his lecture in Denver" said Kim Christianian, president
of AOC. The lecture was sponsored by Armenians of Colorado Inc. with
support from Sigma Phi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor
Society, Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action, and
Facing History and Ourselves.
On Fri., April 23, the Colorado General Assembly unanimously passed
the 9th annual Armenian Genocide Resolution designating April 24 as
Colorado Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. The resolution
was sponsored by long-time supporter State Senator Lois Tochtrop and
State Representative Su Ryden. "Unlike previous years, there were
no reservations given by the legislators in passing the resolution,"
said Ken Allikian, the chair of the Armenian Genocide Commemoration
Committee (GCC) that coordinates the resolution every year, and
secures gubernatorial and mayoral proclamations.
Armenians of Colorado (AOC) organized the annual commemoration
ceremony the following day at the Armenian Garden, located on the
State Capitol grounds, where there is a memorial headstone dedicated
to the 1.5 million Armenians killed during the first genocide of the
20th century. Over 100 people gathered for the ceremony. The speakers
included State Senator Lois Tochtrop; Kim Christianian; Ken Allikian;
and Simon Maghakyan, secretary of AOC and former co-chair of the GCC.
Rosemary Rodriguez, the state director for Senator Michael Bennet,
read a letter from the Senator.
Below is the text of the 2010 Colorado state resolution "concerning
remembrance of the Armenian Genocide on April 24, 2010, and,
in connection therewith, designating every April 24 hereafter as
‘Colorado Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.’"
*** Sixty-Seventh General Assembly State of Colorado, Senate Joint
Resolution WHEREAS, This year marks the 95th anniversary of the first
genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide, when 1.5 million
men, women, and children of Armenian descent were victims of a brutal
genocide perpetrated by the Turkish Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923
and, as a result, there are fewer than 75,000 indigenous Armenians
living within the borders of modern Turkey; and WHEREAS, The former
United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau,
Sr., stated, "Whatever crimes the most perverted instincts of the
human mind can devise, and whatever refinements of persecutions
and injustice the most debased imagination can conceive, became the
daily misfortunes of this devoted people."; and WHEREAS, The killing
of the Armenian people was followed by the systematic destruction of
churches, schools, libraries, treasures of art, and cultural monuments
that continues to this day in an attempt to eliminate all traces of
a noble civilization with a history of more than 3,000 years; and
WHEREAS, The New York Times recently reported a newly exposed official
Ottoman document revealing that 972,000 Armenians disappeared from
population records within one year; and WHEREAS, Despite overwhelming
evidence, modern Turkey continues to deny and distort the facts of the
genocide, honor the perpetrators of that crime against humanity as
national heroes, and persecute its citizens who acknowledge or even
allude to the Armenian Genocide; and WHEREAS, Each April, Armenians
throughout the world honor their martyrs, and all the world’s people
should commemorate the Armenian Genocide and condemn any attempt
to deny its historical truth or mischaracterize it as anything less
than genocide, a term coined by Raphael Lemkin in 1944 referencing
the Armenian extermination as a seminal example of genocide; and
WHEREAS, We must all fight against current injustices, such as the
ongoing first genocide of the 21st century in Darfur that is being
denied by the Turkish government, an ally of the Sudanese regime,
which demonstrates how the cycle of genocide continues; and WHEREAS,
We commend Armenians of Colorado, Inc., for organizing the April
2010 genocide commemoration events, which include a keynote speech
by attorney Mark Geragos entitled "Reparations: Beyond Recognition",
held April 17th at Arapahoe Community College; and WHEREAS, We commend
the growing number of Turkish citizens, including academics, writers,
and journalists, who challenge their government’s official account of
history amid threats of prosecution and imprisonment under article 301
of the Turkish penal code, which forbids denigration of the Turkish
nation and the Turkish government; now, therefore, Be It Resolved
by the Senate of the Sixty-seventh General Assembly of the State
of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein: (1)
That this legislative body pause in its deliberations to commemorate
the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, to be recognized at
a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at the
Armenian Genocide memorial plaque in the Armenian Garden, located in
the northeast quadrant on the State Capitol grounds; and (2) That we,
the members of the General Assembly, hereby acknowledge April 24, 2010,
and April 24 of each year hereafter, as "Colorado Day of Remembrance
of the Armenian Genocide".
Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be
sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States;
the members of the Colorado Congressional Delegation; the members
of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues; the Honorable Bill
Ritter, Jr., Governor of Colorado; the Armenian Assembly of America
in Washington, D.C.; the Armenian National Committee in Washington,
D.C.; and the Armenian and Turkish Embassies in Washington, D.C.
Armenians of Colorado, Inc. was established in June 1982. It is a 501©
(3) non-profit, cultural organization charged with a purpose to create
a cohesive Armenian community and to further the understanding of
Armenian history, culture, and heritage. AOC actively supports issues
and concerns of the Armenian American community here in Colorado
as well as those identified within the Armenian Diaspora throughout
the world. For more information about Armenians of Colorado, visit