Tbilisi demonstration honors memory of 1.5 mln Armenian Genocide victims

April 24, 2016 - 18:50 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A demonstration dedicated to the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 was held in Yerevan Park of Tbilisi’s Avlabari district on Sunday, April 24, the website of Georgia’s Armenian community said.

The over 1000 protesters rallied against Turkey’s genocidal policy, calling on Georgia to join the civilized world in recognizing and condemning the massacres of Armenians.

Also, the participants yet again reaffirmed their willingness to fight for the Armenian cause.

As a sign of Armenians’ unity, the demonstrators waved the Nagorno Karabakh flag along with the Armenian tricolor.

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.