Armenians mark anniversary of WWI ‘genocide’
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
Demonstrators from all across Armenia flocked to Yerevan to take part in the rally on Sunday. They held a torchlight procession in memory of the Armenians killed in incidents dating back to World War I.
“We want the entire world and all the countries to recognize the genocide of the Armenians,” one demonstrator said at the rally.
April 24 marks the date when hundreds of Armenians were arrested in the then-Ottoman capital of Constantinople in 1915 for allegedly collaborating with the enemies of the Turks. A process of mass killings then began.
The demonstrators in Yerevan burned the Turkish flag in protest against the role of the Ottoman Turks in the incidents.
A similar demonstration was held by Armenian-Americans living in the United States of America.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered at Times Square in New York City on Sunday to commemorate what was dubbed the “Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.”
Commemorations of the event have been held by Armenians since the 1920s.
The occasion often sparks political tensions between Armenia and Turkey, which vehemently opposes the description of the massacre as “genocide.”
Two years ago, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan called on Turkish authorities to recognize the WWl incidents as such. Turkey rejected the request, claiming that 300,000 to 500,000 cases of death and injury between 1915 and 1917 were the result of wartime force majeure.
Armenia, nevertheless, claims that up to 1.5 million of its people were killed at the time, and demands that the incident be recorded in books and documents as “genocide.”
Pope Francis has used that term to describe the killings.
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