NORTHAMPTON — Roughly 50 people, many dressed in black and carrying red, blue and orange flags, marched in a solemn, silent procession through downtown Northampton Tuesday evening on the 103rd anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide.
Andrea Ayvazian, who has organized a commemoration for “Armenian Martyrs’ Day” in Northampton with her sister Gina for the past 22 years, said the demonstration was meant to remember and honor the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives, as well as demand recognition of the genocide.
The United States government has never formally recognized the Armenian genocide, nor has the government of Turkey, which most historians believe carried out the genocide in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.
“A forgotten genocide, an unrecognized genocide, is a successful genocide,” Gina Ayvazian said during remarks outside Memorial Hall at the conclusion of the march.
Mayor David Narkewicz participated in the march, carrying an Armenian flag in solidarity.
“I think it’s important to call attention to this and to call upon the world to recognize what happened,” he said before the procession.
Narkewicz also read a formal proclamation after the march declaring April 24 to be Armenian Martyrs’ Day in Northampton.
“I urge all citizens of the city … to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its obedience,” he said.
Andrea Ayvazian said she was moved by the proclamation, and called Narkewicz “a great ally of the Armenian community.”
“It’s recognition we’ve craved for a long time,” she said.
The march began outside the E.J. Gare parking garage and ended at Memorial Hall, where an Armenian flag flew at half-staff below the American flag.
The march was added to the commemoration in recent years as a way to represent and remember the “death marches” that Armenians were subjected to during the genocide, Andrea Ayvazian said.
In addition to Narkewicz’s proclamation, a number of speakers shared remarks and other presentations after the march.
Kapkem Hartuniam, a math teacher of Armenian descent at Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy in Springfield, sang the country’s national anthem.
Sevak Shmavonyan, a pastor at St. Mark Armenian church in Springfield, sang the Lord’s prayer in Armenian.
Luke Lombard, an eighth-grader at Wilbraham and Monson Academy, also shared remarks.
Lombard said he is not Armenian, but was inspired to attend the commemoration after doing a project about the genocide in his social studies class.
“I would have never known this sad truth if not for my teacher,” he said. “I hope I have honored your ancestors by sharing this story.”
Andrea Ayvazian, who’s on the ministerial team at Alden Baptist Church in Springfield, concluded the commemoration with a closing prayer.
“The Armenian martyrs … live within us now. We carry their gifts and talents, their beliefs and bravery, their fortitude and faith. Those qualities, echoing through the decades, live within us now,” she said.