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Speakers at the city’s Armenian Genocide
Commemoration event Friday blasted President Obama for betraying
campaign pledges to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, injecting
a sense of anger into the somber ceremony.
Obama issued a statement Friday, on the 94th anniversary of the
genocide, acknowledging the mass killings of 1.5 million
Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks as “atrocities” and used
the Armenian phrase “Meds Yeghern,” which translates to “The
Great Calamity” to describe the acts.
But as a senator and presidential candidate,
Obama frequently supported efforts to recognize the mass
killings using the word “genocide,” famously stating in a speech
on Jan. 19, 2008, that “the Armenian Genocide is not an
allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a
widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of
historical evidence. The facts are undeniable . . . and as
president, I will recognize the Armenian Genocide.”
But in his statement, Obama danced around language that he has
previously insisted should be attributed to the acts, said Zanku
Armenian, president of the Armenian National Committee
Glendale’s board of directors.
“He did not
have the courage to use the word ‘genocide,’” said Armenian, who
was in Washington to lobby support for a House of
Representatives resolution calling for official recognition of
the genocide.
“The irony is he used Armenian words,” he continued, adding that
Armenians would be disheartened by the president’s avoidance of
the term “genocide.”
The use of “genocide” to describe the events has been of
critical importance to the Armenian community because the size
and scale of the mass killings should be recognized and
remembered just as other genocides are, said speakers at the
commemoration event, which was at the Alex Theatre.
“President Obama, if you’re listening, I can’t tell you how
disappointed the community is for betraying your promise,” said
Councilman Ara Najarian, who was chairman of the event
organizing committee.
Rep. Adam Schiff, who sponsored the resolution for recognition
of the genocide, received a standing ovation from the audience
before he spoke about his “disappointment” that Obama, who is
the first president to have been a champion of recognition for
the events, fell short of describing it with the same force he
had as a candidate and senator.
As a candidate, Obama had argued that the United States deserved
a president that would acknowledge the genocide for what it was,
Schiff said.
“He was right,” Schiff said. “But he was not that president
today, and that was deeply disappointing.”
Assemblyman Paul Krekorian also spoke at the event, saying he
recently received questions about why he continues to push for
genocide recognition.
He asked the audience to remember the impact of the terrorist
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and the emotions they felt upon
seeing the World Trade Center towers fall in New York City,
comparing those reactions to those that might have been felt on
a daily basis in Armenia, where innocent people were
systematically killed for a year and a half.
Killings of that scale deserve to be remembered, he said.
Several speakers, including Mayor Frank Quintero and journalist
Mark Arax, took to the stage to commemorate the genocide, along
with musical acts, including choir and band performances.
A slew of officials and clergy filled the first rows of the
theater, including Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who said
he came to remember those who died in the genocide.
“We have to keep the memory of this in our mind so that this
never happens again,” he said.
MAN ON THE STREET
The Glendale News-Press asked visitors entering the city’s
Armenian Genocide Commemoration at the Alex Theatre what they
thought of President Obama’s reference to the mass killings as
“atrocities” rather than calling it a “genocide,” which he had
pledged to do as a candidate.
“He’s scared to use the ‘genocide’ word. That’s what I think.
It’s hurtful that he didn’t use the ‘genocide’ word and he used
the [Armenian phrase meaning ‘The Great Calamity’] because it’s
Armenian. Americans don’t understand what ‘Meds Yeghern’ means.”
HASMIK KARAPETYAN
Glendale
“It is still man’s inhumanity to man, whatever the term is, and
so hopefully in our future we will all realize that we are all
one. Whatever you do to others you will do to yourself.”
ZEN LOPEZ
Glendale
“He’s always trying to walk that middle line, so based on that I
wasn’t expecting him to say anything else.”
ARMEN TALVERDIAN
Tujunga
“As an Armenian, my own belief is that America’s government will
not accept the Armenian Genocide for the reason that they are
allies with Turkey.”
ANNIE BESEREKIAN
Vancouver, Canada
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