Armenian Genocide centennial impacts local resident in Plainville

The centennial of the Armenian Genocide, which took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923, is being celebrated this month with a ceremony at the state capitol on April 25. One of the attendees will be Harry Terdjanian, a New Britain resident whose family survived the genocide and immigrated to the area in 1975. Terdjanian, who owns AutoMaster in Southington, spoke with Connecticut-based newspaper The Plainville Citizen about the Genocide and his family’s experience.

Citizen: Give us a history lesson on the Armenian Genocide.

Terdjanian: It’s a tragic story that most people are unfamiliar with, although there are large Armenian communities that teach it in their school systems and four Armenian churches in Connecticut and two in New Britain, including the Armenian Apostolic Church where I worship. In 1915-1923 the Turkish government decided to eliminate Armenians. Half of Armenia was controlled by communist Russia and half by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The Turks were losing their grip and through genocide tried to eliminate the Armenians. It was the first genocide of the 20th century and the Holocaust was a blueprint of the Armenian Genocide. 1.5 million Armenians were killed over an eight year period. The Genocide was sponsored by the Turkish government. The Turkish Army slaughtered women, children, the elderly and innocent unarmed citizens. Victims were drowned and marched into the Syrian Desert without food and water. Their property was confiscated and they were stripped of their rights. The government renamed towns and villages with Turkish names.

Citizen: Turkey doesn’t admit it was responsible for genocide.

Terdjanian: Not many criminals are willing to admit to their doings, you have to bring them to justice. There was overwhelming evidence that genocide had taken place as it was unfolding. Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire was an eye witness who wrote books about the genocide and with his help money was sent for relief efforts. It was the first large scale relief effort by the U.S.
Citizen: Tell us about your family’s experience during the Genocide period.

Terdjanian: I was born in Turkish occupied Armenia. We lived with the consequences of the Genocide. We were the minority with little rights and were not allowed to have our own Christian name. Every Armenian name ends with “ian” and we weren’t allowed to have that. I was born in 1968 but things hadn’t changed since the Genocide with unfair conditions. We survived the genocide but we were treated as infidels like they wanted to finish the job. We were clearly a minority and they made us feel humiliated, the government and the people at the local and state level.

We looked in 20 countries to find a home and found one in the U.S. with fortune and luck. We settled in Connecticut in 1975 and became citizens. We’re thankful for the country we can call home. I came with my parents, brother, sister and grandmother. All of them still live in the area except my grandmother. I wanted to secure justice for her but she didn’t see it. The perpetrators were never brought to justice although the three leaders of the Genocide were convicted by an international court.

The event at the state capitol begins at 11 a.m. on April 25. The Armenian flag will be flown outside the capitol on April 24, which is the 100th anniversary of the genocide which began on April 24, 1915 when the Turkish government placed 200 Armenian community leaders under arrest in Constantinople. A reception will follow the program with Chris Bohjalian, the acclaimed author who wrote “The Sandcastle Girls,” a novel about the Armenian Genocide, as the keynote speaker.