Armenian Genocide at 100: Forget-me-not

Obama reneges again on 2008 campaign promise to "recognize the Armenian Genocide" as president

Today, April 24, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide carried out by the “Young Turk” government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916. One to one-and-a-half million Armenians were killed during the Armenian Genocide -- through wholesale massacres and deportations consisting of forced marches -- out of two-and-a-half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Over the past few years, I have commemorated the Armenian Genocide at Mich Café with testimonials by Armenian friends sharing what it means to them. I was about to do the same this year too when I fell across two illustrations that give hope and decided to share those instead.

The first is the beautiful forget-me-not, the official emblem of the 100th Year of Remembrance of the Genocide issued by the Republic of Armenia. The second is an illustration by my friend cartoonist Sareen Akharjalian on her webcomic, Ink on the Side.

The forget-me-not, illustrating the worldwide observance of the centennial, as explained by the Armenian Church, expresses the theme of eternal remembrance. It is also meant to symbolically evoke the past, present and future experiences of the Armenian people.

The past: The black center represents the sufferings of 1915, and the dark aftermath of the Armenian Genocide.

The present: The light purple petals represent the unity of Armenian communities across the world -- all of whom stand together in this 100th year of remembrance.

The future: The five petals represent the five continents where survivors of the Armenian Genocide found a new home. The dark purple color is meant to recall the priestly vestments of the Armenian Church -- which has been, is, and will remain at the heart of the Armenian Christian identity.

Eternity: The 12 trapezoids represent the twelve pillars of the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan, Armenia. Yellow represents light, creativity, and hope.

Today, Armenians can be found in every corner of the globe, creating a Diaspora population of about three million. All over the world, they commemorate the tragedy on April 24, the day in 1915 when 250-300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople, present-day Istanbul, were rounded up, deported and killed. The Ottoman military then uprooted Armenians from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.

Since then, the pomegranate was adopted as a symbol for Armenians. The narrative is that during the 1915 Genocide and exodus, pomegranate was the only food mothers could find to feed their offspring. Those marching could also count the days with the pomegranate seeds. It is said that each fruit, however big or small, holds 365 seeds!

The second illustration is by Sareen Akharjalian on her webcomic Ink on the Side, which is awaited online every Monday morning to brighten up the week.

With Mount Ararat in the distance, Sareen wrote:  “I pray that we’ll have our day for a fair trial.”

Sareen (@sareen_ak) who is a programmer and software developer by day and a cartoonist by night also quotes the great Armenian-American writer William Saroyan: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.”

And yet, 100 years on, U.S. President Barack Obama, wary of damaging relations with Turkey amid growing unrest in the Middle East, won't use the centennial of the massacre to declare the brutal episode genocide.

Despite his campaign promise in 2008 to "recognize the Armenian Genocide" as president, the White House on April 21 issued a carefully worded statement on a high-level administration meeting with Armenian groups that avoided using the term "genocide."

An administration official said Obama, who will mark the centennial today, would similarly avoid using the word. "We know and respect that there are some who are hoping to hear different language this year," the official said. "We understand their perspective, even as we believe that the approach we have taken in previous years remains the right one -- both for acknowledging the past, and for our ability to work with regional partners to save lives in the present."

"President Obama's surrender to Turkey represents a national disgrace. It is, very simply, a betrayal of truth, a betrayal of trust," said Ken Hachikian, the chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America.

Even some of Obama's allies decried the decision. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic leader of the House Intelligence Committee, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to avoid the word genocide.

"How long must the victims and their families wait before our nation has the courage to confront Turkey with the truth about the murderous past of the Ottoman Empire?" Schiff wrote in a statement. "If not this President, who spoke so eloquently and passionately about recognition in the past, whom? If not after 100 years, when?"

When, indeed!

At a service in Rome on April 12, Pope Francis used "genocide" to describe what happened a century ago. In response, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu recalled the ambassador to the Holy See for "consultations."

Related posts:

Armenian Genocide: Echoes of the dream -- April 24, 2013

 Armenian Genocide: Lest we forget -- April 24, 2012

Armenian Genocide: A tear a day -- Apr 24, 2011

Armenian Genocide: Lest we forget

Poster by Naeema Zarif

Ninety-seven years since, the Armenian Genocide is still a topic that hits a raw nerve with Armenians worldwide.

Today, April 24, commemorates the Armenian Genocide committed in 1915-1916 by the Ottoman Empire’s “Young Turk” government.

Roughly half the Ottoman Empire’s 2,500,000 Armenians were killed during the Armenian Genocide through wholesale massacres and deportations by dint of forced marches.

