April 24 Observance In Detroit

[Vigil]

April 24 Observance in Detroit

 

By Mitch Kehetian

March 14, 2004

 

DETROIT - In observing the 89th anniversary of the Armenian genocide,

Detroit's Armenian community will hear two powerful voices on Sunday,

April 25 that will address Turkey's continuing denial of the 1915

genocide of 1.5 million Armenians. Speaking to the community about

the human carnage that struck the Armenian people on April 24, 1915

will be Ken Kachikian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of

America, and Arman Kirakossian, the Armenian ambassador to the United

States.

 

This year's observance of the 1915 genocide brings together a wide

range of civic, educational and patriotic Armenian organizations in

Greater Detroit, and to the coordinating committee's leadership, the

scheduling of two motivating speakers to address the 89 years of

denial and injustice that still cloaks the Turkish-occupied lands of

historical Armenia.

 

In planning the 2 p.m. rally for justice at St. John's Armenian Church

Cultural Hall in suburban Southfield, members of the Detroit United

Committee for the Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, have also

scheduled a book signing by Ambassador Kirakossian, a noted scholar

and author, at 6 p.m. at Borders Book Store in Birmingham, on Woodward

between 14 and 15 Mile roads. An afterglow will follow the

ambassador's book signing at the Hagopian World of Rugs Showroom, at

850 S. Old Woodward, Birmingham, made available by Edgar Hagopian, a

recognized activist for the Armenian cause within the forum of the

American political scene in Michigan.

 

Edmond Azadian, speaking for the sponoring groups of the ambassador's

book signing, said Kirakossian will discuss his recently completed

book "The Armenian Massacres, 1894-1896, U.S. Media Testimony."

released in February by Wayne State University Press. Kirakossian's

book chronicles America's public outrage against the atrocities, and

the coining of that chilling nightmare as "The Armenian Question," a

sinister Turkish plan that was the prelude to the Ottoman Turkish

government's heinous plan of genocide it carried out against Armenians

in the districts of now depopulated western Armenia.

 

The book signing at the Borders Book Store, sponsored by Wayne State

University, the Armenian Democratic Liberal League and the Tekeyan

Cultural Association, is open to the Armenian community.

 

In a foreword by U.S. Senator Bob Dole, the distinguished American

statesman said Kirakossian's book is a collection of articles that

compile a "chilling picture of a ruthless, inhumane campaign to

exterminate many thousands of Armenians and drive the remainder from

their ancestral lands," while clearly defining it, and the subsequent

carnage of 1915 as "the Armenian genocide."

 

Paul Kulhanjian, a retired Detroit public school principal, said

Kachikian will focus his message on the Armenian genocide, and its

contemporary relevance within the framework of national and

international implications..

 

"Detroit is honored to have two distinguished Armenian speakers

address our community on a day dedicated to mark 89 years of

injustice, and how we can effectively stake our claim for justice

before a court of world opinion," said Kulhanjian, a spokesman for the

April 25 justice rally and the ambassador's book signing in Detroit.

Edited May 31, 2004 by Vigil