Armenian Genocide anniversary: Artsakh holds torchlight procession

April 24, 2017 - 12:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Committee of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) on Sunday, April 23 staged a torchlight procession in memory of the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide.

The participants started off from Surb Hakob church in the Karabakh capital city of Stepanakert and headed to the Armenian Genocide memorial, Artsakhpress reports.

Halfway through the rally, those marching on the 102nd anniversary of the first genocide of the 20th century burnt a Turkish flag to protest Ankara's denialist policy.

President Bako Sahakyan, meanwhile, issued a statement on Monday, stating that oblivion and indifference is a crime in itself and can lead to new atrocities in the future.

"This simple truth has been proved many times in the 20th and 21st centuries and we are grateful to all those people and states that were there for our nation during those days of ordeal, those who go on supporting us today for the restoration of justice in our struggle," Sahakyan said.

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.