Editorial: 102 Years On…

The Armenian Weekly 2017 Magazine Dedicated to the 102nd Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Each year, as April rolls around and the 24th approaches, rarely do we stop and ask ourselves a simple question: Why do we still commemorate the Armenian Genocide?

A snippet from the cover of the 2017 Armenian Weekly magazine dedicated to the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Earlier this year, a troubling op-ed in a major American newspaper recommended that viewers of two recent films covering the time period of the genocide “look into the historical record” and “draw their own conclusions” regarding the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The author held that neither movie was likely to settle “the debate over the events of World War I.”

The fact that one of the most widely read publications in the United States allowed for the genocide to be “debated” on its pages shows why remembering and reminding—and above all demanding justice for the Armenian Genocide—are so important 102 years later.

Ten years ago, the Armenian Weekly made the decision to publish an annual magazine issue dedicated to this Great Crime. Today, this magazine continues to gives space to the heroes of the Armenian Genocide (see Karakashian); to the stolen and confiscated sites (see Karanian, Ozpinar); and to the importance of teaching about genocides to future generations (see Rizopoulos, Sarkissian).

Armenians 102 years ago were scattered throughout the world, but were able to build communities and new lives in countries near and far (see Toghramadjian).

And, more than a century after the genocide began, Turkey’s denial of the Crime continues to spark controversy—even in Hollywood (see Babkenian and Diamadis)—and prompts descendants of survivors to demand justice (see Sonentz-Papazian) and to rethink our approach as a nation (see Theriault, Mensoian).

The Armenian Genocide may be a significant part of human history, but it surely is not stuck in the past.

Today, it is more relevant than ever.

Rupen Janbazian

Rupen Janbazian

Rupen Janbazian is the editor of Torontohye Monthly. He is the former editor of The Armenian Weekly and the former director of public relations of the Tufenkian Foundation. Born and raised in Toronto, he is currently based in Yerevan.
Rupen Janbazian

Latest posts by Rupen Janbazian (see all)

5 Comments

  1. And The monstrous denial by Turkey of the O Turkey Genocide of the Armenians, the dispossession of land, treasures and all, only helps Armenians and friends continue to memorialize and demand. Does Turkey deserve to be friends of civilized nations, when together with lobbyists they also represent ISIS and new massacres and occupations? Danger to the world community.

  2. Commemoration is much more than the “constant demonization of enemies.” In my opinion, it has to do with sanctifying the nude bodies of dying children on a street while passers by ignore their plight and move along. It has to do with a skeletal woman lying on her side with her skirt hiked up to her thighs and stockings pulled down refusing sustenance from missionaries: preferring to die. It has to do with the little ten year old girl in CHUNGUSH who stood silently in line while 10,000 people from her village in 1915 were murdered and thrown into a deep opening in the earth. Subsequently she was taken by a perpetrator of the killings and was forced to marry him at the age of 15 years. It has to do with the countless Armenians like her taken during the Genocide, made to forget their heritage, language and culture and except for a few cases never speaking of being an Armenian again for fear of governmental discrimination against their children and grand children. WILL I CONTINUE TO COMMEMORATE THE GENOCIDE? UNTIL MY DYING BREATH.
    Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut

  3. Clarification is necessary. Dear Readers, When i began my comments, I started with a quotation that was not from Rupen’s Editorial but from an editor’s remarks from a highly regarded Armenian periodical. Here is the quotation: Commemoration is much more than the “constant demonization of enemies.” As you can tell from my comments, I did not demonize anybody but instead honored our victims. Hope you will include this in the comments section.
    Thank you, Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut

  4. I am trying to reach Ellen Sarkisian Chesnut. Is there an email address that I can contact her on?
    Thanks,
    Annette

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*