Armenia marks centennial of killing of 1.5 million

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By AVET DEMOURIAN

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The presidents of Russia and France joined other leaders Friday at ceremonies commemorating the massacre 100 years ago of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks, an event which remains a diplomatic sore point for both sides.

The annual April 24 commemorations mark the day when some 250 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up in what is regarded as the first step of the massacres. An estimated 1.5 million died in the massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 as Ottoman officials worried that the Christian Armenians would side with Russia, its enemy in the World War I.

The event is widely viewed by historians as genocide but modern Turkey, the successor to the Ottoman Empire, vehemently rejects the charge, saying that the toll has been inflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest. On the eve of the centennial, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted that his nation's ancestors never committed genocide.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and other dignitaries assembled Friday morning at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in the capital, Yerevan.

FULL story at link.



From left, Armenian Apostolic Church leader, Catholicos Garegin II, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a ceremony at the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide memorial complex in Yerevan, Armenia, Friday, April 24, 2015. On Friday, Armenians mark the centenary of what historians estimate to be the slaughter of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks, an event widely viewed by scholars as genocide. Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide and says the death toll has been inflated. Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande and other dignitaries assembled Friday morning at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex in the capital, Yerevan. (Alexei Nikolsky/RIA Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/1f6d11a7a2c7420c9406abc4e891e2e6/armenia-marks-centennial-killing-15-million

[Wilms]

1. ^

[eissa]

2. Turkey can bully, threaten, deny, and buy their way out admitting to the genocide

But we will not be silenced. If it takes another 100 years, we will continue to demand that Turkey be held accountable for the genocide of over a million and half Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks.

My grandparents never wanted their trauma to be passed on to us. Not until I became a journalist and interviewed my grandfather's friends (my grandfather had passed away) did I understand the depth of what they'd experienced. Most of my grandparents' family had been rooted out. My great-grandmother threw her daughter into the river, hoping her child's life would be saved. She herself was beheaded because she belonged to the wrong religion.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nuri-kino/i-will-raise-my-voice-and-i-will-make-my-song-fly-so-that-the-entire-world-will-hear_b_7103252.html

[LeftInTX]

3. I remember the 100 year anniversary of the death of Lincoln

I was 9 years old and couldn't grasp the concept of 100 years.

This involves my immediate family and feels like recent history.

[doxyluv13]

4. Huge march going on in Los Angeles right now

Tens of thousands (my estimate) marching 6 miles from Hollywood's Little Armenia to Turkish Consulate.

[Pooka Fey]

5. ...

[doxyluv13]

6. Link to LA Times coverage that says 130,000 marched in LA

link:

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-armenian-genocide-march-los-angeles-20150424-story.html

[okaawhatever]

7. Thanks for the link. I had no idea it was that large. nt

[appalachiablue]

8. K & R