Agence France Presse
April 24, 2010 Saturday 7:09 PM GMT
Armenians mark mass killings amid fresh tensions with Turkey
Yerevan, April 24 2010
Tens of thousands of Armenians on Saturday marked the 95th anniversary
of mass killings under the Ottoman Empire amid fresh tensions with
Turkey over the collapse of reconciliation efforts.
Despite the political tensions, this year also saw the anniversary
marked for the first time in Turkey, where rights activists and
artists in Istanbul broke with taboo and commemorated the massacres.
Under grey skies in the Armenian capital Yerevan, a stream of people
marched to lay flowers at a hilltop memorial to the massacres, which
Armenians insist constituted genocide.
Turkey fiercely rejects the genocide label and the dispute has
poisoned relations between the two neighbours for decades.
Unprecedented reconciliation efforts begun last year fell apart just
before the anniversary, when Armenia announced on Thursday that it was
halting ratification of agreements normalising ties.
President Serzh Sarkisian, who attended a solemn ceremony at the
memorial, said international recognition that the killings constituted
genocide was inevitable.
"We thank all of those who in many countries of the world, including
in Turkey, understand the importance of preventing crimes against
humanity and who stand with us in this struggle. This process has an
inevitable momentum which has no alternative," he said.
In Istanbul, the IHD human rights group held a rally of about 100
people outside the Haydarpasa train station, from where the first
convoy of Armenians were deported on April 24, 1915.
Hundreds later staged a sit-in at Taksin Square in the heart of the
city as a strong police deployment kept a close watch.
Turkish intellectuals and artists signed a petition calling on "those
who feel the great pain" to show their sorrow. Avoiding an open
confrontation over the term genocide, the petition speaks of the
"Great Catastrophe".
Tens of thousands of Lebanese-Armenians also took to the streets in a
peaceful demonstration in Beirut, while others blocked a main highway
into the city.
In Paris several thousand people urged Turkey to recognise the
genocide at a rally at the foot of the statue of Armenian priest and
composer Komitas.
Renowned French singer of Armenian origin Charles Aznavour later
kindled the flame of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in
memory of the dead.
"This is an important moment for us, to remember our parents and
grand-parents," said 73-year-old Arsene Kalaidjian with tears in his
eyes, telling AFP that his "father was nine when he was deported".
Hundreds of protesters also rallied outside the Turkish consulate in
the southern city of Marseille.
In Brussels hundreds of Armenians and their supporters marched between
the Turkish embassy and the EU headquarters shouting "justice for the
Armenian people".
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically
killed between 1915 and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of
modern Turkey, was falling apart.
Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label and says between
300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife when Armenians took up arms and sided with invading Russian
troops.
The governments or parliaments of many countries, including France and
Canada, have recognised the massacres as genocide.
But US President Barack Obama for a second year avoided using the
politically charged term in a traditional anniversary statement.
He described the events 95 years ago as "one of the worst atrocities
of the 20th century" but said he was encouraged by dialogue between
Turkey and Armenia that would help recognise their "common humanity."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted by the Anatolia
news agency, said Obama had "made a statement which takes into account
the sensibilities of Turkey."
Ankara recalled its ambassador to Washington in March after a row over
moves in Congress to brand the massacres as genocide, but returned the
envoy this month.
Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark deal in October to establish
diplomatic ties and reopen their border.
But ratification of the deal faltered amid mutual recriminations that
the other side was not committed to reconciliation and Armenia on
Thursday announced it was removing the agreement from its parliament’s
agenda.
Yerevan blamed Ankara for stalling ratification and linking the
agreement with Armenia’s conflict with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over
the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.
burs/dk
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress