MONTH CALLS TO MIND VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE
Jackie Barber
The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA
April 11 2007
Voices recounting tragic tales and staggering death tolls projected
over a loudspeaker from Meyerhoff Park on Tuesday as speakers from
several human rights groups promoted the Armenian Student Association’s
Genocide Awareness Month, taking place all of April.
Speakers talked about five different conflicts: the Armenian Genocide,
the Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, the Rwandan Genocide, and the
conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, which the U.S. government
has called a genocide.
The Turkish government denies the deaths collectively called the
Armenian Genocide constitute a genocide because it maintains they
resulted from the effects of World War I and not an extermination of
the Armenians. Currently, the U.S. government does not officially
recognize the Armenian Genocide either, though a majority of the
international community acknowledges the situation as a genocide.
One of the event’s organizers, Babken DerGrigorian, said Tuesday’s
event was intended to educate people on multiple genocides.
"All genocides are connected through the cycle of genocide, which
begins with massacres, but ends with denial," DerGrigorian said.
He explained the group decided to designate April as Genocide Awareness
Month because April 24 is generally the designated Genocide Remembrance
Day for Armenians, Holocaust Remembrance Day is April 15th, and Darfur
is also commemorated in April.
"This is the first time we’re doing this, but we hope to do it every
year from now on," DerGrigorian said.
He explained the group decided to begin the month by reviewing all
genocides, then honing in on Armenia specifically.
"We kind of took an inverted pyramid approach (to the month’s events),
where we start with as many genocides as possible, then focus more
on Armenian Genocide as we approach the end of April," he said.
The month is sponsored by eight human rights groups. The next event,
focusing on America’s response to genocide, is to take place on
April 17.
Then, on April 23, events will specifically address the Armenian
Genocide, he said. The group will hold a rally in Bruin Plaza and
host speakers for a lecture in Ackerman Grand Ballroom.
"One of the most important speakers who will be coming is actually
a Turkish professor, Taner Akcam," DerGrigorian said. "He was a
professor in Turkey who spoke out against the Armenian Genocide,
and was prosecuted under the same code as Huran Dink."
Unlike Dink, however, Akcam survived this prosecution, and is now a
professor at the University of Michigan.
One of the ASA’s reasons for educating students about the Armenian
Genocide is to work toward gaining U.S. recognition of the genocide,
said Gabriyel Mamikonyan, ASA secretary and third-year economics
student.
Peter Cowe, a Near Eastern language and culture professor, pointed
out though the genocide is not fully recognized in the U.S., it is
widely recognized elsewhere.
"So many other countries, so many other states in the U.S. have
indeed accepted that the term genocide, albeit coined much later,
applies to the Armenian situation," Cowe said.
DerGrigorian said he believes the U.S. does not recognize it formally
in order to preserve relations with Turkey.
Mamikonyan expressed his belief in the importance of gaining
recognition.
"(The U.S.) stresses human rights and justice," he said. "By not
recognizing the Armenian Genocide they are not setting a good example
for the rest of the world."
Mamikonyan said the group is promoting House Resolution 106, and
encouraging others to support it by writing to their congressmen.
According to the U.S. Government Printing Office’s Web site, the
resolution requests that U.S. foreign policy acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide.
Cowe stressed the importance of genocide awareness for preventing
future tragedies, as well as providing closure for descendants of
Armenian Genocide victims.
"They feel they have been denied the justice that applies to their
forefathers. As a result this is a psychological wound which is open
to this whole community," he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
