Armenian people will never forget Armenian Genocide, despite Turkey’s efforts

April 24, 2010 - 15:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - President of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Radik Martirosyan said that, irrespective of weather conditions, Armenians come to the Armenian Genocide Memorial to commemorate innocent victims every year on April 24. “This year is peculiar by the fact that we had been trying to normalize our relations with Turkey. However, Turkey wanted to use our gesture of goodwill for the implementation of its preconditions,” Mr. Martirosyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “The fact that all Armenians visit the Memorial shows that our people will never forget this horrible crime, despite Turkey’s efforts,” Martirosyan said.

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.