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TWIN FALLS, ID (Magic
Valley News)—The Armenian community of Idaho inaugurated on
Saturday a granite memorial stone to the Armenian Genocide at
the Twin Falls City Park, reported the Magic Valley News.
The memorial is a
permanent reminder that the Turks killed between one-million and
1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 that were living in
what was then the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey).
The Twin Falls City
Council approved the memorial in September by a 4-3 vote after
considerable debate. The Armenian American community in Twin
Falls donated the tree and plaque.
26-year-old Liyah
Babayan, who came to Twin Falls from Armenia with her family
when she was 11, spent much of this year lobbying and raising
money for the granite memorial that was placed at Twin Falls
City Park on Saturday.
Babayan approached Twin
Falls Mayor Lance Clow early this year with a petition
requesting the memorial.
“He let me know that it
might be an obstacle to place this type of plaque and memorial
on city property,” Babayan said, explaining that the city wants
plaques to commemorate events that have direct historic ties to
the Twin Falls community. “The memorial commemorates a historic
event that happened overseas.”
She explained that the
memorial brings awareness to why Armenian refugees are in Twin
Falls.
“It really means a lot
to my parents and my grandparents,” said Babayan, now a U.S.
citizen who witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union as a child in
Armenia, then a part of the Communist union of 16 nation states.
“We have rooted
ourselves in this community. I grew up here. We own a business
in Twin Falls,” Babayan said, adding that many other Armenians
who came to Twin Falls as refugees are today United States
citizens and contribute to the community.
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