Armenia - Հայաստան

I was born in the US but my parents and family are from Armenia. They came to the US awhile back and went directly to Los Angeles, CA - specifically Glendale, CA. Glendale is the home to about 54,000 Armenian-Americans. They make up about 28% of the total population of Glendale.

Even though I was born and raised in the US, I still hold a close relationship with my Armenian heritage and I am quite proud of my culture. I speak, read, and write Armenian fluently.

Just in case you don't know where Armenia is, it is located in the southern Caucasus and is the smallest of the former Soviet republics. It is bounded by Georgia on the north, Azerbaijan on the east, Iran on the south, and Turkey on the west. It is somewhat in the middle part of where Europe and Asia meet. Armenia dates back as far as the sixth century B.C.

Because of its geographical position at the crossroads between east and west, Armenia was introduced to Christianity early by the apostles Bartholemew and Thaddeus. In A.D. 301, it became the first nation to adopt Christianity as the state religion.

After Armenia was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, Christians became a minority, and many were subjected to trials and persecutions. Between 1894 and 1915, the Ottomans made a concentrated effort to destroy them. More than 300,000 Armenians were killed between 1894 and 1896 and more than 1.5 million were massacred in 1915, in what is now recognized as the first genocide of the 20th century.

On April 24, 1915, the date that is commemorated as the onset of the genocide, Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Thereafter the Armenians were removed from their homes, forced to march for hundreds of miles, and were deprived of food and water.

The Republic of Turkey does not accept that genocide occurred and argue that it was a consequence of civil war. Many countries have recognized the Armenian Genocide, such as: Canada, Chile, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Poland, and Russia. Armenians were hoping that on April 24, 2009, the US would also recognize it, but it did not.