By Mary O’KEEFE

The 22^nd Annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Event was held on Monday, the day of the Armenian Genocide Remembrance.

The Armenian Genocide occurred 108 years ago and for years the nation asked the United States to recognize what happened to its citizens as genocide. President Joe Biden in 2021 was the first President to recognize the atrocities that occurred as genocide.

In 1915, during World War I, leaders of the Turkish government set in motion a plan to expel and murder Armenians. By the early 1920s, when the genocide ended, it is reported 1.5 million Armenians had died, with many more forcibly removed from their country. This slaughter was done by the then-Ottoman Empire.

On Monday, Araksya Karapetyan performed the duties of mistress of ceremonies for the commemorative event held at the Alex Theatre. She is an award-winning anchor with Fox 11, currently anchoring Good Day LA. She said it was important to continue to talk about the genocide, to continue to tell the story to those who may not have heard. Many Armenians have family members who were touched by the genocide, either by surviving it or being murdered by the Turks.

Karapetyan said it is important to share these stories with non-Armenians.

“Telling people our stories is a powerful way to do that,” she said.

And that was what the evening at the Alex was about – sharing the stories of those who experienced the Armenian Genocide, sharing family stories and warnings that this Genocide continues in Artsakh.

“I stand here today in solidarity with all of you, with Armenia, with Artsakh and with Armenians all around the world,” said Glendale Mayor Dan Brotman to the audience. “My ancestry is Jewish and as a Jew I grew up learning how many of my people were subject to ethnic cleansing, the ethnic cleansing we call the Holocaust.”

He added he had heard Holocaust stories from his ancestors, but was shocked that he had not heard of the Armenian Genocide until he was in college.

Former mayor and Glendale City Councilman Ardy Kassakhian rhetorically asked why Armenians “dwell” on the past.

“Unfortunately, we are presently bearing witness to the answer to the question of ‘why,’” he said. “Today we see that silence of the world [of the Armenian Genocide] has emboldened the very same countries, the very same nations, that tried to eradicate the Armenian nation to take another attempt at genocide. Thousands of miles away in the mountains of Artsakh, as we speak, families are surrounded by the forces of Azerbaijan and so called ‘environmental protestors’ who are engaged in a modern day siege. Their goal is to either starve or force out the people of Artsakh from the lands they have lived on for thousands of years. Today’s event is as much about the past as it is about the present day.”

The event included a tribute to Artsakh, a preview of the documentary “Aurora’s Sunrise” and a “keynote conversation” with Joe Manganiello.

Next week CVW will share those stories.