APRIL 24

I want to take time today, as I do every year, to stop and reflect on my family history. My great-grandparents, along with millions of other Armenians, were victims and survivors of the Armenian genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

I’d rather not go into the whole dark and sordid story of their experiences at the time, but I would like to urge each and every one of my readers to do what they can in rememberance- anything from taking a small moment of silence to calling your representative or the president to urge recognition.

The second great tragedy of the Armenian genocide is Turkey’s continued resistence to owning up to their history and recognizing it as such- “genocide.” This not only has left Armenians with a sore, open wound that each and every person can relate to, but has soured relations between the nations and caused the American government and governments around the world to make a painful choice between political relations and human rights.

For more information, please visit

the Armenian National Committee of America