Slovakia event marks Armenian Genocide anniversary

April 24, 2017 - 21:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A ceremony commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was held at a khachkar in the Slovakian capital city of Bratislava on Monday, April 24.

Slovakian parliament speaker Andrej Danko, deputy speaker Bela Bugar, as well as the ambassadors of Armenia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Russia laid wreaths at the memorial.

Danko and Armenia's envoy to the country delivered speeches, with the latter weighing in on the process of Slovakia's recognition and criminalization of the Armenian Genocide.

102 years have passed since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, perpetrated in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.