Meeting of commission on preparation to 95th anniversary of Armenian Genocide held

April 2, 2010 - 13:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The government of Armenia held a meeting of the Commission on the preparation of activities dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide .

"We must do everything to support to put into practice the best ideas and initiatives," RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said. The activities dedicated to 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide has eight directions: research and education, cultural activities, publication and re-printing of books and albums in Armenian and foreign languages, exhibitions, theatrical performances, parades, parties in memory of Genocide victims, visits of schoolchildren to the Genocide Museum , production and screening of films, as well as training and placement of posters. Government agencies, as well as social and political agencies are involved in all the initiatives. The meeting also emphasized the importance of conferences with participation of Armenian and foreign experts, press office of the Government of Armenia reported.

The date of the onset of the genocide is conventionally held to be April 24, 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. Thereafter, the Ottoman military uprooted Armenians from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially recognized the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars and historians accept this view. The Armenian Genocide has been also recognized by influential media including The New York Times, BBC, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

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.