Armenians around the globe commemorate the tragedy on April 24, the day in 1915 when 250-300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople -- present-day Istanbul -- were rounded up, deported and killed. The Ottoman military at that time uprooted Armenians from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, without food or water, to the desert of what is now Syria.

Since then, the pomegranate was adopted as a symbol for Armenians. The narrative is that during the 1915 Genocide and exodus, pomegranate was the only food mothers could find to feed their offspring. Those marching could also count the days with the pomegranate seeds. It is that each fruit, however big or small, holds 365 seeds!

As I did last year, I asked two Armenian friends -- Shant Demirdjian and Sareen Akharjalian, who both live in Beirut, Lebanon -- to contribute their thoughts on the day for Mich Café:

Which Genocide?

By Shant Demirdjian*

Let me be a bit more precise, which Armenian Genocide? No, no… It’s not just one; it’s not two or even three or four!! Which one should I talk about?

Murdering an Armenian journalist who dares to be “Armenian”?

Or should I write about the uprooting of more than two million Armenians from their homeland and the massacre of some 1.5 million in the deserts of Syria?

Need I dwell on disallowing the placement of the Holy Cross on a “restored” Armenian church in Van? Or even worse, turning churches into caves, restaurants and farms?

Or what about the vandalism of Armenian architecture -- churches, tombstones, Khatchkars (cross stone) -- over and over again, everywhere in Occupied Armenia, Nakhchivan and in all places “their” hand could reach?

[The Armenian Khatchar cross, often made in obsidian, has two triple loops on each arm of the cross. It rarely has a crucifix but rather a rosette or a solar disc below it and the remainder is filled with patterns of leaves, grapes, pomegranates or abstracts. UNESCO last year declared the Armenian Khatchkar an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.]

Which Genocide?

When people talk about the Armenian Genocide they usually consider the latter, the one that started on the night of April 24, 1915, with the capture, murder and deportation of the Armenian elite -- teachers, writers, revolutionaries, who where the first to “go.” The strategy was to make the Armenians “headless.”

But it didn’t stop there. It didn’t stop even after the vast majority of Armenians were moved from their homeland and driven to the deserts of Syria… just to let them perish there from hunger, starvation and Ottoman brutality.

The sad thing is that the outrage hasn’t stopped! The assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and not allowing a cross to be erected on an Armenian Church… only happened a few years ago.

The destruction of the Armenian Heritage is still continuing as you read this! For me, this is the “Armenian Genocide.”

Nonetheless, we survived. We survived and doomed that brutal appetite of mass murder.

We survived and made others talk about the “Armenian Genocide” in Turkey.

We survived and spread our Heritage around the globe.

We survived and turned April 24 into the Day of Survival.

*Shant Demirdjian (@ShantDotMe) is a web developer and teacher. He is a photographer in his spare time and his work can be viewed at his blog, Shant.me – My Photo Blog.

Struggles and Triumphs

By Sareen Akharjalian*

When people ask me about the Armenian Genocide and what I know about it, I don't usually talk about the massacres of entire Armenian villages.

I don't usually talk about the starvation, the rape and the murder Armenians had to face when forcibly evicted and marched into the harsh deserts of Syria.

I don't talk about the massacres and brutal killings of prominent Armenian figures on April 24, 1915.

I tell the story of my grandfather, Arsen Akharjalian. 

My grandfather, God rest his soul, grew up in a village called Yozgat in Turkey. The sad thing is there isn't really much he could tell us about his family in Turkey. You see, his father and uncles were forced into battle and his mother was killed while he was still a very young child -- barely old enough to speak. 

Dédé Arsen

Arsen Akharjalian’s family at the time included 10 brothers and sisters. In the confusion and utter chaos, the family was split up. Some were sent to different parts of Turkey, others, including my grandfather, his sister and older brother were saved by European missionaries and sent to an orphanage in Syria. Their trip to Syria was long and harsh, with no water, no food, and only stories of Armenian killings that had taken place in Deir ez-Zor to go by. It's a wonder they survived. 

They finally reached their destination: an orphanage in Aleppo. But the orphanage was so overcrowded, the children had to be split up once more. His older brother remained in Syria, and my grandfather and his sister were sent to the famous Birds Nest Armenian Orphanage in Jbeil, Lebanon -- which still operates to this day. There, Dédé Arsen learned basic crafts. He became a shoe mender. And by some miracle, he was able to overcome his hideous past and have a family and children.

How do I commemorate the Armenian Genocide?

By remembering my grandfather's immense struggles and triumphs despite these dark times in history. 

*Sareen Akharjalian (@sareen_ak) is a programmer and software developer by day and a cartoonist by night. Her two-year-old webcomic, Ink on the Side, is awaited online every Monday morning to brighten up the week.

Related post:

Armenian Genocide: A tear a day – 24 April 2011