Seven months. It only took them seven months. Three thousand years of civilization nearly completely eradicated between April and October of 1915. What was once a race of over two million people before 1915 had been slashed to less than one million. In seven short months, one and a half million people died. The killings have only slowed from then, and have yet to cease to the present day. The massacres may be over, but the persecution continues.

The legacy left to them haunts the minds of the present generation. The youth, as most children seeking a better sense of who they are, look to their roots for identity. It is there they learn of their people’s past and the horrors that they endured; even today the shockwaves continue to resonate. For them, their future will be in reclaiming and rebuilding what has been taken from their people while trying to come to grips with why. The voices of the past speak to them in agony and suffering. They must listen, and they will do what their people have done for over a century now, endure and survive. These are the children of a forced exodus, a diaspora spawned of loathing and intolerance. These are the sons and daughters of Armenia, the scions of genocide.

Ken Maranian is a handsome man, blessed with the attributes that American men and woman fawn over in their obsession with self-image. He is well built, with a body structure that bespeaks of exercise to keep its tone, or maybe he’s just blessed with a damn good metabolism. His skin is a chocolate brown. Dark eyes peer out at the world with a soft, emotional aura. A well-groomed, sparse goatee frames a small mouth and sits beneath a nose that might be considered middle-eastern. His head is shaved.

"I saw it with my own two eyes," he tells me of his younger years, "my grandparents didn’t make this stuff up. Having seen my grandmother like that just once–I knew I had to work for it."

I press the issue curiously, and realize my mistake. His tone of voice is all I need; the look in his eyes drives the fact home. As he speaks, it is a cool, restrained answer.

"I asked my grandmother once about it, and all she told me was: ‘If I told you everything that happened to me, everything they did to me, you couldn’t take it.’ Years later she would have the flashbacks, and seeing her literally trying to hide under her bed, screaming about the Turks coming to kill her, I knew."

"I saw my grandparents suffer, and it was enough."

The statement is simple, and yet chilling. From this, he taught me about his legacy: hatred and intolerance, murder and massacres, persecution and fear. This is the inheritance he and hundreds of thousands of other Armenians share today. This is their birthright: injustice and genocide.

"This is how they did it," he offers as a simple prelude before he lays out a basic history of the Armenian Genocide for me.

"If I could resurrect these dead dog Armenians, I would —

just so I could kill them all again."

A Timeline of Terror

Long before an "official" genocide was declared, the Armenian people within the Ottoman Empire were subjected to extreme forms of persecution. Massacres were fairly common. If a sultan was displeased, then Armenians would be killed. Armenians have, by nature, been revered as more Westernized than their neighboring Turks. Armenians are Christian, Turks are Muslim. Armenians within the Ottoman Empire are looked down upon, considered a second class; successful merchants and businesspeople comprise their populace. Buried somewhere deep within this tapestry are the answers to the question both the living and the dead ask: why? The record does not hold the answer, but it holds a map: the directions point not to why, but to how.

Massacres across the Empire result in 500,000 Armenians killed in less than two months. 250,000 people in one month, 6250 people in one week, rounding to just under 900 Armenians murdered every day. The massacres fluctuate, however; on a "calm" day only five or six hundred Armenians would be killed–on another, two or three thousand would be executed. It is the worst spree of massacres in recorded Armenian history.

Proclaiming democracy and tolerance in the months precluding April, the Young Turk Party, with the support of the Armenian people because of their platform, comes to power.

One of the first things the Young Turks do upon their victory is execute a massacre in the Armenian city of Adana. Thirty thousand are killed; their houses are looted, their banks robbed, and their property sold.

Over 600 Armenian leaders are summarily arrested, deported, and murdered a short distance from the city. Poets, philosophers, writers, politicians, civil leaders, Armenians in the Ottoman Parliament, and other professionals are amongst those carried out of their homes to their deaths.

In the following days, more than two thousand other Armenian leaders throughout the Ottoman Empire would suffer the same fate as the leaders in the Ottoman capital.

All Armenians in the Ottoman Army are disarmed by the Ottoman government, then placed in labor battalions — and executed.

Using the rising tensions that will constitute the First World War, Turkish authorities issue a decree calling all Armenian men of age and physical fitness to serve in the Turkish army. Men and adolescents obeying the call leave their homes to report to Turkish army stations for recruitment, are driven out into the wilderness — and murdered.

August — October, 1915

Deportation notices arrive at every Armenian household in the Ottoman Empire. Cleverly masking what has gone before and what will come, the Turkish government orders the Armenian people to relocate elsewhere to remain out of the conflict that may brew in their region because of the location of Russia. Their destination: concentration camps in the desert between Jerablus and Deir ez-Zor where they would die of starvation and thirst in the burning sun. What is labeled as relocation is in fact, a death march for the Armenian people into the depths of the desert.

