USA: Thousands of Armenian-Americans commemorate the 1915 Armenian massacre in New York

Record ID: 212745

  • Title: USA: Thousands of Armenian-Americans commemorate the 1915 Armenian massacre in New York
  • Date: 26th April 2010
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 25, 2010) (REUTERS) FLOWER WREATH EXTERIOR OF ST. VARTAN'S ARMENIAN CATHEDRAL SIGN READING "STOP COVERING UP TURKEY'S GENOCIDAL CRIMES" CROWD OF PEOPLE IN CATHEDRAL SIGN READING "KEEP TURKEY OF THE THE EUROPEAN UNION" CROWD PEOPLE APPLAUDING CROWD OF PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARIA NERCESSIAN, SAYING "All the Armenians here are gathering today. We are here to commemorate the genocide, just to show that it is 95 years, but we haven't forgotten. We're still here, we are still fighting every single day to have this recognized. By showing up here, it's showing our support even more. We're not forgetting. We are never going to forget." SIGN READING "REPARATIONS AND RESTITUTION NOT RECONCILIATION" SIGN READING "ERDOGAN: EASTERN TURKEY IS WESTERN ARMENIA" (SOUNDBITE) (English) GEORGE MAKSIAN, SAYING "It's a shame, and okay it happened 95 years ago, but they have never acknowledged it. They say it didn't happen. How can you change history? History is history, and there is all kinds of documentation for this. So that's what upsets most Armenians, that they acknowledge it, and then we can get on with our lives." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MADELINE ZILELIAN, SAYING: "It would be like taking a very big rock off my chest. Only because my family could rest in peace." PEOPLE APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARNIK NERCESSIAN, SAYING "Today I am saddened we had a rainy day. We are commemorating in the church hall, but I am against this in being in a church hall. We should be soaking wet in Times Square. I don't care if it was raining or blizzard or whatever. Those people who perished, they didn't have the cover of the church hall. They were in the desert." VARIOUS OF TIMES SQUARE PROTEST SIGN
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVA8VO10YO9JV88D4X5U3H39QQAW
  • Story Text: Hundreds of Armenian-Americans gathered in a church basement in New York on Sunday (April 25) to commemorate the World War One-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces.
    Armenians around the world are marking the 95th anniversary of the massacre, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
    At the St. Vartan's Armenian Cathedral on the east side of Manhattan, about one thousand Armenian-Americans gathered to listen to local politicians and religious leaders.
    The group wants Turkey to call the killings a genocide.
    "All the Armenians here are gathering today. We are here to commemorate the genocide, just to show that it is 95 years, but we haven't forgotten. We're still here, we are still fighting every single day to have this recognized. By showing up here, it's showing our support even more. We're not forgetting. We are never going to forget," said Armenian-American Maria Nercessian.
    Turkey rejects the term genocide. It says many Muslim Turks and Kurds, as well as Christian Armenians, were killed in inter-communal violence as Russian forces invaded eastern Anatolia during World War One.
    George Maksian says Turkey can not rewrite history.
    "It's a shame, and okay it happened 95 years ago, but they have never acknowledged it. They say it didn't happen. How can you change history? History is history, and there is all kinds of documentation for this. So that's what upsets most Armenians, that they acknowledge it, and then we can get on with our lives."
    Organizers had planned to hold the rally in New York's Times Square, but light rain caused them to change the venue at the last minute, opting for a church basement.
    "Today I am saddened we had a rainy day. We are commemorating in the church hall, but I am against this in being in a church hall. We should be soaking wet in Times Square. I don't care if it was raining or blizzard or whatever. Those people who perished, they didn't have the cover of the church hall. They were in the desert," said Karnik Nercessian.
    President Barack Obama on Saturday marked the World War One-era massacre of Armenians by Turkish forces, calling it one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, but avoiding any mention of "genocide."
    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Obama's remarks took into consideration "the sensitivities" of his country. But a U.S.-based Armenian group said it was disappointed in Obama.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register