Armenians demand recognition

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Azniv Derdzakyan in Op-Ed

Chronicle Reporter

Azniv Derdzakyan

April 24 1915: Enter the Young Turks, revolutionaries without boundaries and disregard for human lives- their goal, the extermination of an entire race. Armenian families with forgotten dreams of wealth and better lives, whose only future is to run to try and escape torture. The heads of men severed, the wombs of pregnant women mutilated. Orphaned children starved, beaten and killed. This was the forgotten Armenian Genocide.
“Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter — with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state…Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians,” said Adolf Hitler

Every year on April 24, Armenian students’ desks are left vacant in observance  the Armenian Genocide. They participate in marches in Hollywood, protest on Wilshire in front of the Turkish Consulate, visit the cemetery and more.

April 24 marks the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks. Pictures and eye witness stories have been recorded. However, history books lack substantial information about the genocide, and very little time at all is spent familiarizing high school students with the Armenian Genocide.

“I remember most of the students in elementary would have an assembly about it, but in middle school and high school, that stopped,” said SAS senior Larissa Torres.

Many Armenian rights groups aim to gain recognition of the genocide from many countries, including the US. President Barack Obama promised the Armenian community in 2008 that if elected, he would recognize the genocide, but he has broken the promise and instead used the term ‘atrocity’ as an alternative to genocide.

Armenian students dislike that a part of their history is not shared with their fellow classmates let alone ignored by the administration. The principal does not even take a moment of silence to honor the dead. TCA junior Oscar Gonzalez said he learned about the Armenian Genocide from word of mouth.It is not just Armenians who participate in the movement. However, there are many less participants of other ethnicities in the movement than Armenians.

“I think it would be amazing if other cultures would help us to recognize the Genocide,” said MET sophomore Norik Tovmasyan.

Why do LAUSD and other districts give a whole school off for certain days of cultural importance, but none for the Armenian Genocide? “I think it would be fair for everyone to be absent on this day,” said Oscar.

“Given the number of Armenian students in our schools, not too many teachers know the whole story,” said SAS History teacher JT Burciaga. “I think the Armenian students must wonder why things about it are not brought up.”

The truth needs to be told and accepted. Tovmasyan said, “I want LAUSD to recognize the genocide.”