Tweet
ARMENIA COMMEMORATING GENOCIDE VICTIMS
ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 24, 2013 Wednesday 12:22 PM GMT+4
- Armenia on Wednesday is commemorating 1.5 million victims of the
genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. This date,
the same as the anniversary of the devastating earthquake of 1988,
is marked by a black frame in the country's official calendar.
The people on this day en mass visit the memorial, erected in 1967
by the decision of the government of Soviet Armenia. The austere and
stately obelisk, built on Tsitsernakaberd hill (in Armenian means
"Swallow's fortress"), from which the whole Yerevan can be seen,
symbolizes the sorrow for the victims and the revival of the nation.
Thousands of people will be coming here throughout the day with
wreaths and flowers.
The Armenian leadership, headed by President Serzh Sargsyan, as well
as the bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, headed by Catholicos
Garegin II will visit Tsitsernakaberd. Memorial services will be held
in all Armenian churched in the country and abroad.
The international recognition and condemnation of the genocide is one
of Armenia's foreign policy priorities. A number of states have done
so, and Greece and France have adopted the corresponding laws. In
1995, the State Duma lower house of Russia's parliament adopted a
statement condemning the Armenian genocide - the original of this
document is stored in the genocide museum-institute that was opened
the same year near the memorial.
The problem of genocide for decades has clouded relations between
Armenia and Turkey. Ankara is still refusing to recognise the
tragic events, considering them to be legal actions by the Ottoman
authorities against the Armenian population of the empire, which amid
the First World War was supporting Russia. Having a common border of
330 kilometres, Armenia and Turkey have not established diplomatic
relations to this day.
ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 24, 2013 Wednesday 12:22 PM GMT+4
- Armenia on Wednesday is commemorating 1.5 million victims of the
genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. This date,
the same as the anniversary of the devastating earthquake of 1988,
is marked by a black frame in the country's official calendar.
The people on this day en mass visit the memorial, erected in 1967
by the decision of the government of Soviet Armenia. The austere and
stately obelisk, built on Tsitsernakaberd hill (in Armenian means
"Swallow's fortress"), from which the whole Yerevan can be seen,
symbolizes the sorrow for the victims and the revival of the nation.
Thousands of people will be coming here throughout the day with
wreaths and flowers.
The Armenian leadership, headed by President Serzh Sargsyan, as well
as the bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, headed by Catholicos
Garegin II will visit Tsitsernakaberd. Memorial services will be held
in all Armenian churched in the country and abroad.
The international recognition and condemnation of the genocide is one
of Armenia's foreign policy priorities. A number of states have done
so, and Greece and France have adopted the corresponding laws. In
1995, the State Duma lower house of Russia's parliament adopted a
statement condemning the Armenian genocide - the original of this
document is stored in the genocide museum-institute that was opened
the same year near the memorial.
The problem of genocide for decades has clouded relations between
Armenia and Turkey. Ankara is still refusing to recognise the
tragic events, considering them to be legal actions by the Ottoman
authorities against the Armenian population of the empire, which amid
the First World War was supporting Russia. Having a common border of
330 kilometres, Armenia and Turkey have not established diplomatic
relations to this day.