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Eiffel Towel lights will be turned off on April 24 in memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, Armenia’s embassy in France reports.
According to the Mayor’s decision, on the Armenian Genocide Centennial Day at 22:00 (midnight Yerevan time) Eiffel Tower lights will be partly turned off, this symbolizing the tribute to the Armenian Genocide victims.
VIENNA—The Austrian Parliament drafted a statement on April 21 condemning the Armenian Genocide and calling on Turkey to face its past. According to sources, all six factions of parliament came together and agreed on the statement, which will be presented to the public on April 22.
The news comes a day after Germany announced its plan to “stand behind” a resolution affirming the Armenian Genocide, which will be voted on April 24.
Germany’s Parliament is set to use the term “genocide” in a resolution, and the government said on April 20 that it will support the motion sponsored by the ruling parties.
A draft of the German resolution notes the Armenians’ fate is “exemplary for the history of mass destruction, ethnic cleansing, expulsions, and genocides by which the 20th century is marked in such a terrible way.”
The members of the Armenian diaspora living in Moscow throwing white balloons symbolizing the souls of the innocent victims of the genocide of the Armenian people in the center of Moscow, Russia, April 19, 2015.
Armenians in Iraq working in the Armenian cultural center in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Photograph taken April 18, 2015 in Erbil, capital of the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq
YEREVAN. – A global social and political conference, titled “Against the Crime of Genocide,” will be convened on Wednesday and Thursday in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia.
Armenia Presidential Chief of Staff Vigen Sargsyan, who is also chairman of the organizing committee for the Armenian Genocide Centennial commemorations, stated the aforesaid at a press conference on Monday.
In Sargsyan’s words, the conference will be devoted to the combat against not solely the Armenian Genocide, but all genocides in the world.
He also informed that the canonization ceremony for the Armenian Genocide victims will be performed on Thursday at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.
And early in the morning on Friday, April 24—the day of the Genocide centenary—, more than sixty official delegations—comprising state and international organizations—will visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan.
“This year the people’s admission to the memorial will be possible as of 1pm,” Vigen Sargsyan added.
Germany abruptly shifted its policy Monday from a steadfast refusal to use the term “genocide” to describe the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces 100 years ago.
BERLIN (Reuters)—The German government backed away on Monday from a steadfast refusal to use the term “genocide” to describe the massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces 100 years ago after rebellious members of parliament forced its hand.
In a major reversal in Turkey’s top trading partner in the European Union and home to millions of Turks, Germany joins other nations and institutions including France, the European parliament and Pope Francis in using the term condemned by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said the government would support a resolution in parliament on Friday declaring it an example of genocide.
Germany had long resisted using the term “genocide” even though France and other nations have. But the coalition government came under pressure from parliamentary deputies in their own ranks planning to use the word in a resolution.
“The government backs the draft resolution…in which the fate of the Armenians during World War One serves as an example of the history of mass murders, ethnic cleansings, expulsions and, yes, the genocides during the 20th century,” Seibert said.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had rejected using the word genocide in an ARD TV interview on Sunday, denying any suggestion it was being avoided to avoid upsetting Turkey.
“Responsibility can’t be reduced to a single term,” he said.
Members of parliament in the conservative Christian Democrats and their Social Democrat (SPD) allies forced the change.
Analysts said that the reluctance until now from Germany, a country that works hard to come to terms with the Holocaust it was responsible for, was due to fears of upsetting Turkey and the 3.5 million Germans of Turkish origin or Turkish nationals living in Germany.
The German government also did not want to use the word due to concerns the Herero massacres committed in 1904 and 1905 by German troops in what is now Namibia could also be called genocide — leading to reparation demands.
“It’s a striking contradiction by the German government that Germany is denying the genocide of Armenians,” said Ayata Bilgin, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University.
“Research has shown that external pressure on countries can have a considerable influence and Germany could play a very important role in this discussion on Turkey.’
Toronto, Canada
Several thousand Armenians of Canada gathered in Toronto on Sunday to mark centenary of the Armenian Genocide.
The action brought together Armenian-Canadians, Armenian Ambassador to Canada Armen Yeganyan, famous director Atom Egoyan. Defense Minister Jason Kenney, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory, appeared to support the event, ctvnews.ca reported.
“The Armenian genocide was a dark moment in human history and the passage of a century has not diminished the horror of those events. Nor has it diminished the importance of recognizing the atrocity in Armenia as genocide,” Kathleen Wynne said.
The action also brought together representatives of other communities whose ancestors survived mass atrocities during the last century.
A small group of Turkish Canadians, many waving Turkish flags, staged a counter-action a short distance from the Queen’s Park.
Photos from Twitter of Kathleen Wynne and Robin Bedrosian
By: Olivia Ward Foreign Affairs Reporter
In 1915, the Ottoman Empire’s Armenians were declared enemies of the state by the ruling junta of ultranationalists, who denounced them as supporters of their wartime foe, Russia.
Even in the dark depths of the First World War, what followed was unique in its calculating brutality.
Fiercely denied by the Turkish government, it would be denounced as the 20th century’s first genocide: an organized attempt to ethnically cleanse the Armenians from their homeland. By the time the massacres and deportations were done, as many as 1.5 million men, women and children had perished.
On April 24, Armenians throughout the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the event that destroyed their families, pillaged their patrimony and set them adrift with few, if any, mementos of their past.
A century later, the world is closer to understanding the facts of the “great catastrophe” that befell the Armenians, as histories of the massive killings have swelled.
In Turkey, the history is hazier.
“What happened in 1915 is the collective secret of Turkish society, and the genocide has been relegated to the black hole of our collective memory,” says Turkish writer Taner Akcam in a foreword to Turkey and the Armenian Ghost.
“Confronting our history means questioning everything — our social institutions, mindset, beliefs, culture, even the language we speak. Our society will have to closely re-examine its own self-image.”
As recently as this week, Turkey sharply criticized the Vatican after the Pope denounced the massacres as genocide, calling on all heads of state to recognize it and oppose such crimes “without ceding to ambiguity or compromise.”
More than 20 countries, including Canada, have passed bills recognizing the killings as genocide. The U.S. does not officially recognize the term, although President Barack Obama had used it before his election.
The Armenian American Community proudly announces the completion of the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial project!
The Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, its partner organizations, the City of Pasadena, and community organizations invite YOU to join us for the historic Unveiling Ceremony of the Armenian Genocide Memorial!
TED Cruz Stresses: “The Massacre of the Armenian, Assyrian and other Christian People Should be Called what it is: Genocide”
WASHINGTON, DC – Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) today marked the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide with a statement calling for the proper recognition of the massacre of Armenian, Assyrian and other Christian peoples as genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).
Sen. Cruz’s statement, addressed to the Armenian Church of Austin, was read on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol, during the Austin Peace March and Rally, an observance attended by thousands and organized by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of Texas.
“Senator Cruz got it right,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “As Americans, we cannot be silent. We must speak the truth. His remarks highlight the Armenian Genocide gag-rule that Ankara continues to enforce on the U.S. government, and spotlight the stark choice facing President Obama this April 24th: to reject or enforce Turkey’s veto on our nation’s Armenian Genocide policy.”
Prior to his election to the oval office, President Obama was clear and unequivocal in his pledge to properly characterize the murder of over 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children from 1915-1923 by the Ottoman Turkish government as genocide. “The facts are undeniable. An official policy that calls on diplomats to distort the historical facts is an untenable policy. As a senator, I strongly support passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and S.Res.106), and as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide,” stated then Senator Obama in a January 19, 2008, statement.
See below full text of the statement
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