May 19, 2005 - 08:18 AMT
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS COMMEMORATED IN SAINT PETERSBURG
It rained in Saint Petersburg on 23 April, however the bad weather did not prevent several hundreds of Armenians from gathering in the yard of the Armenian Apostolic Church for a dramatized performance previous evening, reported the Yerkramas newspaper of Armenians of Russia. The youth performed songs about the Genocide and Nairi dance ensemble tried to convey the horror of the tragedy of 1915 to those gathered via a dance performance. After priest Ter Sargis read Our Father, hundreds of black balloons flied into the sky in response to the rain. A funeral liturgy was held in the Church April 24 morning, then wreaths were laid to the khachkar in the yard. At 1:00 a rally began. "All we ask for is repentance," it was written on a transparent and it is the call of the Armenian youth to the whole of the world on acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide. The same Day, a Commemoration Evening was organized by the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Regional Armenian National Cultural Autonomy with the support of the Consulate General of Armenia. Besides the concert part First Genocide of 21st century documentary exhibition was presented by the Armenian Friendly Association of Saint Petersburg youth regional NGO. The exhibition was brought there specially for the event from the Tsitsernakaberd Museum of Memory of the Genocide in Yerevan. It included photographs, a short chronological excursus of the events, narratives of witnesses, in four languages (Armenian, Russian, English and French).