Armenian community in Canada commemorates Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net -

The Armenian community commemorated the 97th anniversary of the Genocide on Sunday, April 22, at the Armenian Community Center in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, The Record.com reports.

April 24 is marked by Armenians around the world with ceremonies and peaceful demonstrations in a decades-long fight to get the Turkish government to acknowledge the killings.

“We will never stop,” said J.P. Assadourian, chair of the Armenian National Committee’s southwestern Ontario chapter.

He said that dark chapter in history must be talked about openly for both the sake of Armenians and also the Turkish people, who have the right to know about the nation’s past.

“They have been denied the facts of what has happened in their history,” Assadourian said.

Holding nations accountable for genocide is also a warning to others that the systematic extermination of a people will not be overlooked or forgotten, he said.

“The Armenian nation will never forget the genocide and the Turkish nation is reluctant to admit it happened,” said keynote speaker Hayg Oshagan, a professor in the communication department at Wayne State University in Michigan.

But he said it’s essential for the neighboring nations to come to an agreement about that time, regardless of how difficult it may be to make reparations for the immeasurable loss.

“Nations are really reluctant to admit this sort of thing about their past,” Oshagan said.

Despite the denials by the Turkish government, he said, the truth is apparent through the eyewitness reports, photographs and records of assets seized from Armenians as they were forced out of Turkey and marched into the desert.

“It’s uncontested the genocide occurred,” Oshagan said. “There’s tons of documentation on what has happened.”

Canada’s Parliament in 2004 backed a resolution condemning the actions of the Ottoman Turkish forces, calling it unequivocally a genocide and crime against humanity. The move was denounced by Turkey, accusing Canadian legislators for blindly following those with marginal views.

Oshagan believes the Turks will eventually have to come to terms with what happened. Until then, he said the fight will continue among Armenians scattered around the globe even as almost 100 years have passed.

“It’s our duty to our ancestors and our nation.”