Genocide is signed into law.

[Sirakezz]

A day for Armenians

Remembrance of genocide is signed into law.

Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, April 22, 2005

They walked 215 miles in the sun, rain and wind to keep alive the memory of hundreds of thousands of Armenians killed by rulers of the Ottoman Turkish Empire between 1915 and 1923.

The 20-day journey for 15 Armenian Americans ended Thursday at the Capitol, where about 1,200 people gathered to thank the Legislature for supporting a bill to recognize the Armenian genocide on April 24 of each year.

"The younger generation still hasn't forgotten," said Vahan Aramian, 20, of Fresno, who took a three-week break from his construction job to join the March for Humanity from Fresno to Sacramento.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday signed SB 424 by Sen. Chuck Poochigian, R-Fresno, which cements the remembrance date into state law. Until now, the Legislature's recognition had been inconsistent.

"We must recognize crimes against humanity if we are to prevent them," Schwarzenegger said in his signing message. "Silence in the face of genocide effectively encourages those who would commit such atrocities in the future."

March organizers said 36 other state legislatures officially recognize the Armenian genocide. Armenian Americans hope the Bush administration will follow California, home to about half the nation's 900,000 Armenians. The Turkish government - 90 years after the genocide - doesn't accept responsibility for the deaths, Armenian Americans say.

Turkey doesn't recognize the deaths as genocide and says the toll - put at 1.5 million by Armenians - was closer to 300,000.

"Justice begins with truth, and truth is being hidden," said Poochigian, whose grandparents lost family members during the genocide. "We stand up to the deniers. We stand up for truth."

Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, said it's important not to forget history: "If we do not learn the lessons of the past, we are destined to repeat them."

On April 24, 1915, the Armenian leadership in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and other Armenian centers was executed. The surviving women, children and elderly were sent on death marches in the desert.

Participants in the March for Humanity educated people they met along the way. Some knew nothing of the genocide or Armenian culture. Others had a skewed understanding.

Most people were supportive. "We did get a lot of honks and thumbs-up," said marcher Chris Torossian, 19, of Fresno.

Hundreds of people joined the full-time marchers on parts of the route. They walked down country roads and slept in churches and schools.

At the Capitol on Thursday, a crowd cheered for the marchers. Supporters waved Armenian and American flags and held signs that said, "We will never forget" and "Remember the Armenian genocide of 1915 R.I.P. 1.5 million."

"This is a rally in support of all those who seek the truth and all those who understand that genocide cannot go by with impunity," said Steven Dadaian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America's Western region.

"We believe in our roots," said Avedis Krikorian, 43, of Fresno, who helped organize the trip.

Edited April 27, 2005 by Sirakezz

[Sirakezz]

It's time for Turkey to acknowledge Armenian genocide

Last Updated 5:28 am PDT Monday, April 25, 2005

- In the close-knit Armenian families of California's San Joaquin Valley, the stories of the first genocide of the 20th century are passed along to each generation at dinner tables and family gatherings. It's a ritual to ensure that this scar on world history won't be forgotten.

But this isn't just a history lesson about nameless victims of the Armenian genocide of 90 years ago. These stories are very personal. They trace how family members made their way to the Valley and the tragic circumstances of those who died in a calculated slaughter that meets every definition of genocide.

They talk about the great-grandmother whose children were murdered by the Turks and only escaped the genocide by being hidden in a basement by a friendly doctor and his wife. Or the 8-year-old girl whose brother was killed and whose only hope was to find a way to survive a Turkish death march through the desert.

They talk about how 1.5 million Armenians were killed during a massacre that the Turkish government still won't acknowledge.

The Turks' intransigent attitude about those events still angers many Armenian Americans. There's also disappointment because the United States government has buckled under threats from Turkey if our nation dares call this tragic chapter what it is - a genocide.

Because Turkey sits in a strategic spot in the world, the U.S. State Department, several presidents and Congress have refused to officially declare that a genocide occurred.

The U.S. doesn't want to offend the Turkish government. Never mind that our leaders are offending the survivors of those 1.5 million Armenians slaughtered during World War I. This wasn't the collateral damage of war. The Armenians were rounded up by the Turks and executed.

But the politics of this issue could change thanks to Turkey's desire to become part of the European Union. French President Jacques Chirac says Turkey must admit to the genocide as one of the conditions of entry into the EU.

That says a lot about Turkey standing on principle. Its leaders won't acknowledge the genocide because it's the right thing to do, but they may admit to it occurring if the Turks get an economic benefit. That tells you all you need to know about this ally of the United States.

Sunday is a special day for the Armenian community. It's the 90th anniversary of the genocide and a series of commemorative events have been held the past week across the Valley. One of those was a dinner by the Armenian Community School of Fresno (Calif.) that honored survivors of the genocide.

In a north Fresno banquet room last week, family members told moving stories about how their relatives were killed in the genocide and what it took for some of them to survive. They all know these family stories very well, and they will not shield their children from this awful history.

It's something that must be passed on.

