VT lawmakers acknowledge Armenian genocide

MONTPELIER – On the same day the Vermont Legislature for first time officially recognized the 1915 Armenian genocide, the Council of Turkic American Associations held a cultural event in the Statehouse.

Organizers of the Turkish cultural event and the Statehouse sergeant of arms said the scheduling snafu was unintentional.

"The booking was not made with any other intention than serving the public and the Vermont Legislature, as we already do," said Janet Miller, Statehouse sergeant-of-arms.

The House and Senate unanimously passed resolutions Tuesday morning recognizing the systematic killing of about 1.5 million Armenians in the former Ottoman Empire and commemorating the 100th anniversary this year. The Turkish government continues to deny the genocide.

Vermont band Lokum played Armenian instrumental devotional songs in the House chamber Tuesday and received a standing ovation.

Two Vermonters, Chris Bohjalian and Jessica Oski, who are descendants of Armenian genocide survivors, suggested the resolution to Rep. Joan Lenes, D-Shelburne, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the genocide. The official Armenian Remembrance Day is April 24.

Bohjalian is an author and columnist for the Burlington Free Press; Oski is a lobbyist.

Lenes descends from Assyrian immigrants from Persia, who also were persecuted by the Ottoman Empire.

"I want us to remember so we don't repeat, and we are still repeating," Lenes said. "Being an Assyrian I feel a camaraderie with Armenians."

After passage of the resolution, Bohjalian and Armenian-American Dana Walrath, a medical anthropologist at the University of Vermont, gave a talk in Room 10 of the Statehouse about their personal journeys discovering their family history against the haunting backdrop of the genocide. Both of the speakers have written historical novels about the genocide.

Bohjalian recalled visiting Turkey's Dudan Crevasse, where 10,000 Armenians were marched to a ravine, shot or bayoneted to death and thrown into the crevasse at the bottom of a ravine.

In the 1914 Armenian census, there were 124,000 Armenians living in the Diyarbakir Province, where the crevasse is located. By 1922, only 3,000 remained, Bohjalian said.

Walrath said there are eight stages of genocide, and the eighth stage is denial.

"This genocide is still ongoing because there is still denial," Walrath said.

Anna Kelliher of New Zealand and her distant cousin, Nicole Kennedy of Hinesburg, attended Tuesday's talk. They said they could relate to the authors' personal journeys trying to piece together their past.

Kelliher and Kennedy are descendants of Holocaust survivors. They met through a Holocaust survivor resource center, which helps connect families that were split apart by the Holocaust, and found out their grandfathers were first cousins. Kelliher and Kennedy have been communicating online since 2011 but just met in person for the first time this month.

"Genocide is kind of ongoing even after the killing ends," Kelliher said. "Look at us. We are still dealing with. Our families were pulled apart, and we have been trying to put them back together."

Three hours after the talk, the Turkish Cultural Center Vermont — part of the Council of Turkic American Associations — welcomed lawmakers to its cultural event in the Statehouse's Cedar Creek Room.

Yusuf Demir, vice president of the Turkish Cultural Center Vermont, said the cultural association is unaffiliated with the Turkish government and takes no stance on the Armenian genocide. He said Armenians were welcome at the event.

"We are Turkic people living in Vermont," Demir said. "These centers are funded by Turkish-Americans. We don't have a political agenda."

Lenette Peterson, executive assistant at the Turkish Cultural Center Vermont, said she booked the Cedar Creek Room for the event four months ago. Tuesday was the association's fourth annual cultural event at the Statehouse.

"Reservations are made through this office based on availability in as equitable a way as possible," said Miller, Statehouse sergeant-of-arms. "We don't keep track of what was booked first and don't look to see if there is a conflict of interest."

Asmik Bagramian, an Armenian-American from Essex, said she was oblivious of the scheduling issue.

"I primarily was there for the Armenian cause regardless of what else was going on," Bagramian said. "I'm very happy I was part of the resolution commemorating the centennial of the Armenian genocide."

Contact Paris Achen at 802-660-1874 and pachen@freepressmedia.com. Follow her atwww.twitter.com/parisachen and https://www.facebook.com/ColTrends.