C$150,000 raised in Canada for Genocide centenary commemorations

November 17, 2014 - 16:44 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - About C$150,000 was raised in Montreal, Canada, for the organization of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015.

400 people, including Publisher of The California Courier, Harut Sassounian, and Armenia’s ambassador to Canada Armen Yeritsyan, attended the event, the RA MFA press office reported.

“We are still witnessing the consequences of the Genocide,” the envoy said, speaking about the destruction of the Armenian church in Syria’s Deir-er Zor.

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.