ARMENIAN PREMIER ADDRESSES MESSAGE ON ANNIVERSARY OF GENOCIDE

ARKA
April 24, 2008

YEREVAN, April 24. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
addressed a message to the Armenian people on the occasion of the
93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

In his message the RA Premier states that April 24 is one of the days
when all the Armenians bow their heads to the memory of the victims
of the Armenian Genocide. The crime masterminded and perpetrated by
the authorities of the Ottoman Empire was the annihilation of the
Armenian people. Over 1.5mln Armenians fell victim to that heinous
crime. Hundreds of thousands of old people, women and children were
forcibly displaced, says the RA Premier’s message.

This day all the Armenians pay homage to the innocent victims’ memory
and re-examine the most important lessons of the past.

"We cannot live a prosperous and secure life if we are disunited. We
will not be able to prevent great disasters if we have no strong
statehood, and we neither can and nor must forget our history as a
nation. We must move forward, we must unite round national ideas,
build up a strong democratic state, do everything possible and
impossible for Armenia’s security, prosperity and development –
for our country’s future," says RA Premier’s message.

The Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 was the first genocide in the 20th
century organized and systematically committed by the government of
Young Turks. The admission of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is of
fundamental importance for the Armenian nation, as the Genocide was
aimed at putting an end to the Armenian Cause.

The day of massacre of the best representatives of the Armenian
intelligentsia, April 24, is a symbolic day of commemoration pf
the victims.

The policy of destroying Armenians in their historical homeland was
launched in the 1990s of the 19th century. During World War I, about
1,500,000 Armenians were killed, 350,000 fled to the Caucasus and
Europe. As a result, the Armenian population of Turkey was reduced
from 2,000,000 early in the 20th century to 150,000.

On April 24, 1915, eight hundred well-known representatives of the
Armenian intelligentsia – scientists, writers, teachers, doctors,
clergymen and public figures – fell victim to torturous killing
in Turkey.

The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by a number of countries
(Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania), and Parliaments.