Without sufficient numbers of men to offer any resistance politically or militarily, the elderly, the women and the children can do nothing but obey. Turkish guards along the marches would assault, rape, and kill the Armenians. Food and water were denied. Stories abound of women who would commit suicide by drowning themselves in rivers. It would be rare to come across a body of water where there were not corpses.

The systematic nature of what occurred draws question: if it was relocation, why was it so precise in its brutality, how could the Turkish government expect anyone to survive in the depths of the desert? Why is it recorded that Turkish ‘guards’ killed Armenians? Hundreds of thousands of voices grew silent, their echoes of anguish lost forever in the sands of the Marches.

Throughout these years those Armenians with the means flee the persecution, seeking refuge in whatever countries they can find hospitality in, such as Syria, Greece, France, Iran, Lebanon, Russia, and America.

One million of two and a half million Armenians survive the Genocide. Some scattered to the winds of the world, others cowered in terror, helpless.

With the end of World War I, Allied forces occupy portions of Turkey while war tribunals decide what should be done with the Ottoman Empire.

In 1918, General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a Turkish general, rouses what forces he can and resumes the acts of terror upon the Armenian people in the east.

French garrison forces near Syria declare their intent to protect the Armenian people and encourage them that the situation is under control. Turkish forces attack the French garrison. Unable to defend against such a severe attack, the French pull out, leaving the Armenians to fend for themselves–some are fortunate enough to get out in time and flee to Syria.

The Armenians manage to put up enough of a resistance in the east so that Russian forces have the time to mobilize and reinforce them. The cost is high, but many Armenian lives are saved by the timely intervention.

Three of Ken Maranian’s grandparents survived the marches and the time period that is now officially-yet-unofficially recognized as the Armenian Genocide. Their escape was to Syria. The manifestations of the past within his grandparents served as his call to action: his grandmother’s terrible flashbacks and his grandfather’s defensive wall of denial to block out the horrors of what he endured served as his fuel.

What the young Ken saw impressed a world of horror upon his mind. They evoked a sense of curiosity into his heritage as well as a sense of pride in his people. He began a lifelong quest to serve his people with a sincerity that most would not use in serving themselves. He would do what he could to help right the wrongs of the past.

1981 — The Shattering of the USSR to the Present

Armenia, now a full-fledged republic relies upon their Soviet allies to the north as an untapped resource to ensure their peace and prosperity. With the collapse of the USSR, Armenia’s ‘big brother’ is no more, and Turkey once more renews its persecution of the Armenian people, though not on the scale as before.

Now, allying with Azerbaijan to Armenia’s east, Turkey enacts a complete blockade of the Armenian borders. Essentially, the blockade turns the already-weak economy of land-locked Armenia into one of total misery.

Whereas in the past, Turkey strove to destroy the Armenians by driving them from their homeland and murdering them, now they have created a situation where the Armenians are prisoners within their country, slowly being starved out of their homes economically.

Denial and Reconciliation

The tragedy of the present lies in the impact the Armenian Genocide has had around the world. Several times throughout this paper, the term official has been placed in quotations, or the term ‘official-but-unofficial’ has been used. This is because there has been no formal recognition of the Armenian genocide. Turkey continues to conduct a massive, multi-million dollar campaign to discredit any attempt at proving there ever was such an event, and of all nations, America has fallen for this ruse — in the name of the almighty dollar.

Turkey is a valuable financial ally to the United States. In the past, when simple statements have arisen in Congress about formally recognizing the Armenian genocide they have been quickly checked. The Turkish government is fond of threatening America with closing its military bases in their country if such a thing were ever to happen.

Recently France came in direct conflict regarding the issue, where its Parliament passed "France recognizes the Armenian Genocide," in one of its legislative acts. The Turkish government was quick to heatedly protest. Immediately they threatened France with ending a multi-billion dollar contract if the French Senate passed the bill. They did not pass the bill to save the contract. When questioned about the act, the French president remarked that the issue was an historical matter and it was not France’s place to judge.

Turkey also campaigns through American business. Multi-billion dollar contracts for military weapons, electronic wares, and fossil fuel mining are at risk. Turkey influences American business in much the same way as they manipulated France. If any pro-Armenian sentiments arise in Congress, Turkey informs their respective American contractors that if it is passed, then they would pull out of those contracts. So by influencing congressmen by lobbying, American companies are ensured a sound financial future and Armenia is ensured more suffering; it is Big Business to deny the Armenian genocide.

Authors who attempt to publish anything in Turkey on the genocide are summarily thrown in jail (if not worse) for treason. Turkey currently has more journalists in prison that any other country in the world; and these are Middle Eastern dungeon-prisons, not American rehabilitative institutions.

If Turkey were to admit to there having been an Armenian genocide, then the country would be expected to pay reparations, and moreover nurse their pride…it’s a little late in the game for them to suddenly admit to lying to the world over the past century.

