Armenia marks 90th anniversary of mass killings

AP Worldstream
Apr 24, 2005

AVET DEMOURIAN

Armenia prepared to mark the 90th anniversary of the mass killings of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire on Sunday, with tens of thousands
expected to visit the memorial to the dead.

Armenia accuses Turkey of genocide in the killings of up to 1.5
million Armenians, during World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire, as part of a campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey.

Turkey rejects the claim, saying the number of deaths is inflated and
that Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the
collapse of the empire.

On the eve of the commemoration marking the start of the killings,
people bringing flowers and wreaths visited the country’s monument to
the dead.

Several thousand students gathered in a square in central Yerevan
before marching late Saturday to the hilltop memorial.

Authorities said they expected 1.5 million Armenians _ almost half of
the landlocked ex-Soviet country’s population _ and thousands from the
Armenian diaspora to visit the site Sunday. Churches and monasteries
in the Orthodox Christian nation, and churches in more than 100 other
countries with Armenian communities, were holding special services.

At 7:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) a minute of silence would be observed across
Armenia, and inhabitants of Yerevan were asked to light a candle at
nightfall and place it on a window sill in memory of the victims.

Polish lawmakers recognized the mass killing as a genocide Tuesday _ a
decision condemned by Ankara the next day. France and Russia already
have declared the killings a genocide, and there is strong pressure
from Armenian diaspora groups on the U.S. Congress to do the same.

Turkey has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, but called earlier this
month for the two countries to jointly research the killings. However,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in February that
Armenia had no intention of conducting additional research on an issue
it regarded as historical fact.

The issue is extremely sensitive in Turkey, and Turks in the past
could face prosecution for saying the killings were genocide. But
recently, facing EU pressure, Turkey has been opening up on the
subject.

Last year, French President Jacques Chirac told Turkey it would have
to recognize the mass killings as genocide if it wanted to become a
member of the European Union, insisting the French would otherwise
vote Turkey out in a referendum.