 Though as a youth Yeghiayan did not show too great an interest in the Armenian Genocide, the 1965 Yerevan demonstrations and the discovery of his father's harrowing experience through the massacres played a critical role in encouraging him to bring more public awareness to the subject.In 1960, he founded the Armenian Students Association at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 1972, Yeghiayan initiated the first protest at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles, paving the way for what has now become an annual protest against the Turkish government for its continued denial of the genocide.Yeghiayan has also edited and published several books dealing with issues regarding the Armenian Genocide.