The Armenian Community of the San Joaquin Valley will break ground on a monument dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The event will take place at the Fresno State Maple Mall, located south of the Satellite Student Union, Fresno, California, U.S., on Nov 2, according to Asbarez.
Built from béton brut (architectural concrete) and tufa stones, the monument will embody symbols of cultural meaning to the Armenian people. Its principal components will be arranged in a circular pattern and angled inwards, reminiscent of the Tsitsernakabert memorial in Armenia. The nine pillars that will comprise the body of the structure represent the six provinces of historic Armenia, Cilicia, the Diaspora, and the Republic of Armenia. An incomplete halo will be set above the columns, signifying both the fracture left by the Genocide and the unity of the Armenian people.
The ceremony will mark construction of the memorial, which will be christened on April 24, 2015.
As many as 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives in the period 1915—1923 at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government. On April 24 1915, the Young Turk regime arrested and eventually executed hundreds of Armenian religious, academic, and political leaders—it was the first step in its intent to exterminate an entire people. Many succumbed to starvation and exhaustion during state-mandated deportations or “death marches” that left Western Armenia devoid of its native inhabitants even to this day. Others were murdered outright, often in ways that defy all sense of humanity. According to historians, legal experts, and more than 20 nations throughout the world, the planned and systematic nature of these atrocities clearly constitute a genocide as defined by the United Nations’ Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee—Fresno is an organization made-up of representatives from religious, educational, social, and political organizations of the Central Valley. The group’s goals are to commemorate the 1.5 million martyrs who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government; to educate others about the Armenian Genocide and historical injustice; and to inspire people to overcome adversity through the story of the survivors’ of the Armenian Genocide. In addition to the monument, the AGCC—Fresno is organizing and promoting numerous events in the coming year.
The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.
The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.
Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.
The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.