Times Square commemoration defies Mother Nature

Armenians, friends gather in New York on 95th anniversary

by Tom Vartabedian and Taleen Babayan

Published: Wednesday April 28, 2010

Sen. Menendez speaking on April 25. Knights of Vartan

New York - Rain failed to dampen the spirit of thousands who turned out Sunday, April 25, to commemorate the 95th anniversary of the Genocide.

Due to inclement conditions, the observance was moved from Times Square where it was originally set with a walk to St. Vartan Cathedral's Kavookjian Hall for a program that extended nearly three hours. Due to the overflow, attendees crowded the standing-room-only hall, spilled into the vestibule, stood on the marble stair case and filled the upstairs lobby.

The event, annually sponsored by the Ararat Lodge, Knights of Vartan, drew busloads of people from Greater Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Hartford, Providence and Philadelphia, as well as all the churches in New York/New Jersey area. A large contingent flew in from California to support the now famous event.

Especially prominent was the presence of a vast multitude of enthusiastic Armenian youths from various schools and colleges on the East Coast, several of whom held large placards demanding "Reparations and Restitution, not Reconciliation."

In attendance were two Armenian survivors of the Genocide. Seated in the front row with their red carnations were 100-year-old Perouz Kalousdian, originally from Palou, and 98-year-old Oronik Eminian, born in Izmir. Aghavni (Aggie) Ellian, executive director of the Flushing Home for the Armenian Aged, where both survivors are residents, accompanied them.

Perouz was 6 when she witnessed the genocide. She reports that the Turks took males over the age of 15 (including her uncles), tied them up 2-by-2, and threw them over the bridge into the Euphrates River.

In 1915, Oronik was playing ball when the Young Turkish officers came on horseback. One of the gendarmes struck her with a rifle, leaving a scar. They took her father's bloodied clothes from a bag and said, "Here's your father." When her mother cried out, they shot and killed her and a grandmother, throwing a 2-month-old brother against the wall and killing him, too.

The two survivors were repeatedly acknowledged from the podium by a litany of speakers as the afternoon wore on. Both handled the attention quite honorably.

Dr. Mary A. Papazian, provost and senior vice-president for Academic Affairs at Lehman College, City University of New York, presided over the event, introducing the Most Rev. Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of Armenian Apostolic Church of America (Eastern), who gave the invocation. "95 years ago, the Armenian nation went through 'the cruel valley of death.' We lost our mother soil which we had defended with our blood and cultivated with our sweat," he said. "The wounds of genocide never heal since a nation can never fully recover, but penance by the perpetrators and acts of reparation can diminish the pain," he concluded.

The Very Rev. Vazken Karayan, pastor of the Holy Cross Armenian Church in New Jersey, representing Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern), gave the benediction.

Officials and speakers

New York Governor David A. Paterson issued a proclamation for the Empire State declaring, "Whereas, it is filling that all New Yorkers recognize the hardships Armenians faced for the purpose of preventing future genocides from reoccurring and to appreciate America's role as a refuge for all oppressed people." Dr. Papazian also noted proclamations from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A number of political figures were on hand to offer remarks.

Among those addressing the crowd were: U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Anthony Wiener (D-N.Y.), New York State Commissioner of Human Rights Galen Kirkland, New York City Comptroller John Liu and New York City Councilman Peter Vallone.

Sen. Menendez, a co-sponsor of the Senate Resolution 316 affirming the Armenian Genocide, said that the American State Department must stop using euphemisms that gloss over the Armenian Genocide.

"To overlook human suffering is not who we are as a people or as a nation," said Sen. Menendez. "And if Sweden can recognize the Armenian Genocide, so can the United States."

"Those who forget the past are destined to repeat it," said Sen. Menendez. "And I will not rest in the U.S. Senate until our country remembers the Armenian Genocide once and for all."

Sen. Schumer, a loyal friend of the Armenian community for decades, said that the truth always prevails and as a Jewish-American he can relate to the Armenians in their efforts to have the genocide be recognized.

"Again I say to the Turkish government, give up your losing battle to deny the Armenian Holocaust," urged Schumer. "When you deny that evil has occurred, it paves the road for evil to occur again." He also stressed his interest in helping Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Rep. Pallone, Co-Chair of the Armenian Caucus, said he was speaking at the commemoration with a heavy heart because for years efforts have been made for the U.S. to recognize the Armenian Genocide without what may appear like much success.

"Yet," he said, "The tireless efforts of the Armenian community have achieved progress. We must note the recognition of many U.S. states as well as countries worldwide who accept that the genocide occurred." "In the past" he said, "those in Congress argued against the Armenian Genocide resolution by saying there was no genocide. This year they only argued that the resolution was not good for Armenian-Turkish relations.

"We are close to genocide recognition," said Congressman Pallone. "Please continue your efforts, continue writing letters, sending e-mails, and making phone calls, because if we can come up with a majority it is possible the resolution can pass this in this session of Congress."