In Southern California, home to the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia, many in the diaspora say that the fight for recognition is an integral part of Armenian American identity.
For three generations, Sophia Armen’s family has fought for recognition of the massacre that drove their ancestors to the United States. A community organizer, Armen grew up attending rallies that advocated for U.
S. acknowledgment of the 1915-to-1923 Armenian genocide carried out by Turkey’s Ottoman Empire — violence her great-grandparents survived. As a child she frequented recognition events in Los Angeles with her family, where she would hold up signs and help gather signatures for petitions. In high school, she and her friends sent letters to their representatives with pictures of their families. In college, she organized events with other communities through the Armenian Student Assn. So when the time came this year to once again press Congress to formally recognize the epic slaughter — a move the legislative branch repeatedly had shied from making — the 28-year-old was ready to push. The outcome caught some by surprise. Stirred by bipartisan anger at Turkey’s role in Syria’s ongoing civil war, the House on Oct. 29 voted 405-to-11 to designate the killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. But the Senate resolution never came to a vote.Picking at a tray of manti at an Armenian shop in Tujunga one recent afternoon, Armen lamented that many still see the fight for recognition as a passing annual event that only affects a small ethnic enclave in Glendale. “This only gets attention once a year, on April 24, but it is honestly an everyday thing we are always working on,” she said. Indeed, in Southern California, home to the largest Armenian community in the U.S., many in the diaspora say that the fight for recognition of the genocide -- though not the sole unifying force -- binds Armenians across the globe because so much of the community was formed by those who escaped the violence. Community members in California are at once disappointed that they hit another wall in receiving recognition from both chambers of Congress, and heartened by a partial victory they attribute to a decades-long battle fought through dedicated activism — protests in the streets of Los Angeles, calls to politicians and grass-roots organizing.But celebration of the House victory, which is not legally binding, was quickly tempered. Sen. Lindsey Graham blocked a path to recognition in the Senate last month. Sen. David Perdue blocked another resolution that week.“But I have hope, and the hope always lies with the resilience and commitment of our people,” said Armen, a phD student in ethnic studies at UC San Diego. “The House resolution was a triumph of the legacies of generations who refused to give up.”live in Los Angeles County, and each year thousands of people march throughout the streets of Los Angeles demanding that the killings be officially recognized as a genocide. In 2015, city officials designated Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue in Little Armenia as Armenian Genocide Memorial Square. In 2016, Glendale Unified became the first school district in the country to establish a day in remembrance of the genocide. Armen’s own last name carries an echo of the genocide. Her great-grandfather’s first name was Armen. As a child, he witnessed Turkish soldiers killing his family and was left to wander through Turkey alone. When he was picked up by American missionaries, they anglicized his name, calling him Albert Armen. “This might seem overblown to Western audiences, but for a community that has faced ongoing issues of erasure — things like our family name, our connection to land, our connection to culture — it is an every day existential crisis,” she said. Razmig Sarkissian, an Armenian American activist and student at the Southwestern Law School poses for a portrait. The push for recognition of the genocide began in earnest in the 1980s, when the children of survivors established themselves in the U.S. Armenian Americans grew more politically active, contributing to political campaigns and organizing around the issue.The survivors didn’t have political, financial, or organizational power, said Syuzanna Petrosyan, associate director of USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies. When the second generation and their children established themselves in the U.S., they felt “secure enough to advocate for what they saw as a domestic issue for them.” “And in fact, for the U.S., this is a domestic issue as much as it is a foreign policy issue,” she said.She remembers sitting in her family’s Detroit home, her grandmother sobbing as she told her that as a 9-year-old she watched as Turkish soldiers axed her father, grandfather and uncle to death in front of her eyes. That day in 1915, she said, the women gathered the children, said a prayer and threw themselves into the river on the outskirts of town. Hovsepian’s grandmother survived by clutching a branch in the fast-moving waters. She was rescued by a Kurdish family. “I think it was literally the first time she had spoken about it,” said Hovsepian, chair of the Armenian National Committee of America’s Western region. “She said, ‘I need to tell you. You’re the future. You need to carry this with you and get justice for our people.’ At the time, they were very lofty words; I felt the burden throughout my life.” That conversation started Hovsepian on the path toward activism. Now 56, she has dedicated her adult life to advocating for justice for the Armenian genocide. “To get validation like that is very liberating,” she said of this fall’s congressional action. “I don’t think the failure to make it through the Senate should dilute the victory that was obtained in the House.” Photos of Sophia Armen’s family on her mother’s side from Kharpert -- current day Harput, Turkey -- sit on an Ottoman Empire era prayer mat at St. Peter Armenian Apostolic Church. Most states, including California, and several countries have recognized the genocide. Historians have characterized what happened as a precursor of — and even a model for — genocides that followed, including the Holocaust.“When you don’t recognize and you don’t repair the damages, whatever that may be, you build a foundation for a cycle to take place, and for people to feel empowered and repeat things from the past,” said Shant Shekherdimian, a pediatric surgeon in L.A. Although he was frustrated by what happened in Congress, Shekherdimian said he will continue to fight year-round for Armenian interests in the U.S. and work with international programs that help people in the Republic of Armenia. “I think there should be many other days where I spend as much time and effort in contributing to these issues than that one day on April 24, and I feel strongly about instilling that in my children,” the 40-year-old said. “It’s not about being active on April 24 and passive on the other 364 days.” While recognition from the U.S. government is important, activists say it is only part of the community’s fight. Some have argued the case for obtaining reparations from Turkey, a shift that’s come as many survivors have died and their children have taken up the cause. Armenians around the world hold deeds to homes and other properties in Turkey that they argue were stolen from them during the genocide. U.S. recognition of the genocide, some argue, would help survivors and their families to go after what they lost by adding pressure to the Turkish government to pay reparations. “It’s more than ‘Yay, it passed’ or ‘No, it didn’t.’ It’s important that countries around the world recognize injustice,” said Razmig Sarkissian, a student at Southwestern Law School. “If you don’t, it emboldens other perpetrators to do the same thing. People think they can still get away with it. That reckoning with the past is really important.”
Please follow us on Google to support usUnited States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jennifer Lopez On What She Wants to Teach Daughter After 'Hustlers'Jennifer Lopez's role in 'Hustlers' is bringing her recognition and praise, but it's also giving her so much more.
Read more »
Suu Kyi tell U.N.'s top court charge of Rohingya genocide is 'misleading'Aung San Suu Kyi rejected accusations of genocide committed against Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority as ‘incomplete and misleading,’ and said the case should not be heard by the United Nations’ highest court
Read more »
NYC SantaCon gets shipwrecked after party boats canceled before weekend festivitiesA Wednesday announcement confirmed that New York City's annual SantaCon event would remain on dry land, after formerly advertised party boats were canceled.
Read more »
Suu Kyi tells U.N.'s top court charge of Rohingya genocide is 'misleading'Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi rejected accusations of genocide committed against her country's Muslim Rohingya minority as ‘incomplete and misleading’, and said the case should not be heard by the U.N.'s highest court
Read more »
Reese Witherspoon and Ronan Farrow Honored at Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment EventOlivia Wilde, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Mindy Kaling and Stacey Abrams also took part in the annual gala.
Read more »
How to Watch Billboard's 2019 Women in Music Live StreamBillboard's annual Women in Music event is here, honoring some of the biggest female names in music.
Read more »