AZG Armenian Daily #064, 12/04/2005
Armenian Genocide
‘MY GRANDPARENTS FAILED TO LIVE IN THIS LAND; I WILL DO THAT FOR THEM’
There are 53.000 candles in memory of The Armenian Genocide victims on
website. The number of lit candles increases by
2000 daily. This indicated to the number of people who do not forget and
demands Turkey to acknowledge before the world the crime it committed.
People put candles from everywhere: USA, Canada, Russia, Turkey, Japan,
Brazil, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Australia, Argentina,
Honk Kong, Bolivia, Slovakia. Hayk Asatrian, author of the program,
highlighted such geography: “This means that the information on the Armenian
Genocide spreads all over”. Most of the visitors of the site are from the
US, Armenia is on the second place and then the EU states come.
Hayk Asatrian classifies people lighting candles in several groups. There
are most of all letters of sympathetic character and promises never to
forget what we have lived through. Letters of demanding character and
letters of overseas Armenians to their governments to recognize the Genocide
also occupy a considerable place. “Messages of Genocide survivors are of
special interest. It’s clear that they do note type messages themselves but
dictate to their grandchildren, but it is important that others read them to
remember once again that atrocity”, Hayk says. According to survey, 37
percent of visitors simply puts candles and leaves the site, 15 percent goes
through the pages for 15 minutes reading the messages and 5 percent studies
the site for half an hour. Hayk thinks that figures speak well for the
website.
The program could not but stir our foes’ fury. They often send anti-Armenian
messages and try to damage the website. Hayk Asatrian successfully repulses
“attacks” for the time being. He foresees more attacks as April the 24th
approaches and gets ready. “I collect the whole information of the site once
during each 2 hours. So, I can renew the site any time”, he says.
At first, Hayk was wiping out all swearwords by Turks and Azeris but seeing
its inefficiency he programmed the system to change the oaths into “I am
sorry”. There are now 500 “regretful” candles on the website. Every message
from Azerbaijan comes to the program director first and it is posted on the
site if found acceptable. Hayk says that there are problems with the Turks
in Iran as well but he is unwilling to limit their access as there are many
Armenians in Iran too. He also removes all curses addressed to the Turks.
Hayk plans to write all the information of the website on a CD and send a
copy to embassies in Yerevan.
There are messages that stand out among all others. Such is Lusine
Meghrian’s: “I will take our lands home by the path of my father”, or Marine
Temirian’s: “My grandparents failed to live in this land; I will do that for
them”. “Fight Forever”, reads a precept on one of the pages by our Artsakh
freedom fighters, Bekor, Dushman, Ognevoy Hrach, Abo Alaverdian, Petros
Khevonsian, Vartan Baghshian and other heroes.
By Tamar Minasian