Thousands gather in Montebello to commemorate Armenian Genocide

April 24, 2017 - 11:31 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Thousands of people on Sunday, April 23 gathered to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey in two separate events, San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.

Both — one in the afternoon and a second in an evening vigil — featured speakers and were held at the Armenian Genocide Monument in Montebello.

“This is for the people who are the children of the survivors,” said Viken Pakradouni, former chairman of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of the Armenian National Committee that held the night event.

“It’s meant to be informative not only to Armenians but to public officials,” Pakradouni said. “The idea is to educate.”

Typically, the afternoon commemoration is held on April 24 because that was the day in 1915 that several hundred Armenian leaders in Turkey were rounded up and deported or killed, and nearly 5,000 impoverished Armenians were killed in and around Istanbul.

However, this year, the communitywide “March for Justice” event in front of the Turkish Consulate will be held on Monday, necessitating the move, according to the website of the United Armenian Council that sponsored the afternoon event.

Numerous congressional members and other public officials were expected to speak at the afternoon event.

A religious service also was scheduled.

In the night event, Mesrobian students were expected to perform a musical presentation.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.