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UPI: Worldwide rallies commemorate anniversary of the Armenian genocide

April 25, 2017 By administrator

By Mike Bambach,

April 24 (UPI) — Thousands around the world on Monday marked the 102 anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey’s Ottoman Empire with protest gatherings and marches.

Rallies from Istanbul, Beirut and Paris to Ottawa and Los Angeles — home to one of the largest Armenian communities outside Armenia — demanded Turkish authorities stop their denial of the genocide.

“Wherever there are Armenians, there will be this ceremony,” said Aram Karadaghlian, 31, one of the Beirut event’s organizers.”It’s a duty. They come show respect and appreciation.”

Historians estimate 1.5 million Armenians were killed in massacres organized by the Ottoman Empire government of Young Turks during World War I.

But Turkey has long denied genocide took place, arguing that the killings can’t be separated from the upheaval of World War I.

“We’re going to stand together to voice our desire for justice,” Simon Izmirian, an executive member of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, said in a phone interview from Ottawa, “and for the perpetrators to be held accountable for what they’ve done in 1915.”

U.S. Reps. Adam Schiff (D.-Calif.) and Dave Trott (R-Michigan) last month introduced a resolution asking Congress to formally recognize the genocide.

“Over 100 years ago, the Ottoman Empire undertook a brutal campaign of murder, rape, and displacement against the Armenian people that took the lives of 1.5 million men, women, and children in the first genocide of the 20th century,” Schiff said in a statement.

“Genocide is not a historic relic — even today hundreds of thousands of religious minorities face existential threat from ISIS in Syria and Iraq. It is therefore all the more pressing that the Congress recognize the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and stand against modern day genocide and crimes against humanity.”

(Video) Millions of Armenians Around the world march on Turkish Consulate & Embassies, Demanded Recognizing Armenian Genocide

April 24, 2016 By administrator

Thousands of people around the globe took to the streets on Sunday to commemorate the 1915 massacre of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, demanding that Turkey recognize the atrocity as genocide.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and First Lady Rita Sargsyan laid flowers at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in the country’s capital, Yerevan.

The event in memory of the victims was attended by Hollywood star George Clooney and renowned French singer Charles Aznavour, who is of Armenian descent.

https://youtu.be/KiqiPwJB5Ks

Sargsyan used the 101st anniversary to draw international attention to a recent flare up in hostilities in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The multi-ethnic enclave populated by Armenians and Azerbaijanis has been in political limbo since a conflict between the groups involving tens of thousands of casualties ended in 1994 with the region self-declaring independence. Turkish ally Azerbaijan, however, still claims it as its own, and has not backed off its intention to take back control of the territory.

“I declare for the entire world to hear: there will be no purging or deportation of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). We will not allow another Armenian Genocide. We – means the Armenian nation, all its segments, we – means our Armenian consolidation,” the president said in a statement.

Several thousand people gathered in Moscow carrying Armenian and Russian flags to mark the somber anniversary.

https://youtu.be/6-cZkpEPxvA

“The memory of the victims of the genocide will live on forever,” read a huge black banner displayed in Russia’s capital.

A group of teens participating in a flash mob removed red bands from their mouths as an Armenian girl passed by in a symbolic gesture meaning that it is impossible to hush up the genocide any longer.

In Greece, hundreds of ethnic Armenians and sympathizers marched through Athens to denounce Turkey and slam Azerbaijan for allegedly escalating the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

https://youtu.be/JA4BmYHnowE

The protesters marched to the Turkish and Azeri embassies in center of the Greek capital waving Armenian flags and carrying signs reading: “Truth will Triumph,”“Azerbaijan Land of Crimes,” and “Hands off Armenia.”

Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators in Iran participated in an event at Tehran’s St. Sarkis Cathedral, in which they also urged Ankara to recognize the genocide of Armenians and condemned the recent uptick in hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“Our demand is that Turkey recognizes the historical truth and accepts legal responsibility for it,” Karen Khanlari, an Iranian-Armenian lawmaker, told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

https://youtu.be/Hg0CnY9QGzY

In 1914, at the beginning of World War I, around 2 million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire, but that number decreased to less than half a million over the next eight years.

The mass killings began on April 24, 1915, when 250 Armenian intellectuals were detained by Ottoman authorities and later executed in their capital, Constantinople, which is now present-day Istanbul.

Most of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenians were subsequently displaced, deported, or placed in concentration camps, ostensibly for rebelling against the Ottomans and siding with the Russians during World War I.

Turkey – the successor of the Ottoman Empire – admits that many Armenians were mistreated at the time, but claims that the number of victims has been grossly exaggerated and that there was no “genocide” or official systematic effort to eliminate the Armenian minority.

Acknowledging crimes against humanity would not only damage Ankara’s international reputation, but also leave it liable for reparations, which some Armenian human rights groups estimate should be worth trillions of dollars.

On April 25 of last year, Turkey held a celebration to mark 100 years since the Gallipoli Landings, the Ottoman Empire’s greatest success in World War I, in order to distract attention from the 100th anniversary of the genocide, angering many in Armenia

https://youtu.be/KC75b7rXuF0

Armenian communities stage powerful rallies worldwide Against Azerbaijan aggression

April 6, 2016 By administrator

67078_b The Armenian community of Argentina held a massive demonstration outside the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the country to denounce the Azeri aggression against Nagorno Karabakh on the night of Tuesday, April 5, Prensa Armenia reports.

After an intense awareness campaign among the society, all institutions of the community called for peace and recognition of self-determination of the people of Artsakh. The rally was attended by several community representatives and Archbishop Kissag Mouradian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church for Argentina and Chile.

“Azerbaijan has embarked in recent years on the process of expanding its military arsenal and the externalization of their convictions to achieve their goals through weapons. The continued aggressive attitude of Azerbaijan against the civilian population of Nagorno Karabakh confirms that a peaceful resolution of the conflict will only be possible by respecting the right of self-determination of its people,” reads the statement signed by all community organizations.

“Given the serious situation in question, we ask the authorities of Argentina to urge the parties to circumscribe the conflict settlement in the framework of the negotiations held in the Minsk Group, and thus avoiding a regional explosion with unpredictable consequences.”

Also Tuesday, the Armenian organization Nor Serund staged a massive rally in front of Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Paris.

The participants carried posters with the slogans “Karabakh is ours” and “Aliyev is the enemy of peace.”

The demonstrators tried to draw closer to the Embassy but the police formed a human wall and used tear gas to hinder the youth’s advance.

In addition, the Armenian activists ofAustria held a protest action in front of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, where the OSCE Minsk Group had held a special meeting earlier that day. The protesters demanded that Azerbaijan cease violence in Nagorno Karabakh, RIA says.

The parties to the Karabakh conflict agreed on a bilateral ceasefire along the contact line which came into force at midday, April 5.

Prior to that, on the night of April 1-2, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated overt offensive operations in the southern, southeastern and northeastern directions of the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh.

As many as 29 Karabakh servicemen were killed and 101 were wounded in the course of military operations. 28 Karabakh soldiers have gone missing so far.

As of April 5, the Azerbaijani side has lost 26 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 1 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, 2 military helicopters and 11 unmanned aerial vehicles.

14 Karabakh tanks have been neutralized since April 2.

РИА Новости: Армянские активисты в Австрии проводят в Вене митинг.