Southeast European Times
April 25 2010
Armenians mark 95th anniversary of "genocide"
25/04/2010
YEREVAN, Armenia — The country and Armenians worldwide marked on
Saturday (April 24th) the 95th anniversary of the killing of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire. Yerevan maintains that an estimated 1.5 million
Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey acknowledges that thousands of Armenians did indeed perish but
denies that genocide took place. Hundreds of people gathered at
Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday for a tribute amid heavy police
security. The event ended without incident.
Marking the anniversary, US President Barack Obama issued a statement
calling the 1915 events "one of the worst atrocities of the 20th
century", but avoided the term genocide. Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan welcomed that, saying Obama has taken into account
Ankara’s sensibility on the issue. The commemoration comes two days
after Armenia’s parliamentary majority announced it will freeze the
ratification of two protocols aimed at normalising ties with Ankara.
The documents on establishing diplomatic ties and reopening the border
between the two countries were signed in October. (Hurriyet, AFP,
Reuters – 24/04/10)