Agence France Presse — English
April 23, 2005 Saturday 7:56 PM GMT
Thousands march through Yerevan on eve of Armenian massacres
anniversary
YEREVAN
Over 10,000 people Saturday marched through the streets of Armenia’s
capital on the eve of the 90th anniversary of mass killings by
Ottoman Turks, demanding that Turkey recognize the episode as
genocide.
Meanwhile, Armenian President Robert Kocharian made a conciliatory
gesture towards Ankara, saying Yerevan would not ask for financial
compensations for the killings if Turkey recognized them as
genocidal.
“We are not talking about compensations, this is only about a moral
issue,” Kocharian told Russia’s Rossiya television, which is also
broadcast in Armenia.
“There is no talk about material consequences,” he added.
“We understand that we must look towards the future, and not the
past, although that should not be forgotten … We feel no hatred
today, only sorrow remains,” Kocharian said.
Thousands of demonstrators, mostly young people, marched through the
center of Yerevan, holding torches and chanting “Armenia!
Recognition!” as they proceeded towards a memorial commemorating the
1915 slayings.
“This is not a mourning march,” one of the organizers, Zinavor
Megrian, told AFP.
“Young people are demanding that the human rights that were violated
by Turkey many years ago be reasserted, and that Turkey recognize the
genocide,” added Megrian, who also belongs to the youth organization
of Armenia’s ruling party.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen perished in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire,
the predecessor of modern Turkey, was disintegrating.
Ankara counters that 300,000 Armenians and thousands of Turks were
killed in “civil strife” during World War I when Armenians rose
against the Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian troops.
Many members of the Armenian diaspora worldwide came to Yerevan to
take part in Saturday’s march and Sunday’s official ceremonies, at
which organizers say 1.5 million participants are expected.
“This is a very important event for me, because it allows me to
express my discontent at countries that do not recognize the
genocide,” said 21-year-old Ami Aratelian, an Armenian woman from
Iran who was among the marchers Saturday.
“The Turks who committed this crime must answer for it not only
before the Armenians, but before the whole world,” said 16-year-old
Dvin Pipizian, from Canada.
Ceremonies will begin Sunday with the laying of a wreath at the
genocide memorial, which will be attended by Kocharian. A mass will
be celebrated later that day and a minute of silence will be observed
throughout Armenia at 7:00 pm (1400 GMT).
On Tuesday Poland joined a list of 15 countries that have officially
acknowledged the killings as genocide when its parliament passed a
resolution condemning the Armenian massacres.
The decision has already drawn protest from Ankara where officials
called it “irresponsible,” and said it would hurt relations.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress