Distinguished Community Leader Harut Sassounian To Speak at Times Square Commemoration on April 25

NEW YORK, NY – Harut Sassounian, publisher of The California Courier newspaper, will speak at the 95^th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide which will take place on Sunday, April 25, from 2-4 pm, at Times Square, New York.

A seasoned writer whose weekly editorials appear widely in both Armenian and non-Armenian media, Sassounian also authored the book “The Armenian Genocide: The World Speaks Out, Documents and Declarations, 1915-2005,” which has been published in English and Arabic.

As President of the United Armenian Fund, the coalition of seven major Armenian-American organizations, Sassounian has managed the acquisition and delivery of $600 million of humanitarian aid to Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) in the past 20 years. As Senior Vice President of The Lincy Foundation, Kirk Kerkorian’s charitable organization, he has overseen $240 million of infrastructure projects in Armenia and Artsakh. Sassounian has also served as a human rights delegate at the United Nations for 10 years and played a leading role in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by a U.N. human rights committee in 1985.

In the private sector, Sassounian has extensive background as an international marketing executive for Procter & Gamble in Geneva, Switzerland.

He has earned a Master’s degree from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and an MBA from Pepperdine University. For his humanitarian work, Sassounian has been decorated by the President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the heads of the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic churches and is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

The 95^th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in Times Square will pay tribute to the 1.5 million Armenians who were annihilated by the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire (1915-1923). Major political figures will speak as well as civic, humanitarian, and educational leaders.

This event is sponsored by the Knights & Daughters of Vartan, a national fraternal organization, and co-sponsored by the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America, Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, and the Armenian Council of America. Participating organizations include the Diocese of the Armenian Church, Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Missionary Association of America, Armenian Evangelical Union, Armenian Catholic Eparchy, and several national Armenian youth organizations.

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK — On Sunday, April 25, 2010, for the 25th year,
thousands of Armenian Americans and people against genocide will gather in
Times Square from 2-4 PM to commemorate the first genocide of the 20th
Century, the Armenian Genocide (*Medz Yeghern*). The new theme is “Turkey is
the Question, America is the Answer.”

This historic event will pay tribute to the 1.5 million Armenians who were
annihilated by the Young Turk Government of the Ottoman Empire (1915-1923)
and address the consequences which are still with us today. Government
leaders and the news media have recently been preoccupied with
Turkish-Armenians relations and the closed borders in the Caucasus.

Major political figures will speak as well as civic, humanitarian, and
educational leaders.

This event is sponsored by the Knights & Daughters of Vartan, a national
fraternal organization, and co-sponsored by the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian National Committee of America,
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, and the Armenian Council of America.
Participating Organizations include the Diocese of the Armenian Church,
Prelacy of the Armenian Church, Armenian Missionary Association of America,
Armenian Missionary Association, Armenian Evangelical Union, Armenian
Catholic Eparchy, and several national Armenian youth organizations.

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Armenian Genocide Commemoration Essay Contest

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Photo Gallery

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Some pictures from last year’s Armenian Genocide Commemoration in Times Square:

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) speaking at the Armenian Genocide commemoration

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in Times Square

Attorney Mark Geragos speaking at the commemoration

Members of the St. John University Armenian Club in Times Square

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) in Times Square

Armenian youth commemorating the Armenian Genocide

Armenian youth in Times Square

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Armenian Genocide Survivors Tell Their Personal Stories at New York Armenian Home

Three Armenian Genocide survivors recounted their stories of survival at the New York Armenian Home in Flushing, Queens on Sunday afternoon March 21.

While almost a century has passed, Charlotte Kechejian, Oronik Eminian and Arsalo Dadir, residents of the Armenian Home, vividly remembered their tragic past and told their stories to various reporters representing the New York Times, NY1 television channel, Queens Gazette and Queens Tribune.

Born in Nikhda in 1912, 97 year-old Charlotte Kechejian credited her mother in helping her survive the death marches through the Der Zor desert during the Armenian Genocide. Barely six years old, Kechejian’s father was killed during the genocide. “I asked my mother if my father had left because I had done something wrong,” recalled Kechejian, an only child. She remembers walking endlessly through the desert, thirsty for water and hungry for food. “My mother kept saying that we just had to walk a little more, but that `little more’ never ended.”

At the age of 10, Kechejian and her mother moved to New York with the help of an uncle who had already settled in the US. She spoke highly of her mother’s strength to move to a new country barely speaking English and earn a living for her family as a seamstress. Her mother, who insisted her daughter earn her high school diploma, eventually opened her own grocery store on 33^rd street in Manhattan, and with her daughter’s permission remarried.

“We went through a lot,” said Kechejian, “but we’re still alive.”

While many survivors’ only scars are emotional, this is not true for 97 year-old Onorik Eminian, who repeatedly pointed to the scar on her forehead, the result of being hit on the head with a rifle butt by a Turkish soldier. Eminian, born in Izmir, witnessed the death of her parents, sister and two brothers who were tortured and then killed by the Turks.

At the age of eight, the Red Cross placed her in an orphanage and she later made her way to Greece and then to the U.S. in 1930 with her grandmother. She lived in Astoria until she moved to the New York Armenian Home a few years ago.

Born in Shabin Karahisar in 1913, Arsaloys Dadir’s father was killed by the Young Turks when he was 25 years old. Her uncle, a doctor, was one of the 300 martyrs killed on April 24, 1915 when Armenian leaders, including members of the Turkish Parliament were rounded up and murdered.

Dadir remembers hundreds of bodies piled on top of each other. Luckily, her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were able to seek refuge with a wealthy Turkish family. Despite her own family’s wealth, they lost all of their money and land during the genocide. The family eventually moved to Constantinople, where Dadir married and raised two children, moving to the U.S. later in life.

All three survivors are scheduled to be present in Times Square for the 95^th Armenian Genocide Commemoration in Times Square, organized by the Mid-Atlantic Chapters of the Knights and Daughters of Vartan, which will take place on Sunday, April 25 from 2-4 pm.

Armenian Home Director Aggie Ellian showing a newspaper clipping of Charlotte Kechejian’s picture in Washington DC when she recently attended the House Foreign Affairs Committee vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution.

Armenian Genocide survivors Oronik Eminian, Arsaloys Dadir and Charlotte Kechejian

Dr. Papazian explaining the historical facts of the Armenian Genocide to New York-based media

New York Times reporter with Sam Azadian