By Appo Jabarian Executive Publisher/Managing Editor USA Armenian Life Magazine As Armenians in Los Angeles and other parts of the world celebrate the rebirth of sovereign Armenian statehood and gear up to further pursue international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, denialist Turks get ready to bring their anti-Armenian hatred to Los Angeles, the heart of Southern California’s Armenian American community. Armenophobe Turks have organized a visit to the City of Los Angeles by the Ottoman Military Marching Band. Several community members have expressed deep concerns and outright anger at the prospect of being target of such “celebration” of the mass murder of 1.5 million Armenians during the Turkish-perpetrated genocidal campaign in 1915-1923. The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region issued a statement on September 27 condemning the “arrival of the offensively-named Ottoman Military Marching Band and its October 3 visit to Los Angeles.” “The ANCA-WR likewise questions the irresponsible decision by the City of Los Angeles to grant a permit to a group who claims descent from the notoriously murderous corps of the Ottoman Army known as the janissaries. The nature and planned performance of the band are not only insulting but wholly unacceptable to the Armenian American community,” underlined the statement. The Ottoman Military Marching Band traditionally was consisted of janissaries in the Ottoman Army who as soldiers were among the most brutal murderers of Armenians and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. As children forcefully taken from their Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and other ethnic families as part of the “devshirme” tax, they were indoctrinated as extremist Muslims and trained as merciless killers of non-Turks. In 1911, as the Ottoman Empire was beginning to collapse, cultural and military elements successfully revived the tradition of Ottoman Military Marching Bands. By 1953, the tradition had been fully restored as a band of the Turkish Armed Forces. Today, the corps–comprising the Mehter Band and the troops that accompany it–continues to play at state, military and tourist functions in modern Turkey. The shameless Turkish participants in the so-called “Ottoman Military Marching Band” parade must be held responsible for marching to the music of hatred and a fascist anthem — “Overwhelm the enemies of your motherland, and thus shall those cursed ones suffer abjection.” And all this is scheduled to happen just a few blocks from Hollywood’s Little Armenia, which has the highest population density of Armenian American residents living in Southern California. One wonders if the genocide “celebration” in tinsel town will feature “Turkish soup made with Armenian bones?” (Artist Zareh’s live arts at the following link is a must-see! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urWCGtI7XXc) This newest outburst of hate speech and harassment by heartless Turks is an insult to the memory of Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, and Pontian victims of the Turkish crime against humanity, and must be countered by the survivors and their descendants on Monday October 3 at 3 p.m. at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Hollywood in front of Kodak Theatre. Members of the community and anti-genocide activists are called on to show their dissatisfaction with this offensive parading of Genocide in our midst. Buses depart at 1:30 PM from: Ferrahian School in Encino, St. Mary’s Church in Glendale, and Rose and Alex Pilibos School in Hollywood. More info may be obtained atwww.AYFwest.org.

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