Buenos Aires to mark April 24 as “Day of 1st Genocide of 20th Century”

April 5, 2014 - 12:21 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The legislative council of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital city, issued a statement on Thursday, April 4 written by councilmembers Virginia Gonzalez Gass and Maria Raquel Herrero, commemorating April 24 as the “Day of the First Genocide of the 20th Century,” on the “99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,” Asbarez reported.

The council also approved a proposal submitted by legislator Pablo Ferreyra asking the Ministry of Education to allocate proper attention to the Armenian Genocide on the “day of action for tolerance and respect between people,” referring to an Argentinean law that commemorates the genocide suffered by the Armenian people every April 24.

“To educate about history is to educate for the respect and protection of human rights. In this sense, it is essential to promote the inclusion of the issue of genocide in education, not only to remember but also to consider the conditions that made possible such abhorrent and savage events,” said Ferreyra in a press statement.

Asbarez. Buenos Aires Law Marks 99th Anniversary of Genocide

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.