The following remarks were delivered at the AYF D.C. “Ani” Chapter’s annual April 24th demonstration, gathering the Greater Washington, D.C. community in a powerful “March for Justice,” marking the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 and demanding accountability for Azerbaijan’s 2023 genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.

I am so proud to see all of us here today, gathered in remembrance of the atrocities committed against our people.

As we march, I ask each of us to keep in mind those who suffered and those who perished, because it is through us that they continue to live on.

Last year, I had the incredible privilege of spending this day in our homeland. It was my first time in Hayastan on April 24th. I expected many people to be out in remembrance, but as I approached Tsitsernakaberd, I was stunned at what seemed like an ocean of people marching alongside me. Tens of thousands. Young and old. Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and many others from all around the world, walking together to honor the 1.5 million lives that were stolen 111 years ago.

We stood in silence around Tsitsernakaberd’s eternal flame, mourning the lives that were taken and the stories that were erased. The mothers and fathers who never got to see their children grow up. The children who never had the chance to experience the beauty that life has to offer.

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We honored our fedayis, who despite suffering unimaginable loss, stood in the face of evil and chose to fight. Today, we remember their courage. We remember their sacrifice, and we remember that their fight is carried on through us.

I also thought about my community back home, and I was proud to know that we would be gathered here for the same cause, six thousand miles away.

As diasporan Armenians, we carry responsibilities that can only be fulfilled outside of Hayastan.

Because Hayastan will always remember April 24th.
It is our duty to make sure the world remembers it, too.

And remembering is not the end of the story, but the beginning. Our homeland remains under threat, and we must feel the weight of that.

While I was in Hayastan, I worked in hospitals caring for our Artsakh war veterans. I saw men, many of them my age or even younger than me, living with unimaginable loss and injuries. I visited several small villages, whose elders solemnly showed me the graves of their brave grandchildren, who gave their lives defending our land.

It was painfully clear that the plan to rid the world of Armenians has not come to an end. It is a reality happening right now, in front of our eyes.

I now want to turn my attention to our youth.

When I was younger, I never would have imagined myself standing here, giving a speech, joining Homenetmen Scouts, joining AYF, or living and volunteering in Hayastan. 

I went to an Armenian school. I attended April 24th protests. I thought that these things just came with being Armenian; that they were expected of me ever so often. 

I did not yet understand the reality of our people’s struggles or my responsibility as a young diasporan Armenian. It was only when I got older, and began to educate myself about our history and our present reality, that I realized I should and could do more.

And that is what I want you to realize, as well.

I want you to push yourselves.

Push yourselves in education.
Push yourselves in service.
Push yourselves in advocacy.

Because our people need you.
Our homeland needs you.
Now more than ever.

Turkey and Azerbaijan are still trying to finish what their predecessors started more than a century ago, and it is up to us to fight against them. It is up to us to speak the truth. To defend our people, our land, our culture, our story.

So, ask your parents and your grandparents about your family history.
Strengthen your Armenian.
Learn both the Western and Eastern dialects, if you can.

Get involved in your community. Start clubs, teach your friends about your heritage, find ways to show the world our rich history and culture.

Be an Armenian who fights for justice, unapologetically. 

Be an Armenian who goes to Hayastan. Serves there. Learns there. And builds there.

Be an Armenian who is proud and refuses to let anyone take away what is rightfully ours.
Our language, our culture, our land.

Because we cannot change the past, but the future lives in us, and what we do today will shape what happens tomorrow.