THOUSANDS OF ARMENIANS MOURN WWI MASS KILLINGS
By Avet Demourian

AP
24 April 09

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Tens of thousands of Armenians marched
through the capital on Friday to commemorate the 94th anniversary of
the start of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, many calling on Turkey
to recognize the slayings as genocide.

Armenia and Turkey said Thursday they are close to restoring full
relations and reopening their border after 15 years. But neither side
has indicated how they might resolve the dispute over the killings.

Throngs marched through the Armenian capital, Yerevan, with torches
and candles to mark the 94th anniversary of the rounding-up of a few
hundred Armenian intellectuals in what was then known as Constantinople
— present-day Istanbul — by Ottoman authorities. Their arrest was
swiftly followed by the military’s forced evacuation of ordinary
Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass
slaughter of the Armenian population.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks in
what was then the Ottoman Empire, while Turkey says the killings
occurred at a time of civil conflict and that the casualty figures
are inflated. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide
of the 20th century.

Friday’s procession began with a burning of Turkish flags, and many
carried placards blaming Turkey for spilling the "blood of millions"
and calling on Ankara to acknowledge the killings as genocide.

It ended in central Yerevan at a monument to the victims of the
killings, and a liturgy was served at churches throughout the country.

"Crimes against humanity don’t expire in the memory of nations,"
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said in a statement. "International
recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide … is a matter
of restoring historic justice."

The procession, led by nationalist groups, is an annual event and is
not expected to affect the reconciliation process.

The two countries also differ over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh
region, controlled by Armenia after a six-year war that broke out
in the waning days of the Soviet Union. Turkey — which shares close
cultural and linguistic relations with Azerbaijan wants it to absorb
region — insists its talks with Armenia proceed in parallel with
Armenian-Azeri discussions.

The U.S. and EU have urged Turkey and Armenia to resolve their
differences.

President Barack Obama referred to the "Armenian genocide" during
his presidential campaign, but refrained from using the term during a
recent visit to Turkey, saying only that his views were on the record.