SEE KILLINGS AS GENOCIDE: ARMENIAN LEADER
Mariam Harutunian, Agence France-Presse
National Post, Canada
April 25 2008
YEREVAN, ARMENIA – Armenia’s new president vowed yesterday to redouble
efforts to have mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire
recognized as genocide, a label staunchly rejected by Turkey.
Thousands gathered in the Armenian capital to commemorate the
massacres, which many countries have recognized as genocide, a term
at the heart of a bitter dispute between Armenia and Turkey.
Under bright sunshine, long lines of people climbed to a hilltop
memorial in Yerevan to mark the 93rd anniversary of the start of
killings, which took place in 1915-23 and led to a mass exodus of
Armenians from what is now eastern Turkey.
In an address at the ceremony, Serzh Sarkisian, the newly elected
Armenian President, said his country would boost its efforts to win
international recognition of the killings as genocide, regardless of
Turkey’s objections.
"The republic of Armenia should double its efforts for the restoration
of historical justice. When it comes to condemning the genocide,
denial has no future, especially today when many countries around
the world have added their voices to the voice of truth," he said.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the last years of the Ottoman Empire.