Armenian Genocide commemorated in Romania

April 25, 2010 - 09:29 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Events dated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide were held in Romania on April 24, with hundreds of Armenians, politicians, cultural workers and students participating

People laid flowers at the khachkar commemorating the Genocide victims and attended a liturgy at an Armenian Church.

Chairman of the Armenian Union of Romania Varuzhan Voskanyan will address the Romanian Senate on April 26, RA MFA press office reported.

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.