Students who attend Vahan & Anoush Chamlian Armenian School in La Crescenta walked from their campus on Lowell Avenue Thursday to the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church on Honolulu Avenue to commemorate the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide on April 24.
Once they arrived, each student placed a single purple carnation on a memorial being built in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide last year. The memorial will be dedicated on April 21.
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“They are the first pilgrims to this monument,” said Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian.
Afterward, Mardirossian guided the students in prayer and told them that every step they took as they walked on Thursday was a reminder of the genocide and the ongoing effort to achieve justice for the tragic event.
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Chamlian Armenian School seventh- and eight-grade students participate in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School third-grade students touch the Armenian Genocide Memorial Forget Me Not Flower, at the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, as they lay down carnations at the end of their annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School first-grader Olivia Abramian lays down a carnation after participating in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down the carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School second-grade students participated in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School principal Taline Kargodorian speaks to 7th and 8th grade students after their annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters in La Crescenta, on Thursday, April 7, 2016. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School first-, second- and third-grade students pose for a photo with their teachers and church officials after participating in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Left to right, Rev. Ghevont Kirazian, school vice principal Rita Kaprielian, Rev. Gomidas Torossian, Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Martirossian, school principal Taline Kargodorian and archpriest Nareg Pehlivanian, after Chamlian Armenian School students particiapted in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Chamlian Armenian School upper class students participate in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
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Youth leader Tro Krikorian talks to seventh- and eight- graders after the Chamlian Armenian School students participated in the annual Armenian Genocide Commemorative Walk to the Armenian Western Prelacy Headquarters, in La Crescenta on Thursday, April 7, 2016. At the headquarters, the students laid down carnations at an Armenian Genocide Memorial. (Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)
The students also listened as local youth leader Tro Krikorian sang patriotic Armenian songs.
Taline Kargodorian, Chamlian’s principal, said the money raised from parents who sponsored the students to walk will help pay for buses that will take the students to the Turkish Consulate on April 24 in the Rally for Justice, organized by the Armenian Genocide Committee.
More than 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during the genocide, which began in 1915. The empire is now modern-day Turkey, which continues to deny that the deaths were a genocide.
“The idea is that 100 years have passed, but we’re never going to stay silent until we have justice and our lands back,” Kargodorian said, referring to the portion of eastern Turkey that was historic western Armenia.
“That’s the reason our kids are walking today as well. They’re walking in memory of the people who passed away, but at the same time, to say, ‘We’re here 100 years later.’ There’s third-, fourth-generation kids here and they still want to keep the memory alive,” he added.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
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