USC students participate in nation-wide ‘Stain of Denial’ protest

Seated with red tape over their mouths and handmade posters in hand, their message is simple, acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide

As a part of a national movement to protest the U.S. government’s refusal to officially acknowledge the Armenian genocide, protestors took to Hahn Plaza to show solidarity with the All-Armenian Student Association.

Zaven Charkchyan VP of the USC Armenian Students Association and intern at the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies is the leader of the protest. Charkchyan told the Tab:

“This is a joint effort of the ASA of all of these universities. It’s basically a silent protest signifying that after a hundred years of denial, we’re done with yelling, screaming and fighting for this. Now it’s a silent protest, because at the end of the day, this is a human rights issue that the United States, Turkey and many other nations across the world have yet to recognize and take action for.

“The Armenian Genocide began in 1915 and it was implemented by the Ottoman Empire. In that time, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred, solely for the fact that they were Armenian. Besides Armenians, there were 750,000 Greeks and many other Assyrians and other minorities who were ethnically cleansed out as a part of Turkey’s pogroms. But today, 102 years later, 26 countries around the world have recognized the Armenian genocide, but the United States and Turkey are not one of them.

“45 out of the 50 states have passed referendums about the Armenian genocide, but the federal government as a whole has failed to recognize it. President Obama on the campaign trail before his first term stated that he was going to recognize the Armenian genocide as president. Out of the entire eight years of his presidency he failed to do so. We don’t know what President Trump will do about the issue, but all in all, our purpose here to do is to show that we’re still fighting for it.”

About nine members of the ASA joined Charkchyan in the silent protest on the platform of Tommy Trojan. Seated with red tape over their mouths and handmade posters in hand, their message is simple, acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide.

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