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ARMENIAN AND SYRIAN ORTHODOX PATRIARCHS ASK CHRISTIANS TO REMEMBER THE 1915 GENOCIDE AS CENTENNIAL NEARS
Christian Post
Oct 15 2014
By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter
Activists hold pictures of Armenian victims during a demonstration to
commemorate the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,
in Istanbul April 24, 2014.
The primates of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syrian Orthodox
Church have urged Christians around the world to remember and reflect
on the 1915 genocide of Armenians and Syriac Christians in Turkey,
where up to 2 million people were killed or disappeared without
a trace.
"We invite the entire Christian world to unite in prayer at the
Armenian Genocide and the Syriac Sayfo centennial commemorative
events in 2015. We call upon the civilized world to recognize and
condemn the crimes committed against the Armenian and Syriac peoples
as well as other Christian communities," read the joint statement by
the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II,
and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Aphrem II,
as reported by Fides News Agency on Wednesday.
The 1915 genocide during World War I in the territory of Ottoman
Turkey is also known as the Armenian genocide, since Armenians made
up close to 1.5 million of the victims. The attacks on Christians
eliminated almost the entire Christian population in present day
Turkey, leaving almost an entirely Muslim nation.
The Armenian and Syrian primates are asking the international
community to recognize and condemn the atrocities committed at the
time, as the centennial commemoration approaches. The two Christian
leaders met earlier this week at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
the spiritual center of all Armenians, to sign a declaration affirming
the unity of faith between the two sister churches.
Assyrian International News Agency reported in September that a
documentary film is being prepared on the 1915 genocide, scheduled
to premiere in 2015 as part of the commemoration.
Produced by the Assyrian Federation of Sweden and the Assyrian Youth
Federation of Sweden, the documentary explains the circumstances
and details behind the genocide to a wider audience. Directed by
Aziz Said from Berlin, the film crew spent close to three weeks in
southeast Turkey shooting footage for the film.
The documentary will also seek to expose the denial of the genocide as
maintained by the Turkish state, and showcase the effect the massacre
still has on Assyrians today.
The Genocide1915 website provides a comprehensive history of the
conflict. It notes that April 24 is designated as the commemoration
day of the genocide, as the first phase of the genocide was implemented
on that night in 1915, when close to 250 Armenians, including doctors,
lawyers and politicians, were rounded up and executed within 72 hours.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/armenian-and-syrian-orthodox-patriarchs-ask-christians-to-remember-the-1915-genocide-as-centennial-nears-128129/
Christian Post
Oct 15 2014
By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter
Activists hold pictures of Armenian victims during a demonstration to
commemorate the 1915 mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,
in Istanbul April 24, 2014.
The primates of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syrian Orthodox
Church have urged Christians around the world to remember and reflect
on the 1915 genocide of Armenians and Syriac Christians in Turkey,
where up to 2 million people were killed or disappeared without
a trace.
"We invite the entire Christian world to unite in prayer at the
Armenian Genocide and the Syriac Sayfo centennial commemorative
events in 2015. We call upon the civilized world to recognize and
condemn the crimes committed against the Armenian and Syriac peoples
as well as other Christian communities," read the joint statement by
the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II,
and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Aphrem II,
as reported by Fides News Agency on Wednesday.
The 1915 genocide during World War I in the territory of Ottoman
Turkey is also known as the Armenian genocide, since Armenians made
up close to 1.5 million of the victims. The attacks on Christians
eliminated almost the entire Christian population in present day
Turkey, leaving almost an entirely Muslim nation.
The Armenian and Syrian primates are asking the international
community to recognize and condemn the atrocities committed at the
time, as the centennial commemoration approaches. The two Christian
leaders met earlier this week at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,
the spiritual center of all Armenians, to sign a declaration affirming
the unity of faith between the two sister churches.
Assyrian International News Agency reported in September that a
documentary film is being prepared on the 1915 genocide, scheduled
to premiere in 2015 as part of the commemoration.
Produced by the Assyrian Federation of Sweden and the Assyrian Youth
Federation of Sweden, the documentary explains the circumstances
and details behind the genocide to a wider audience. Directed by
Aziz Said from Berlin, the film crew spent close to three weeks in
southeast Turkey shooting footage for the film.
The documentary will also seek to expose the denial of the genocide as
maintained by the Turkish state, and showcase the effect the massacre
still has on Assyrians today.
The Genocide1915 website provides a comprehensive history of the
conflict. It notes that April 24 is designated as the commemoration
day of the genocide, as the first phase of the genocide was implemented
on that night in 1915, when close to 250 Armenians, including doctors,
lawyers and politicians, were rounded up and executed within 72 hours.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/armenian-and-syrian-orthodox-patriarchs-ask-christians-to-remember-the-1915-genocide-as-centennial-nears-128129/