Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia)

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96th anniversary of the Armenian genocide with the flame in the Zizernakaberd memorial

The Genocide Memorial ( Armenian Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր Jegherni soheri hischataki or ) or Genocide Memorial Day on April 24 is a national day of mourning in Armenia and in the Republic of Artsakh .

It is also celebrated as a national day of remembrance in France , California and by the Armenian diaspora worldwide. On the occasion of the deportation of Armenian intellectuals on April 24, 1915 from the Ottoman capital Istanbul , which marked the beginning, he commemorates the genocide of the Christian Armenians . Governments of 30 countries around the world describe the massacres from 1915 onwards as genocide.

General

The memorial day commemorates the Armenian elite members arrested in the Ottoman capital Istanbul in 1915 under the Deportation Act , most of whom were tortured or executed. Annually on April 24th, the victims of the genocide of Christian Armenians from 1915 to 1923 are commemorated with funeral masses and commemorative events. In Yerevan , the capital of Armenia, hundreds of thousands make the pilgrimage every year to the Zizernakaberd genocide memorial to lay flowers on the eternal flame . The Armenian Apostolic Church does not perform baptism or marriage on this day.

The Assyrians / Arameans and Pontic Greeks also chose April 24th to commemorate the genocide of the Assyrians and the persecution of the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire .

history

The date was first set by the Lebanese Armenians as a commemoration day for the 50th anniversary of the 1965 genocide. The same day saw illegal demonstrations by Armenians in Yerevan , the capital of Soviet Armenia . As the Armenian protests got out of hand and calm was only restored with difficulty, the Soviet leadership allowed the Zizernakaberd genocide memorial to be erected until 1967.

On April 9, 1975, passed the House of Representatives of the United States , the Joint Resolution 148 , the 24 April to the National Day of Remembrance of the inhumanity of man to man designated. The resolution commemorated the victims of genocide , especially those of Armenian descent who died in the 1915 genocide . The resolution failed at the Senate Judiciary Committee due to the rejection of President Gerald Ford , who saw this as a threat to the US alliance with Turkey . On April 24, 2021, Joe Biden was the first US President to speak of genocide in this regard.

Notoriety of that day increased in the Armenian diaspora as a result of revenge operations by Armenian groups such as the Asala . The number of participants in Genocide Day demonstrations rose from a few hundred in France alone to over 10,000 in 1981. In 1988, Soviet Armenia formally adopted April 24 as a public day of remembrance. In 1997, the California State Assembly declared April 24th to be the day of remembrance of the Armenian genocide 1915–1923, and of the victims of the Sumgait pogrom of 1988 and the Baku riots of 1990 .

Since the murder of the Armenian-born Turk Hrant Dink in 2007, memorial ceremonies have also been held in several Turkish cities on April 24th. It began on Taksim Square of Istanbul in 2008 and found in 2013 to Ankara , Izmir , Adana , Diyarbakir , Urfa , Malatya , Tunceli and Mersin instead.

100th anniversary commemoration

April 24, 2015 was the 100th International Day of Remembrance. A commemorative event was held in Armenia's capital, Yerevan . Among other things, the French President François Hollande took part; likewise the Russian President Vladimir Putin . Germany was represented by the Minister of State in the Foreign Office, Michael Roth .

In Turkey, which vehemently refuses to recognize the atrocities against Armenians as genocide, the Battle of Gallipoli was commemorated on April 24, 2015 with a major state ceremony . In itself, the Allied offensive began on April 25, 1915.

On April 23, 2015, at a memorial event in Berlin Cathedral, Federal President Joachim Gauck named the Armenian genocide as genocide.

The German Bundestag debated on the occasion of the 100th anniversary on April 24, 2015. Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said: What happened in the middle of World War I in the Ottoman Empire, under the eyes of the world public, was genocide. The coalition factions - the Union and the SPD - had only included the term 'genocide' in their respective motions a few days earlier, thus ending a long phase in which federal governments had avoided the term 'genocide' for the events at the time.

