Israel Armenian armenian genocide 101 Some 300 people gathered themselves Saturday in the monastery of St. Jacques in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem and commemorated the 101 anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide.

The ceremony took place after a Mass that was led by the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian, and was attended by leaders of the Armenian community in Jerusalem. The service honored the memory of the 1.5 million Armenian victims killed by Ottoman authorities between 1915 and 1923, primarily in Syria.

Harut Baghamian, one of the organizers of the ceremony, a member of the youth movement Homenetmen and a descendant of refugees of the Armenian Genocide, told the Jerusalem Post that the Armenian community is disappointed with the way Israel treats the memory of the genocide. “It’s not that we deny as in some countries, we do not speak simply” Has he said.

However, Baghamian sees in the Jewish people a partner Armenians. “There are Israeli politicians who expressed their feelings about the genocide in the past, and we appreciate that. But we expect the government to honor its values before politics, “he said.

“We understand that this is a political issue. We receive broad support from the Israeli public. There are many similarities between Armenians and Jews throughout history, so we expect that the Jewish state is the first to recognize and address the issue. Armenians know the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust and hope that the Israeli government will do the same. “

On Sunday, members of the Armenian community and social activists will rotester front of the Turkish Consulate in Jerusalem and the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv.