ARMENIANS PLAN MUSEUM OF SUFFERING PROJECT TO TELL OF GENOCIDE.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Armenian-Americans have never forgotten about the bloodbath that befell 1.5 million of their ancestors during the World War I era.

Now they plan to tell their story just two blocks from the White House.

Organizers have spent $12.25 million to acquire the former Federal American National Bank, a designated landmark built in 1925, to create the Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial.

The $75 million complex scheduled to open in 2008 will highlight the death, persecution and banishment of Armenians from Turkey, as well as America's major role in assisting the survivors.

``The genocide is an issue that is near and dear to every Armenian's heart,'' said Ross Vartian, director of museum planning for the Armenian Assembly of America, a Washington-based lobbying group.

``But this museum will also be targeted at non-Armenians. We want them to hear our story and learn how to prevent genocide from happening in the world again.''

Armenian activists say that from 1915-23 the slaughter claimed the lives of 1.5 million of the 2.5 million Armenians who had been living in Turkey. Most of the survivors became refugees, eventually resettling around the world.

Turkey has steadfastly denied that it persecuted Armenians and has repeatedly blocked efforts by Armenian-Americans to get the U.S. government to recognize their plight.

In 2001, President Bill Clinton killed a bill, sponsored by former Rep. James Rogan, R-Pasadena, calling for formal U.S. recognition of the genocide and condemnation of Turkey's role.

Clinton, with support from Republican House leaders, bent to pressure from Turkey, a NATO ally and home to several strategic U.S. military bases.

``I think that U.S.-Turkey relations can survive our recognition of the genocide,'' said Rep. Adam Schiff. D-Pasadena, who hopes to reintroduce a bill giving formal recognition to the Armenians' suffering. ``I realize that Turkey is very sensitive about this issue, but we have made a mistake of acquiescing for many years to Turkey's reluctance to face its past.''

Alex Sardar, executive director of the Glendale-based Western Region of the Armenian National Committee of America said there is great interest about the museum in Southern California, which is home to 350,000 Armenian-Americans, the largest concentration in the United States.

``Our passion for remembering the genocide comes from being told that our history is invalid,'' Sardar said. ``I want my country to recognize the Armenian genocide, too.''

He said his group will consider support for the project after plans are completed and a major fund-raising effort is launched next year. ANCA, which concentrates on advocating Armenian causes at the grass-roots level, has two local chapters in the San Fernando Valley, as well as units in Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena and elsewhere in Southern California.

Ara Kachatourian, English-language editor of Asbarez, a bilingual daily newspaper published in Glendale, said the effort to build a Washington museum is laudable, but he argued that Armenian-Americans' money might be better spent on other efforts.

Kachatourian, who stressed that the genocide ``has affected every single Armenian who is alive on Earth,'' noted that ``one building in Washington can only reach so many people.''

He supports an ongoing effort to educate Americans in their public schools. Through the efforts of ANCA and other groups, the Armenian genocide is now part of the social studies curriculum in California and several other states.

Vartian said Americans will also see an important chapter of their own history on display at the 100,000-square-foot museum, which will also devote space to salute Turks who protected their Armenian neighbors.

From 1915 on, President Woodrow Wilson and Henry Morgenthau Sr., his ambassador to Turkey, pressured the Turkish government to end persecution of the Armenians and then launched a massive relief effort. Near East Relief, which operated until 1930, disbursed $117 million to ease the plight of Armenian genocide survivors.

The proposed museum site is close to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Vartian noted that there are chilling links to the disaster that befell Jews and other Nazi hate targets during World War II.

He recalled that Adolph Hitler, when asked by his henchmen to consider world reaction to his plan to exterminate Jews, said ``Who, after all, remembers the Armenians?''