Biden officially recognizes Armenian genocide on its 106th anniversary
Orange County’s Armenian community commemorates the anniversary of the Armenian genocide and reflects on the historic move by the Biden administration last October. Photo courtesy of Lindsey Arabian
Chapman University senior Lindsey Arabian is a direct descendent of survivors from the 1915 Armenian genocide, when around 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives to the Ottoman Empire — now modern-day Turkey. Arabian, a broadcast journalism and documentary major, and her mother Sira Arabian share the desire for such events to never repeat.
However, they also share a sense of pride in their heritage, a pride Sira traces back to a legacy of survival dating back to her grandparents, who were orphaned due to the genocide.
“To be able to grow up as an orphan, to raise a family and build that family pride; fast-forward to us in the U.S. able to start a family of our own, there’s a lot of pride in there,” Sira said. “To see where we are right now, where the seeds of those orphans (are) is what it kind of boils down to for us.”
On April 24, — the 106th anniversary of the Armenian genocide — President Joe Biden officially recognized the violence as a genocide, an action unprecedented by any previous U.S. president. This action contrasted those of former President Barack Obama, who reneged on his campaign promise to refer the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks as genocide.
“I’ve been part of this movement since I was a little kid, and now I’m 21 years old and we finally have some recognition here in the U.S. The feeling is surreal,” Lindsey told The Panther. “It might have taken 106 years for the U.S. to recognize (the Armenian genocide), which is huge, but it happened and it’s a really good feeling to just know that.”
Lindsey, who grew up in Southern California, said that striving for recognition of the genocide was a significant part of her cultural identity when growing up. Sira, who was born in Soviet Armenia and migrated to the U.S. around the age of 12, feels that Biden’s action reflects a commitment to his Armenian American constituents.
“I can only say (in) a country that has been my home for the last 40-plus years, I am a citizen and I matter,” Sira said. “To me, that’s what he meant when Biden recognized (the genocide).”
“I can only say (in) a country that has been my home for the last 40-plus years, I am a citizen and I matter. To me, that’s what he meant when Biden recognized (the genocide).”
The Biden administration’s official recognition resulted in backlash from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who does not recognize the events of 1915 as genocide. Erdogan called Biden’s statement a “wrong step” and stated it opened a “deep wound” in the countries’ relations.
Turkey-U.S. relations were already strained prior to this move, due to several disputes including Turkey’s purchase of missile defense systems from Russia, a country the U.S. has fraught relations with. However, Nubar Hovsepian, a Chapman University peace studies professor and fellow Armenian, believes the White House recognition of the Armenian genocide comes at a time of political opportunity in light of the deteriorating relationship between the two nations, allowing the U.S. to recognize the genocide without concerning consequences to their diplomatic ties.
“It doesn’t take much courage to recognize what a knowledgeable community in the world has documented beyond reproach,” Hovsepian said. “I think that Biden probably took it as a step because the Turkish regime is facing a lot of challenges, so they’re in a vulnerable position and I don’t think they can muster a campaign to decry the American decision to recognize (the genocide).”
Chapman University’s Armenian Student Association co-presidents Hawk Ohannessian and Darron Kotoyan spoke at an April 21 candlelight vigil and Armenian genocide commemoration event hosted at the Orange County Armenian Center.
Ohannessian, a sophomore political science and economics double major, was educated about his community’s history in Armenian Saturday schools, where he was initially shielded from the graphic nature of the genocide as a child. He was particularly moved by a personal account presented by the commemoration event’s keynote speaker, Raffi Hamparian, national chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Hamparian recounted the experience of the last living Armenian genocide survivor in a Turkey village — one that was once home to 10,000 Armenians. The woman, Asiya, hid her Armenian identity for a century to avoid being killed.
“It really hurt me that even after (the genocide) she had to hide who she was or else join (her family, who were killed),” Ohannessian said. “Frankly, there were no consequences to (the genocide) and I think there should be whatever form of reparation they may come in.”
The Armenian Student Association also held a fundraiser in anticipation of the Armenian genocide’s 106th anniversary, raising $188 in proceeds that went toward the Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund.
Hovsepian believes that it’s important to keep the memory of the genocide alive in order to make connections to current events around the world that may resemble it, such as Myanmar’s ethnic cleanising of Rohingya Muslims. The recognition of the genocide is not simply an Armenian issue, he said, but a universal one.
“(Genocide is) something our species as human beings suffered and part of us committed and we must learn how to draw the universal lesson,” Hovsepian told The Panther. “The universal lesson is what counts, not the privatization of pain and memory.”
Lindsey and Sira believe that Biden’s recognition of the genocide does not mark the end of the line in terms of activism. The work continues, they both told The Panther, from this victory in the U.S. until Turkey acknowledges and takes responsibility for the genocide it still denies.
“It’s a fight for life at this point and it’s never going to stop,” Lindsey said. “Because for as long as I live, I will not stop talking about this and I will not stop pushing for justice.”