Henry Schwan
As Dr. Aram Chobanian sees it, the move was long overdue.
That is how Chobanian, 91, a Natick resident and former president of Boston University, feels about President Joe Biden becoming the first U.S. president to formally recognize the deaths of ethnic Armenians during World War I as a genocide.
Biden made the statement last Saturday, on a day widely recognized as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Some historians have put the death count at more than a million by the Ottoman Turks — on land which is today Turkey.
Biden’s stand was a bittersweet moment for Chobanian, mixed with gratitude and sadness.
“I’m thankful it was done,” he said. “Bringing it up again creates old memories, sadness inflicted on my family.”
Chobanian said his paternal grandfather was killed by the Turks, and his parents eventually arrived separately in the U.S. as youngsters. They were penniless and didn’t speak a word of English. They married in 1918, worked hard and raised three sons — Edward, Keran and Aram.
“It’s the story many Armenians can tell,” said Chobanian, who is also a former dean at the Boston University School of Medicine. He served as the university’s president from 2003-06.
Justin Varteresian’s Armenian ancestors also suffered.
The Milford resident said his paternal great-great-grandmother and her daughter were forced into slavery by the Ottoman Turks. They escaped through Russia in 1918, made it to America, and eventually joined family in Worcester.
Varteresian’s maternal great-grandfather escaped the carnage, but he believes the rest of the family perished.
“It was very emotional to see that,” he said of Biden’s formal recognition. “A lot of us hoped and prayed for a really long time. For so long, past presidents refused, appeasing the Turkish government.”
For more than 30 years, Varteresian has been a member of Milford’s Trinity Episcopal Church. Many Armenian families have joined the congregation through the years.
“My hope is this acknowledgement from President Biden puts the Turkish government on notice that we’re keeping an eye on what’s going on, and not acting in any way that endangers the lives of innocent civilians,” said Varteresian.
Turkish demand
Turkey President Racep Tayyip Erdogan immediately called on Biden to reverse his declaration.
But Anthony Barsamian, a Sherborn resident who is co-chairman of the Armenian Assembly of America — the largest, nonpartisan Armenian-American advocacy organization in the U.S., according to its website — said there is “no chance” that will happen.
As Barsamian sees it, Biden brought human rights to the forefront, sending a direct message to Turkey that it must acknowledge its past atrocities to negotiate in good faith with the United States and the rest of the world.
“Turkey is supposed to be a NATO ally, but it’s not being a good ally,” Barsamian said. “This sends a message that if you don’t play ball by the rules, then why have you as an ally? This will have some impact.”
A sore spot for many ethnic Armenians is the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, although most of it is governed by the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.
Located within Azerbaijan, the region had been controlled by ethnic Armenians for decades. Fighting broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in September over control of the region, with Turkey reportedly giving Azerbaijan militarily support. A peace deal brokered by Russia in November placed a chunk of the region under Azerbaijan’s control.
Barsamain worries about the safety and security of Armenians living in the region.
“We could see another genocide in the region if people are not held accountable for their past,” Barsamian said. “If human rights is not at the top of the list in the region, then strong leaders will have a free hand to do whatever.”
Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s grandparents fled Turkey during the genocide, and spent years apart in Syria and France before reuniting in Massachusetts.
“President Biden said what we have waited over a century to hear,” Koutoujian said in a prepared statement. “He acknowledged this genocide and the generational trauma associated with its minimization. He showed respect and empathy for the experience of my grandparents and all our families. That is something that should make Americans of every ethnicity proud.”
For Chobanian, the pain of the genocide lingers, although his parents persevered, and provided a stable home for their three sons.
“Somehow my parents saw a way. How they did it is really unreal,” Chobanian said.
Henry Schwan is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymetrowest. He can be reached at hschwan@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-3964.
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