For many young people in the Armenian Diaspora, Artsakh serves as a glimmer of hope to achieving a free, united and independent Armenia. Under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s leadership, this glimmer of hope has been combusted. Although Stepanakert and other villages of the region remain, almost 70-percent of our ancestral lands of Artsakh was swept from beneath us by the same acts that were carried out during the Genocide of 1915. “A genocide denied is genocide repeated.”
After a two-year hiatus, the annual “March for Justice and Reparations” was carried out in its usual form. It was hosted by the local Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) and Armenian National Committee (ANC) chapters of New York and New Jersey, beginning at St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral after the Divine Liturgy celebrated by Der Mesrob Lakissian under the Auspices of H.E. Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate. This year’s message was focused on a unified Armenia. Two stops were made along the way: one at the Azeri consulate and the other at the Turkish consulate.
Mari Bijimenian, president of the AYF New York “Hyortik” Chapter and legislative fellow at the ANCA-ER, shared the following sentiments outside the Azerbaijani Consulate: “Today, Armenia is still facing an existential threat. Our compatriots in Armenia and Artsakh are struggling and resisting against enemies that want to destroy the Armenian nation, and that want us to abandon the Armenian cause. They are fighting against enemies that surround us from the outside, but also enemies from within. Today, as a result of Nikol Pashinyan’s capitulation, Azeri troops and flags overlook our sacred ancestral lands.” Paying tribute to her ancestors, and all those martyred 107 years ago, Bijimenian expressed the cyclical emotions that resurface among all Armenians each April. “To be born Armenian means you are born indebted to your ancestors and to those who died protecting your right to exist as an Armenian. To be born Armenian also means you are tasked with the responsibility to ensure that, at the bare minimum, history does not repeat. We owe it to our ancestors, and we owe it to every Armenian whose life was taken from them because they were Armenian. We owe it to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide who continued to live their lives after enduring the worst atrocities imaginable, and decidedly raised their children as Armenians. Our struggle transcends lifetimes, and our work must continue.”
Protesters marched up the avenue through the East Side of Manhattan to the Turkish Consulate. Niree Kaprielian of the AYF New Jersey “Arsen” Chapter took to the microphone to relate the present-day turmoil to the Armenian Genocide of 1915. “The Armenian Genocide began 107 years ago, but the attempt to eradicate Armenians has never ended. Since I was a child, I commemorated the Armenian Genocide every year. And every year, the fight was focused around gaining recognition of our history. In 2020, that narrative changed. The narrative was rewritten. It was no longer just about what’s happened in the past, but what is happening today.”
The March for Justice ended in Times Square for the annual commemoration on 46th Street and Broadway. This commemoration was led by the Knights and Daughters of Vartan. US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) addressed the hundreds in attendance, as well as Congressman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), State Senator John Liu (D-NY) and Congressman Thomas Suozzi (D-NY). Co-sponsors were also invited to speak including Dr. Ara Chalian of the ANCA, Bryan Ardouny of the Armenian Assembly of America, Scott Ohengian, Esq. of the Armenian Bar Association and other influential Diasporan Armenians. Elie Berberian performed “Hayer Miatsek” and “Kedashen.” Father Tavit Karamayan of the Eastern Diocese closed the program with a prayer for Armenia’s fallen soldiers and martyrs of the Armenian Genocide. Sarine Zeitlian of the AYF Manhattan “Moush” Chapter shared, “My favorite part of it all was seeing the unity. Seeing our Armenians come together for the same reasons made me very happy. We must remain [united] as a community, taking action together, regardless of the circumstances.”
The local AYF and ANC chapters of New York and New Jersey would like to thank the AYF Eastern Region, ANCA Eastern Region, the ARF chapters of NY and NJ, Homenetmen of NY and NJ, the Eastern Prelacy, St. Illuminator’s Armenian Apostolic Cathedral, St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church, organizers of the Times Square Commemoration, photographer Adrian Childress and all participants.
Chantelle Nasri
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