Situation in Egypt prevents Armenian community from holding march for Genocide victims

April 24, 2011 - 21:04 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - In contrast to previous years, unstable situation in the country prevented Egypt’s Armenian community from holding a march in commemoration of Armenian Genocide victims.

As the editor-in-chief of Husaber newspaper, Suren Bayramyan told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, in the evening of April 24 a commemorative event will be held in Cairo, with an Armenian tenor Gevorg Hajyan to perform Komitas compositions. Armenian Ambassador to Egypt Armen Melkonyan will deliver a speech at the event.

“On April 22, the Church of St. George in Cairo hosted a liturgy to commemorate innocent victims of the tragedy,” Mr. Bayramyan 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.