In a landmark ruling for Armenians the world over, in March 2011 an Argentinian court held that “the Turkish State committed the crime of Genocide against the Armenian people between 1915 and 1923.” It was the first time the Armenian Genocide was reviewed by a justice system as a legal issue. The ruling was a culmination of over ten years of research, court subpoenas and requests for archives from various countries. Testimony and evidence was collected and used to support a claim to “the right to the truth.”
 

Coco, as everyone calls Gregorio Hairabedian, is a man of unparalleled charisma. His professional reputation has made him one of the most loved and respected people in the Argentinian Armenian community, where he is the go-to notary public. 

He began a long journey through the Argentinian court system in the year 2000, with the counsel support of his daughter Luisa. Hairabedian used the principle of universal jurisdiction and the fact that there is no statute of limitation on crimes against humanity to build his case. “Human rights organizations’ quests for truth and justice, the results obtained up to that moment and the concept of universal jurisdiction made me think of legally applying these principles to the Genocide of my family and of the Armenian people,” he recollects.  

Hairabedian filed a lawsuit against Turkey in Argentina. The claim was rejected in the first instance, but once an appeal was filed the tables turned and the case was sustained.

With a deeply thoughtful look in his eyes, he reiterates: “Before being Armenians, we are human beings. The fight for justice with regard to genocide is closely connected to the fight all nations engage in to change things for the better.”  

Coco inherited his father’s adventurous spirit and was deeply influenced by the stories his father used to tell him. “The idea of the trial was rooted in what my father told me. I used to wonder, if he went to war to give up his life for Armenia, how is it possible that we can do nothing about it through the legal system?”

The little corporal

Ohannes Hairabedian, Coco’s father, was born in a peasant family in Palú (now in the province of Elazig, Turkey). He had an innate spirit of a globetrotter. “When he was 12, with a group of friends they took some bread and cheese from their houses and went to see what was on the other side,” Coco recalls. The boys crossed the mountains and arrived in Kharbert. “They were spotted and detained, but my father managed to hide in a house,” Gregorio remembers. Two Armenian women lived there. They were embarking on a trip to the United States and invited Ohannes to join them. “Upon arriving in New York, they told my father that they had other plans and could not bring him along. He was given a gold coin and told that should someone talk to him, his reply should be ‘ermeni’ [‘Armenian’ in Turkish].” This is the answer he gave to the authorities, so an Armenian family was contacted to look after Ohannes. It was the year 1906 and the young man worked in this family’s grocery store. At the age of 18 he had an education and opened his own business. 

In 1916, Ohannes learned that his family had been massacred and that Armenian villages in the Ottoman Empire were being wiped out. He decided to return and fight with his countrymen. Together with other young men of Armenian origin he joined the “Eastern League” (known as the “Armenian League” since 1918) with the goal to liberate the region of Cilicia and to gain autonomy under French command. In fact, in May 1919 Armenians declared an independent state in Cilicia.

Ohannes served at the French front in Adana and fought in the trenches. “Because my dad was literate, he was promoted to corporal. He was called ‘petit corporal’ because he was short,” Coco laughs. After a year on the frontlines, he was wounded and taken to a field hospital. By the time he was released, the war was over and he remained in Adana. “He was convinced they could build a ‘great Armenia.’ With some partners and friends they bought some land in Cilicia,” Coco recalls. 

However, Ohannes soon realized he couldn’t stay longer. In 1920 the French authorities dissolved the Armenian League and France recognized Turkish sovereignty over the region. The Armenian population soon left Cilicia together with the French soldiers. “Back then people talked a lot about Argentina, they said there was a place called Córdoba that looked like their village,” Coco says. Longing for a place to call home, Ohannes and his intrepid spirit headed for South America.  

Love in high seas

Onboard the ship Ohannes met Lusaper Barsumian, a girl from Zeitun (now Suleymanli in southern Turkey) on her way to Buenos Aires to work at the Bagley cookie factory. She survived the Genocide thanks to the school orphanage “Bethel” in Marash, where she stayed for nearly 20 years as a warden and a teacher. She was her family’s sole survivor.  

Ohannes tried to win her over and offered to take her to Córdoba, but to no avail. “A countryman, Juan Krallian, sent letters to my mother to convince her that my father was a good, hard working man,” Coco recalls. Krallian became the matchmaker between Ohannes and Lusaper and was their best man and godfather to two of their three children.

In Córdoba, Ohannes became part of the new local community. “My father had a deep love for his homeland. Back then Armenia had a shot at being a country, and he defended it. On Sundays he used to go door to door to deliver books he received from Armenia,” Coco says, adding: “He always talked about the war. Sometimes he remembered how they played the zurna, how they sang and danced, other times he told stories about the trenches and how they drank wine to be stronger. What he wanted was to do justice.” 

A different world order

With a family history that deeply defines him, 83 year-old Coco has devoted his life to the fight for human rights. Genocide is a crime, and as such it should be tried in a court of law – a goal Hairabedian successfully accomplished together with other Armenian institutions that became co-plaintiffs in the case. Many years later, Coco realized his father’s dream. “This action is part of an attempt to change the current world order,” Coco says. “We have to create milestones, because just sitting there is useless.”

Coco’s quest for justice continues through his foundation, which he named “Luisa Hairabedian” after his daughter, another relentless crusader who passed away in an accident. The Foundation is involved in the promotion of human rights and the prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity through legal action and educational, cultural and academic programs.  

Loyal to his ideals, Coco remains hopeful that the next generations will further improve the situation: “Those who will carry on this fight are the young. Not because they are young, but because some of them will perceive the world differently.” He also insists that a crime against humanity has to be tried, but with a broader perspective: “It is very difficult to achieve anything individually in the legal sphere. Today, there is an Armenian State. That state has the ability to initiate a legal action in the International Court of Justice, and that should be the next step.”  

The story is verified by the 100 LIVES Research Team.