On Sunday April 21st, a chilly, cloudy and windy morning in Edmonton, a few faithful Armenian community members and their children, met at Churchill Square at 11.30 in the morning, walked to the tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, the victims of 2 World Wars and placed individual flowers in memory of our 1,500,000 martyrs, who perished in the hands of the Turkish authorities in 1915. The Lord’s Prayer was prayed for the victims, candles were lit for their souls and several minutes of silence was observed.
A family from Red Deer joined the commemoration with their 3 children.
Following the brief observance, the members gathered in the square for consolation and remembrance. Mr. Chris Chakmakian took a few minutes to convey a short message.
He opened his remarks with the words of Avedis Aharonian, a celebrated author, patriot and intellectual: “Lest our children forget so much evil (inflicted upon our people) may the whole world condemn them.”
He lamented the absence of most of our community members, expressed gratification for the presence of Ohanjanian family with their young children from Red Deer and thanked the participants.
He noted the cruel and ruthless atrocities committed against our people, confiscation of their lands, theft of their properties, homes, agricultural lands, business establishments and industries, destruction of their millennial cultural heritage and displacement of our people from their ancestral lands. He further deplored the fact that our people has been uprooted, disenfranchised and dispersed the world over, gradually losing their national heritage and identity.
He quoted Talaat Pasha, the Interior Minister of Turkey, at the time: “50 years from now the only Armenian will be found in a museum” and observed that in spite of the horror inflicted upon our people, we are still here, we exist, persist and will prevail.