US President Barack Obama sent a five-person delegation to Armenia on the occasion of the 100th anniversary. Susan E. Rice , Obama's national security adviser , encouraged the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu , the Turkish-Armenian relations to improve and open dialogue about the "atrocities of 1915" (in Turkey atrocities of 1915 to facilitate). Obama gave a speech. As in previous years, he avoided the term "genocide" ( genocide ) and spoke of "massacre" (massacre) , "a terrible bloodbath" (terrible carnage) , a "horrific violence" (horrific violence) and a "dark chapter of history " (dark chapter of history) .

On April 25, 2015, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls gave a speech at a memorial ceremony in Paris.

Memorials

Several monuments were erected to commemorate the Armenian genocide:

literature

Web links

Commons : Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenia)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Adam Jones: Genocide. A Comprehensive Introduction. Routledge, London [u. a.] 2006, ISBN 0-415-35384-X , p. 156.
  2. ^ First national day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide in France , Die Zeit , April 24, 2019
  3. ↑ Richard G. Hovannisian (Ed.): The Armenian Genocide. History, Politics, Ethics. Macmillan, Houndmills et al. 1992, ISBN 0-333-55703-4 , p. 339.
  4. ↑ Countries Recognizing the Armenian Genocide , Armenian National Institute in the USA, April 24, 2021
  5. ^ Gunter: Armenian History and the Question of Genocide. 2011, p. 58.
  6. ^ Gunter: Armenian History and the Question of Genocide. 2011, p. 59.
  7. ^ A b Gunter: Armenian History and the Question of Genocide. 2011, p. 76.
  8. ↑ [1] ] April 24, 2021
  9. ↑ Bloxham: The Great Game of Genocide. 2005, p. 215.
  10. ↑ Bloxham: The Great Game of Genocide. 2005, p. 232.
  11. ↑ Turkish cities to host events in commemoration of Armenian Genocide victims, Apr 23, 24. In: Tert Am. Retrieved April 23, 2013 .
  12. ↑ Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan's Message on Armenian Genocide Victims Remembrance Day (Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamjans Message for 'Armenian Genocide Victims Remembrance Day')
  13. ^ Visite en République d'Arménie
  14. ↑ a b Turkish Foreign Ministry: No: 132, 24 April 2015, Press Release Regarding the Speech Delivered By President of France Hollande at the Ceremony in Yerevan and the Declarations of Prime Minister Valls in Paris ( Memento from April 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ tagesschau.de ( Memento from April 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ tagesschau.de: Tens of thousands in Yerevan commemorate the atrocities 100 years ago ( Memento from March 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (Video, 1:47 min)
  17. ↑ Mike Szymanski: First World War: The roar of Gallipoli. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 24, 2015, accessed on April 24, 2021 .
  18. ↑ Joseph Croitoru: Battle of Gallipoli: A Turkish victory becomes a weapon. Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, April 23, 2015, accessed on April 24, 2021 .
  19. ↑ bundespraesident.de: Words of Remembrance following the “Ecumenical service in the Berlin Cathedral on the occasion of the memory of the genocide of Armenians, Arameans and Pontic Greeks”
  20. ↑ bundestag.de: Daily plenary minutes 18101 ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ Introductory words before the debate on the deportations and massacres of the Armenians 100 years ago. bundestag.de (speeches and contributions by the President of the Bundestag), 2015, accessed on April 24, 2021 .
  22. ↑ FAZ.net April 20, 2015: The German government is now talking about genocide
  23. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Coalition speaks indirectly of genocide against Armenians
  24. ↑ FAZ.net / Berthold Kohler : Down to the bones (comment)
  25. ^ Whitehouse.gov April 21, 2015: President Obama Announces Presidential Delegation to the Republic of Armenia to Attend the Centennial Commemoration of the Events of 1915
  26. ↑ whitehouse.gov: Press release April 21, 2015
  27. ^ Statement by the President on Armenian Remembrance Day. Office of the Press Secretary, April 23, 2015, accessed April 24, 2021 .
  28. ↑ 2014: Statement by the President on Armenian Remembrance Day ; 2013: [2] ; 2012: [3]
  29. ↑ The Washington Post : Obama's statement on Armenia avoids 'genocide'
  30. ↑ Turkish Foreign Ministry: Press release 131
  31. ↑ Erdoğan warns Obama: US President should not use the term “genocide”
  32. ^ "La première responsabilité, c'est de regarder ce crime en face et de l'appeler par son nom. Ce crime, oui, c'était un génocide "