ANC-New York Commemoration Event

"The Armenian Weekly", Volume 74, No. 18, May 3, 2007

NEW YORK—On April 25, the ANC of New York and Friends of the ANC presented a genocide commemoration at New York’s City Hall. Co-sponsored by City Council speaker Christine Quinn and City Council member Melinda Katz, this year’s program highlighted the need for collaborative activism.

The program opened with singer/songwriter Hooshere Bezdikian who performed the national anthems of the Republic of Armenia and the United States. ANCA Eastern Regional Board member Anahid Ugurlayan, who acted as the evening’s mistress of ceremonies, followed with welcoming remarks, which called upon the community to be proactive in ensuring genocide activism by educating non-Armenians, particularly Turks, about the genocide, and to fight for justice for the survivors of the genocide in Darfur.

His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, delivered the evening’s invocation, calling for renewed determination to achieve justice and to ensure that the Armenian community continues to thrive through its church, schools, and culture.

Reporting on the current state of Hai Tahd was Karine Birazian, who detailed the ANC’s advocacy efforts on a variety of issues, from genocide recognition to maintaining military aid parity for Armenia. She noted that after the House Foreign Relations Committee recommended that the full House pass H.Res.106, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, the media published over 3,000 news articles, including front page coverage in the New York Times, informing millions of individuals around the world about the Armenian Genocide.

New York City Council member Melinda Katz, who is a longtime friend of the Armenian community in New York, addressed the audience and called upon Congress to recognize the Armenian Genocide once and for all.

Katz was followed by Ambassador Armen Martirossian, permanent representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations, who expressed the need for genocide recognition and called upon Turkey to create stability in the region by normalizing relations with Armenia without preconditions.

The evening’s keynote speaker was Dr. Henry Theriault, associate professor of philosophy and coordinator of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Worcester State College. Theriault provided a detailed historical perspective on genocide, which he noted has been ongoing for thousands of years. He called upon Armenia, particularly at the United Nations, to become more proactive in speaking out against the genocide in Darfur and to work with other nations impacted by genocide.

Vagharshak Ohanyan accompanied two of his most promising students, Jenny Bagdasarian and Elen Ohanyan, who sang beautiful renditions of traditional Armenian songs. Duduk player Ruben Vardanyan performed as well, accompanied by his daughter, Armine Vardanyan.

Many community leaders were present at the commemoration. Svetlana Amirkhanyan, president of the St. Gregory Mission in Brooklyn, which has helped scores of Armenian immigrants from Armenia and Azerbaijan settle into New York, spoke about the need for the Armenian community to be united in its efforts and to never lose its identity.

Dimitris Molohides represented the Pan-Pontian Federation of the USA and Canada, which speaks for approximately 200,000 Greek-Pontians living in North America. Molohides, whose grandparents survived the Pontian genocide, expressed his organization’s solidarity with the Armenian community; discussed his organization’s efforts to achieve recognition of the Pontian and Assyrian Genocides; and urged the Armenian and Greek communities to work together to achieve their common goals.

Dr. Aram Cazazian, co-chair of the commemoration and chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church in Douglaston, N.Y., spoke on behalf of the Friends of ANC and stressed the need for more volunteers to join the Friends to support their advocacy work. Maria Nercessian, a member of the New York AYF “Hyortik” Chapter, urged younger members of the community to become involved in genocide recognition and to make their voices heard by participating in Armenian advocacy.