The Armenian Students’ Association rallied Thursday in support of House Resolution 106, a bill currently making its way through Congress that would formally recognize the mass killings of Armenians that occurred from 1915 to 1916 as genocide.
The ASA organized a sit-in, which began at 6 a.m. and ran until midnight, moving from Royce Hall to Bruin Plaza.
Students sat on the ground and held signs to bring attention to their demonstration.
It has been estimated that anywhere from 500,000 to over 1 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, now Turkey, were murdered, though Turkey denies these claims.
“It’s time for the world to know the truth beneath all of Turkey’s propaganda,” said Chris Khachatryan, president of ASA.
Currently, only 23 countries, not including the U.S. and Turkey, have officially recognized the violence as genocide.
On Oct. 10, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved HR 106. It is a bill that, if passed through the House, would have the U.S. officially acknowledge these mass killings of Armenians as a genocide.
President Bush has said he does not support HR 106 because he feels it is not the right time for it. He has publicly lobbied against HR 106.
“We are protesting for the government to put humanity over politics,” said Ara Thomassian, vice president of ASA. “(HR 106) is a symbolic gesture to officially acknowledge the historical systematic murder of 1.45 (million) Armenians.”
ASA will continue to support HR 106 by holding a rally on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. in Barnsdall Art Park in East Hollywood.
Arine Harapeti, third-year political science student, also said the U.S. should set an example.
“As a leader of democracy we should stand for the principles of human rights our country was based upon,” she said.
Across Bruin Plaza, ASA tried to rally support by passing out fliers, talking to students, holding public announcements and carrying around posters. They said that any steps to pass HR 106 will be useful.
Passersby were encouraged to send faxes over the Internet to their congressmen.
After sending a web fax, Zach Peterson, first-year mechanical engineering student, said he believes contacting elected officials about the bill is important.
“Putting pressure on congressmen will just be one more reason to promote change,” he said.
But some students said they did not understand the message that ASA was trying to get across.
Though Meraz said she heard some of ASA’s speeches throughout the day, she did not really know what they were demonstrating for and did not plan to participate in their event.
She added that this was the first time she had heard of the violence in Armenia. She said she saw a lot of students just observing from a distance instead of engaging in the demonstration.
“I think most of the student body does not know about their cause. People are just walking by. I think they should be more outspoken,” said Ednna Meraz, a third-year sociology student.
When asked about the student body’s general concern about the topic, Thomassian said, “We know there isn’t a general awareness. We’re trying to educate before we take action, Any step is a large step when it comes to education.”