Genocide victims commemorated in New York's Times Square
Thousands of people gathered in New York’s Times Square on April 27 to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide. They observed a minute of silence in memory of the innocent victims. The national anthems of the U.S. and Armenia were performed during the event. His Eminence Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Primate of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, made an opening speech. The participants gave a warm welcome to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee— Senator Robert Menendez, (D-NJ), Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Senator Charles “Chuck” Schumer [D-NY], Professor Dennis R. Papazian, NY City Council Member Paul Vallone (D-NY), as well as a number of famous political figures from Armenia and the U.S. For the first time in nearly a quarter century, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopted in April an Armenian Genocide Resolution, calling upon the Senate to commemorate this crime and encouraging the President to ensure that America’s foreign policy reflects and reinforces the lessons, documented in the U.S. record, of this still-unpunished genocide. The gathering was closed by the blessing and prayer of His Eminence Archbishop Khajak Parsamian, Primate of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Robert Karapteyan New York
