The Armenian Association (ArmA) held a candlelight vigil on the Quad Sunday night to remember the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish military.

About 20 attendants remembered the annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and the deportation of almost the entire Armenian population from its ancestral lands in the Asia Minor that began on April 24, 1915.

Selected readings, poetry and prayers were read in addition to a 90-second moment of silence. A song called “Krunk” was also played on a violin by ArmA treasurer and business major Lauren Buchakjian. The song was composed by a victim of the genocide.

Zaruhi Sahakyan, president of ArmA, said there were two purposes for the ceremony.

“First, we want to remember those innocent victims in 1915 and the years after. Second, if we do not learn from the past then we are doomed to repeat it,” Sahakyan said.

Controversy continues to surround the mass killings. While virtually everyone acknowledges that the massacre happened, Turkey disputes that it was planned and carried out by the state – thus the label “genocide” does not apply, it says.

“The evidence is absolutely overwhelming and not just in the American archives,” said Robert Krikorian, professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

However, more and more countries, regions and cities recognize the Armenian genocide, Sahakyan said.

“This is an important development since a greater acknowledgement of genocide by the community of nations will serve the purpose of preventing and condemning a genocide in the future and will ultimately promote the understanding of the issue in Turkey itself,” Sahakyan said.

Sahakyan asked that the world community heed the lessons of the Armenian Genocide.

“First to recognize the early ‘seeds’ of genocide and act speedily to prevent a full-blown genocide and secondly, to resist and rebuke the deniers of genocide because denial will only encourage rogue states to attempt genocide in the future,” Sahakyan said.

Many people believe that because the international community did nothing to punish Turkey for its crimes in Armenia, Hitler became more confident that he could successfully carry out the massacre of six million Jews in the Nazi Holocaust, Sahakyan said.

“Hopefully one day humankind will be freed of the scourge of genocide once and for all,” he said.

The vigil drew many people of Armenian heritage, including Jacob Portukalian, freshman at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Ind., to attend the ceremony.

“I would like to think of this as an opportunity to remember what happened to my people and reflect on their tragedies,” Portukalian said.

The vigil’s goal was to offer prayers for the soul, but today a more academic approach will be taken to understanding the historic event, Sahakyan said.

Students who want to know more about the Armenian killings are encouraged to attend the seminar “American Genocide and Historical Memory,” delivered by Krikorian. It is at 2:00 p.m. at the Illini Union, room 210.