Irvine dedicated land in its Great Park over the weekend for an Armenian genocide memorial that was added to plans last year.

City officials, along with the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, held a dedication ceremony on Sunday, April 28, in the Great Park for the future memorial. It will be located on the edge of a forested part of the park being called the “Heart of the Park,” with a clearing in front of the memorial.

City of Irvine transportation commissioner Mari Fujii takes pictures on Sunday, April 28 during a site dedication for an Armenian genocide memorial at the Great Park in Irvine. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Dozens take part in a site dedication for the future Armenian Genocide Memorial at the Great Park in Irvine on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Dozens take part in a site dedication for the future Armenian Genocide Memorial at the Great Park in Irvine on Sunday, April 28, 2024. Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Rev. Serovpe Alanjian, left, with St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church in Costa Mesa, left, and the Rev. Karekin Bedourian, with Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Santa Ana, pray Sunday, April 28, 2024 at the Great Park where anArmenian genocide memorial will be honor those killed during World War I. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

An artist sketch, depicting the Armenian genocide that killed up to 1.5 million people during World War I, is displayed at the Great Park in Irvine on Sunday, April 28, 2024. An Armenian genocide memorial will be built behind the rendering. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Children from Ari Guiragos Minassian Armenian School in Santa Ana pray during a site dedication for the future Armenian Genocide Memorial at the Great Park in Irvine on Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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As many as 1.2 million Armenian Christians were killed in the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1916, during World War I, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

But the memorial is not just about remembering what happened in the past, said Garo Madenlian, a founding member of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, but is also intended to call attention to current or future atrocities. Madenlian pointed to the ongoing conflict between neighboring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying Armenians are being targeted again. Earlier this month, a human rights organization asked the International Criminal Court to investigate claims that Azerbaijan is committing genocide against Armenians.

“It makes it more important to have something like this, to remember, never forget, but to be proactive to not let it continue to happen,” said Madenlian, an attorney who chairs the Orange County Armenian Center.

The memorial is meant to “serve as an abstract or personified concept representing a memorializing of the tragedies of the past, the present thriving community and the hopeful aspirations for the future,” city officials said in an announcement of the dedication, noting the city’s large Armenian American community.

The design for the memorial is still being worked on, said Madenlian. “The idea is for it to be a place that’s peaceful and quiet.”

The community plans to hold its annual gathering there once it’s completed, he said.

The City Council approved including the memorial last year within the Great Park as it expands.

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