WPRO News
A crowd of people gathered inside the State Room of the State House for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
At the event, State Representative Katherine Kazarian said she will introduce legislation to officially recognize the more than 1 million victims who lost their lives during the genocide 100 years ago.
“I think it is a poor precedent to not recognize genocide,” said Kazarian, “Because when millions of people are slaughtered and the intention is to annihilate a race, we need to recognize that so it won’t happen again.”
Currently, the U.S. — like many other countries — does not officially recognize the genocide.
Governor Gina Raimondo also spoke, agreeing with Kazarian. She said acknowledgement is necessary for prevention.
“We can’t forget, because we can’t let things like that be repeated,” said Raimondo.
Pauline Getzoyan attended the event and said she is representing her ancestors who died during the four-year massacre. She said she hopes President Barack Obama will follow through on his promise on making the United States the 21st country to recognize the tragedy.
“If that happens it will be groundbreaking not only in this country but internationally,” said Getzoyan.
Event commemorating the centennial of the genocide will occur throughout this month. The State House dome will be lit red, blue and orange, the colors of the Armenian flag, from April 17 to 24.
