Sign proclaims Armenian heritage

A hole was all that remained of the "Ararat" street sign on 3300 South and 800 East on Friday.

The day before, Garine Bekearian had taken a picture of it to commemorate the one-year anniversary of streets named in honor of Utah's growing Armenian community.

Bekearian, the director of Utah's chapter of the Armenian Relief Society, was disappointed with its absence, but it wasn't the end of the world to her.

"It's just a sign," she said.

After all, there was another sign farther down the street.

After taking pictures along the busy street where the absent sign used to reside, the growing crowd congregated down the street at the second sign.

The scheduled program continued as if nothing had happened. "We are going to celebrate anyway — regardless," Bekearian said with a shrug.

Beneath the shade of old neighborhood trees on the corner of 3375 South Ararat (800 East) the group gathered — waving small American and Armenian flags, side by side.

"This is sign of patriotism — our national identity," said Asya Asatryan, through translation by Artak Aleksanyan, as she pointed to the green sign. Asatryan, an Armenian journalist from Los Angeles, came to Salt Lake to speak to the community and celebrate the recognition of the growing number of Armenians immigrating to Utah.

But the choice to name the street Ararat was not arbitrary. The word carries with it a deep sense of religious purpose and history.

Mount Ararat is believed by the Armenian people to be the mountain where the biblical prophet Noah's ark ran aground.

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its primary religion in 301 A.D. Those Christian roots are a large and evident part of almost every Armenian today, evidenced through the "ian" and "yan" that appears in their last names, said Bekearian.

Prior to World War I, Mount Ararat was a part of Armenia. But following the collapse of the short-lived Armenian Republic in 1920, the country was annexed by the Soviet army.

Mount Ararat became a part of Turkey through the Treaty of Kars — a treaty of friendship between Turkey and the Soviet Union, signed in 1921 and ratified in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, in 1922.

Despite losing their national symbol, Armenians still carry it with them in their hearts and display it on the countries coat of arms, said Bekearian.

"It is our history," said Ohannes Megerdichian. "Our identity."