White Plains Church to Commemorate Centennial of the Armenian Genocide
During the early part of April there were many remembrance ceremonies for the approximate 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust of World War II. On Friday, April 24, members of St. Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church in White Plains will commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, a lesser-known atrocity committed by the Ottoman Empire during World War I that killed 1.5 million Armenians.
…broader attention to human rights has redefined the Armenian Genocide as a precedent to the genocides of the 20th Century.
After a century the St. Gregory’s Centennial Committee says it is time for the world to acknowledge the events that took place beginning in 1915.
Armenian-genocide.org claims that new research and broader attention to human rights issues has redefined the Armenian Genocide as a precedent to the series of genocides that punctuated the 20th Century. Public attention to the historical significance of the Armenian Genocide resumed only in the last quarter of the century.”
The website further describes: “Despite the global dimensions of World War I, which daily made news headlines, the scale of the atrocities committed against the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire resulted in such large numbers of victims that international media coverage of the events became regular news. Media attention to the plight of the Armenians diminished with the end of the war and went completely silent for the better part of the 20th Century.”
The media discourse on the Armenian Genocide has expanded in the 21st century, with the ongoing discussion of the importance of affirming the historical facts surrounding the events of 1915.
It is to encourage this discussion that the events at St. Gregory’s are planned.
The church’s website at www.krikor.us provides historical information with photos, a map and links to other sites with material about current activities at the Human Rights Court.
They are calling it a Celebration of the Survival of a Nation.
On the St. Gregory’s site, an introduction explains that: “The Armenian Genocide was a planned campaign by the Young Turk government to annihilate the Christian Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Embarked upon in 1915, during WWI, the deportation and decimation of the Armenians across Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, continued until 1923. The campaign resulted in the complete destruction of Armenian society across the region and in the greater part of its historic homeland.”
On Friday, April 24 at St. Gregory’s there will be Scripture reading at 4 p.m. and an Ecumenical Prayer Service at 6 p.m. with children’s activities and refreshments interspersed throughout until 8 p.m.
St. Gregory the Enlightener Armenian Church is located at 1131 North St., White Plains.
