Today represents the 105th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, a topic very important to Kristina Ayanian. She shared a must-read instagram post about it this morning. With her permission, I wanted to share that post here for you all to see.
I could never hope to talk about it as well as she can. So, here's her caption again, a little larger.
April 24, 2020 marks the 105th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide - a day to honor the 1.5 million lives that were taken due to the Ottoman Empire’s attempt to systematically annihilate the Armenian population. The Armenian Genocide often gets overlooked in history books and lessons, as the Turks strategically executed their plot during the World War I chaos. My ancestors were displaced from their homes, their homeland, and forced to MARCH thousands of miles only to perish in the Syrian Desert. First, the Ottoman Empire targeted priests, scholars, poets, artists, then women and children. The survivors who were able to escape created what is now the Armenian diaspora. To this day, Turkey and @rterdogan are in DENIAL of their actions and 105 years later, Armenians around the world STILL fight for the recognition of their own HISTORY. Eastern Turkey is Western Armenia. At the end of 2019, the US House and Senate passed two resolutions recognizing the horrific acts of 1915 as GENOCIDE for the first time in history. Currently, only 31 countries around the world recognize the 1915 ethnic cleansing as genocide. The importance of genocide recognition resonates beyond our own borders - it prevents future genocides. While these two resolutions were in discussion in the US, Turkey was in the midst of conducted another genocide - this time on the Kurdish population in Northern Syria. History recognized is history never repeated. Pictured in this post is a memory from my most recent trip to Armenia while hiking to the top of Armenia’s highest peak, Mount Aragats, with Armenians from across the globe. We are living proof that #TurkeyFailed. “For when two Armenians meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a new Armenia” - William Saroyan
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Like I said, much better than I could do. If, like me, you were less aware about this occasion than you should be, today would be a great opportunity to learn even more about the topic.
