Pasadena officials speak out against denial of Armenian Genocide after Turkish official’s visit
His Holiness Aram I, of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visits the Armenian Martyrs Memorial Monument in Bicknell Park in Montebello Saturday, October 8, 2011. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz)
1/9/2012
Brenda Gazzar, SGVN
twitter.com/bgazzar
PASADENA – When Councilman Terry Tornek learned about the Holocaust as a boy, his mother gave him the novel “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” based on events in Armenian during 1915.
His mother wanted her 10-year-old son to understand that genocide wasn’t something that only happened to Jews; it had already been perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks against the Armenian people, Tornek said.
So when a Turkish consular official visited City Hall on Aug. 9 and took issue with the term genocide for a proposed memorial the Armenian community wants to erect in a city park, Tornek felt the move was “very strange” but not entirely surprising.
“Apart from the Turkish government, there are very few people who subscribe to the notion there wasn’t a genocide” against Armenians, Tornek said. “The whole concept of denial is not something I can wrap my arms around frankly.”
As many as 1.5 million Armenians were slain from 1915 through 1923 in what was then the Ottoman Empire.
While the vast majority of historians assert the mass killings of Armenians that started in 1915 was the 20th century’s first genocide, Turkey – a strong U.S. ally – has long denied there was a systematic campaign to kill Armenians.
The nonprofit Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee last month called for design proposals for the architectural design of the memorial to be proposed in Memorial Park. Local Armenian-American leaders say the memorial, if approved, would be paid for with private funds.
Councilman Gene Masuda said while it’s a free county and Turkish officials can visit City Hall, using the word genocide for a proposed Armenian monument is “very appropriate” since the city has long issued a proclamation each year formally recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Having an memorial to commemorate the genocide, he said, “is a longtime coming.”
“It would be very respectful, appropriate and it shows that Pasadena really supports the Armenian people,” Masuda said.
Tornek, however, said it’s “not a foregone conclusion” that an Armenian Genocide Monument would be approved in Memorial Park since all proposed monuments have to adhere to a number of city guidelines.
“I’m not sure what our policies are in terms of erecting monuments in a city park, particularly concerning events that occurred overseas and didn’t involve Americans,” he said.
While Tornek said he’s not objecting to it, “I just don’t know how it fits in the context of our policy.”
In the past, some memorial proposals have evolved significantly over time during the approval process, he said.
According to the city’s monument policy, all proposals “should be to memorialize a person, place or event that is significant to Pasadena.”
Proposals are also evaluated on criteria including appropriateness, compatibility with the surrounding environment, impact on park use, aesthetics, maintenance and safety.
Khatchik “Chris” Chahinian, chairman of the Armenian Community Coalition, said the genocide’s survivors have worked hard to make the events known to the world, battling cover-ups, misinformation and denial.
“As a community, we should stand together and join our Armenian brothers and sisters in an effort to memorialize these fallen ancestors and ensure this horrible act is not repeated,” he said.
brenda.gazzar@sgvn.com
626-578-6300, ext. 4496