Working towards increasing awareness of the Armenian Genocide is what Ken Maranian strives for. Now 38, a software engineer at Dell, Ken continues to work for the betterment of his people, and is considered a pillar of the Armenian community in Austin and indeed, the United States.

The first time he had ever seen the country of his heritage was two years ago. Ken went to document the standard of life so he could report back directly to the Armenian Assembly of America, the foremost American-based organization that is dedicated to the safety and prosperity of Armenia. The trip was yet one more event in his life that would spur his soul to serve his people. He witnessed and recorded the conditions his people were living in. Firsthand, he saw the misery. It was a very emotional trip for him.

Ken’s contributions to the Armenian community are great and far-reaching. He is a deacon in the Armenian Church — most likened to the Eastern Orthodox Church, but still very different in their practices. Currently he single-handedly organizes all religious activities within the Austin Armenian community. In addition, he is the head of the University of Texas Armenian Student Club, and through this he organizes lectures given by renowned scholars related to Armenia. Ken also is the publisher of a weekly newsletter that outlines and informs members of the Armenian community from Austin to San Antonio of events that are coming up locally, and of Armenian interests across the globe.

One of Ken’s most fervent of crusades is monitoring and reporting to the Armenian community of the stances Congressmen take on Middle Eastern topics. His findings are reported to the Armenian Assembly of America, so plans may be oriented to take appropriate action.

Ken recalls one amusing incident regarding his personal involvement in the conflict. One of the most interesting ways Turkey has conducted its campaign of denial is in officially recognizing April 24th (the day the Armenian leaders were executed in 1915) as worldwide Turkish Heritage day. In genocide, the executor seeks to eradicate not merely the people of their target race, but even their memory–by cleverly scheduling ‘Turkish Pride Day" as April 24^th, people will turn their attentions from the more important meaning behind the day and with time, totally forget what has happened.

One year for this ‘holiday,’ the Turkish Prime Minister was scheduled to fly into Houston to deliver a speech on Turkish pride. Ken was working at Motorola at the time, and when he caught word of the Prime Minister’s presence in the city, he was quick to suggest to several friends across a newsgroup about organizing a protest to bring a little attention to the true issue of April 24^th. Somehow the message was intercepted by a Turkish sympathizer, and the next day the Turkish government was in contact with the CEO of Motorola, warning him of the "terrorist" in their midst and that they should fire him as soon as possible. Despite threatening phone calls and emails from "the Young Turks of Texas," Ken kept his job.

"I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915."
(Henry Morgenthau, Sr. US Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire)

I am sitting around a table with Ken and Nora Wise, another of the Austin Armenian community leaders, speaking of the present and an ideal future.

"It’s not hate," Ken says thoughtfully.

"Anger, perhaps," Nora adds in with her thickly-accented English, expressing that the feeling is not malicious in nature but more hurtful. People want answers but have only received lies, Armenians wish recognition. .

"It’s a matter of injustice," Ken says finally, nodding in satisfaction at his choice of words.

The Armenian government even now continues to go to Turkey, offering diplomatic relations. Time and again they are rebuked and denied.

"The victims of the genocide have gone to the people who enacted the genocide upon them asking: ‘Hey, can’t we be friends?’ And they say, ‘Screw you, we’re going to blockade you,’ Ken explains with a wry smirk and a chuckle. It is not the look of a bitter man, but a man with the patience and intelligence to achieve what he sets out to do.

"The Turkish people are merely very nationalistic and unreasonable. People sometimes misinterpret our actions as us being against Turkey–we’re not, though, just the government. We are for human rights. We’re not against Turks, but their government that persecutes its own people. We seek what’s good for everyone: Turks, Kurds and Armenians," he explains.

"Armenia is just seeking recognition–that’s all," Nora adds.

"This isn’t going to go away," Ken says with a tone of sad finality.

". . . the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it . . . the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing the future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense."
(US President Theodore Roosevelt - May 11, 1918, letter to Cleaveland Hoadlet Dodge.)

Conferences of genocide scholars have officially declared that what was enacted upon the Armenian people was in fact a genocide. Today, speculation still abounds politically. Turks and Armenians clash in any public forum: book-signings, lectures, celebrations.

They say the final stage of genocide is denial. The stage that follows is the beginning of the long road known as healing. Armenia has been waiting for decades merely for the chance to begin this process of rebuilding their culture. Without recognition however, the path can never be begun. But until Turkey will admit to its past, Armenians will continue to wait, doing as they have all these years, endure what opposes them and survive.

Balakian, Peter. Black Dog of Fate. Basicbooks, Ltd. New York, NY. 1997

Dadrian, Vahakn N. The History of the Armenian Genocide. Berghahn Books. Providence, RI, 1995

Hovannisian, Richard G. ed. The Armenian Genocide. St. Martin’s Press. New York, NY, 1982

Khachatourian, Reynold E.. www.armeniangenocide.com

Walker, Christopher J. Armenia: The Survival of a Nation.Croom Ltd. London, UK. 1980