Armenian Genocide Museum to exhibit exclusive materials by 95th anniversary of Armenian Genocide

March 3, 2010 - 17:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide in collaboration with the Ministry of Diaspora will organize a two-day international conference timed to 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The main topic of the conference will be the question of cultural genocide, Hayk Demoyan , director of the Museum-Institute of Armenian Genocide told a news conference in Yerevan.

On April 23 the museum will exhibit some 50 exclusive materials collected over the past two years. "At the moment we are working on a major project to expand the building, and to organize a new exhibition," the museum's director said. Originals of the newspapers featuring the massacres of Armenians published in other countries will also be exposed. " We intend to provide grants to foreign students who want to specialize in the field of Armenian studies, particularly in Armenian Genocide," Hayk Demoyan 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.