Quiet Vigil Marks Anniversary of Armenian Genocide at Pasadena’s Memorial

Armenian Americans gather for a candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

Armenian Americans gather for the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

Flowers are placed during the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

Pictures of men who served in the Armenian military are displayed during the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

Flowers are placed during the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

More than 25 people take part in the candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

The candlelight vigil to commemorate the Armenian Genocide at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial in Pasadena, Friday, April 23, 2021. (Photo by James Carbone)

Dozens of local residents gathered at the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Friday evening at a vigil to remember the mass killings during World War I of as many as 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, precursor to modern-day Turkey.

Meanwhile, the White House announced that President Joe Biden had briefed the President of Turkey on Biden’s plans to make a long-awaited, landmark recognition of the Armenian Genocide on Saturday, the official day of remembrance.

Friday’s vigil was organized by the Pasadena-based Gaidz Youth Organization.

Co-organizer Alison Ghafari said “our theme is ‘A genocide denied is a genocide continued.’”

“Most of the people who are gathered here tonight have ancestors who were victims of the massacre. We want to pay our respects to those people who lost their lives in those massacres,” she said.

Ghafari said the vigil also silently remembered the Armenian prisoners of war in the recent Artsakh War between Armenia and Turkey. The prisoners are currently being held in violation of the signed ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan, she said.

“Many Armenians have intergenerational trauma as a result of these countless massacres as well as trauma from the recent war,” according to Ghafari. “In short, Armenians are devastated because the Genocide is not only continuously denied, but attempts at genocide are continuously occurring against Armenians.”

The Armenian Genocide Memorial was opened in 2015. Located in Old Pasadena’s Memorial Park, it presents a 16-foot tripod that forever captures the silhouette of the structures used by the Turks to hang Armenians 100 years ago. It also seeks to capture the strength and hope personified by the Armenian people with continuous drops of water, representing tears, falling into the eternity symbol, prized by Armenians throughout the world.