The Armenian Community School honored genocide survivors from four families. All but one has since died, but Oghda Boghosian, at age 98, was there to receive her honor surrounded by family members. Also honored were Mourad and Elizabeth Bedrosian, Anna Boyajian Koligian and Dertad and Siroun Tookolan.

Oghda Boghosian was 8 when the Turks came for her family. Her oldest brother was killed and her mother thought her best chance at survival was to send Oghda on a march with her brother's wife.

Going on a march usually meant death to participants, either through the sheer torture of the procession without adequate food and water or being shot when Turkish soldiers tired of marching along with their victims. But it also could be a chance to flee.

Oghda was taken from the march by two Turkish boys and given to a Turkish family that wanted an Armenian girl to keep. She ultimately got away, and then finally arrived at Ellis Island in 1920. She married Nigholas Boghosian, and after several years they went into the farming business.

Oghda Boghosian's story is not unusual and this 98-year-old woman knows all too personally that there was a genocide that claimed family members and so many others. It only compounds the tragedy for this genocide to be officially ignored.

The Turkish government knows the truth. The American government knows the truth. It's time for both to speak it publicly.

[Sirakezz]

April 15, 2005

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER PROCLAIMS APRIL 24 "DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

_________________________

P R O C L A M A T I O N

by the

Governor of the State of California

Ninety years ago today, the Ottoman Turkish government waged a war of terror on Armenian culture through the brutal deportation, imprisonment and decimation of men, women and children of Armenian descent. By 1923, the Ottoman Empire had dissolved, but its monstrous attempt at ethnic cleansing left more than 1.5 million Armenians massacred and 500,000 survivors forcibly exiled from their ancestral homeland.

Today, the Republic of Armenia remains as the world's reminder of the Armenian Genocide and of the indestructible spirit of a people. It is a nation founded on the principles of freedom and democracy that we as Americans prize above all else. Our state's flourishing Armenian-American population - the largest outside of Armenia - has left its indelible stamp on our state's history, industry and culture.

Each year, the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide brings an opportunity for all people to scrutinize the cause and consequence of this grim massacre. To carve out a secure future free from intolerance and persecution, we must examine the past and heed history's lessons of forewarning - for the sake of future generations who inherit our civilization.

In 1969, then-Governor Ronald Reagan said, "Today, I humbly bow in memory of the Armenian martyrs, who died in the name of freedom." On the 90th anniversary of this great human tragedy, Californians continue to join with freedom-loving people around the world to honor the Armenian people as they continue to show the world the true meaning of hope, renewal and perseverance.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim April 24, 2005, as a "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide."

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have here unto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this the fourteenth day of April 2005.

/s/ Arnold Schwarzenegger

Governor of California

[Sirakezz]

Groups Seek to Ban Schwarzenegger Films in Turkey

A coalition of business and civic groups wants to ban Arnold Schwarzenegger films from being shown in Turkey after the governor officially declared April 24 a day of remembrance for the genocide of Armenians 90 years ago.

The Turks are protesting the use of the term "genocide" to describe the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians who perished from 1915 to 1923.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died, but attributes the deaths to civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman regime.

Armenian-Americans contend that the Turks, in a fervor of nationalism, systematically exterminated or deported hundreds of thousands of Armenians. When the killings began, 2.5 million Armenians were living within the borders of the Ottoman Empire.

The Ankara Chamber of Commerce is organizing some 300 associations, unions and businesses to sign a petition to prohibit the governor's films from being shown in the country.

A spokesperson for the American Turkish Association of Southern California said was the full story about the mass exterminations not being told. He went on to say that Turks feel betrayed by the Austrian-born Schwarzenegger.

Last week the governor signed legislation formally designating April 24 a "Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide." On that date in 1915, Turkish forces rounded up some 200 Armenian leaders in eastern Turkey and sent them to prison to be executed.

California is home to about one million Armenian-Americans.

[Sirakezz]

Es vochmekit chhetaqrqrec es teman te Angleren chek haskanum?

Mer hayer@ Fresnoyi vore gtnvum e californiayum votqov 20 or ekel en Californiayi mayraqaxak@ yev ayntex Qaxaqapet@ storagrel e hayeri caxaspanutyan hishataki or@?

Mite etqan anhetaqrqir e?

Kam charzhi vor govenq mer hayerin Californiayi.

[JazzVaz]

To che, vonc chhetakrkrec... SHAT merci info-i hamar!!!!

Halala Shvarcin

[Sirakezz]

To che, vonc chhetakrkrec... SHAT merci info-i hamar!!!!

Halala Shvarcin 

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eli mer hayeri shnorqner eli te che cher storagri.

[Bethesda]

Groups Seek to Ban Schwarzenegger Films in Turkey :lol: :lol:

Я вот не понимаю, неужели сами турки не понимают того, что они виновный в конкретных преступлениях?

[Sirakezz]

Groups Seek to Ban Schwarzenegger Films in Turkey :lol: :lol:

Я вот не понимаю, неужели сами турки не понимают того, что они виновный в конкретных преступлениях?

←

DA ONI PONIMAYUT I PREKRASNO PANIMAYUT. PROSTO KAK GAVARITSA SEBYA "QCEL EN DODERI BAXCHEN"