Canada launches Armenian Genocide commemoration events

April 1, 2010 - 12:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The joint committee for the commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide issued the list events to take place over the coming few weeks.

An exposition and sale of works by writers martyred during the Armenian Genocide and of books related to the Armenian Genocide will open on April 15, to be followed by subsequent presentations of books "A Summer Without Dawn" by Agop Hacikyan and "Children of Armenia – A Forgotten Genocide and the Struggle for Justice" by Michael Bobelian.

The program also includes a political event with keynote speaker Steven Jacobs at the Armenian Community Center. A March will be organized to the Genocide Memorial at Parc Marcelin-Wilson in Ahuntsic on April 20. The next day a reception will be held to mark the opening of an exhibition featuring photographs of the Armenian Genocide by Armin Wegner in Holocaust Museum. The exhibition will be available for public viewing from April 22 to May 16 during the museum's regular hours.

On April 22, a Martyrs' Ecumenical Commemoration Service will be held in St. Joseph Oratory. On April 24, services will be offered throughout Canada. On April 24 services will be offered throughout Canada. On April 25, a rally will take place at the Genocide Memorial at Parc Marcelin-Wilson in Ahuntsic, the ANCC reported.

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.