CHURCH CANONISES 1.5 MILLION GENOCIDE VICTIMS

Muslim Turkey accepts many Christian Armenians were killed in partisan
fighting during the war, but denies it amounted to genocide

Published: 15 minutes ago Oge Okonkwo

Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II led the canonisation ceremony
at the open-air altar of Armenia’s main cathedral.

(Reuters)

The Armenian Apostolic Church on made saints of up to 1.5 million
Armenians at an open-air ceremony on Thursday to commemorate their
killing by Ottoman Turks a century ago.

Armenia say the massacres during World War One constitute genocide –
a term used this month by Pope Francis. Muslim Turkey accepts many
Christian Armenians were killed in partisan fighting during the war,
but denies it amounted to genocide.

Reports say the canonization ceremony was attended by church leaders
and state officials as they marked the start of the killings in 1915,
and was held in bright sunshine outside the 4th century Echmiadzin
cathedral in Vagharshapat, 20 km (12 miles) from the Armenian capital.

It was the first time in 400 years that the Armenian Apostolic Church
had authorized any canonisations.

When the two-hour ceremony ended at the symbolic time of 19.15, bells
rang out 100 times, an action to be repeated at Armenian churches
around the world.

“The canonisation of the martyrs of the genocide brings life-giving new
breath, grace and blessing to our national and ecclesiastical life,”
Catholicos Karekin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, said during the ceremony.

“The blood of the Armenian martyred for Christ has placed the seal of
unshakeable faith and patriotism on the sands of the desert, while
the one who committed genocide assumed that the Armenian was being
lost forever in the gales of history.”

Armenia, a country of 3.2 million people that was once part of the
Soviet Union, wants other countries to recognize the killings as
genocide and the debate has long soured its relations with Turkey.

Reports say in February, Armenia withdrew from parliament landmark
peace accords with Turkey that had only been signed in 2009, setting
back US-backed efforts to bury a century of hostility between the
neighbors.

According to Christian Today, President Serzh Sarksyan said on
Wednesday he was ready to normalize relations with Turkey, stating
that there should be no preconditions in restarting the peace process
and would not insist that the Turks accept they had committed genocide.

While the European Parliament, France and others call the killings
genocide, other countries, including the United States, have refrained
from doing so.

Turkey says there was no organized campaign to wipe out Armenians
and no evidence of any such orders from the Ottoman authorities.

Dozens of delegations, including the presidents of France, Russia,
Serbia and Cyprus, are expected to take part in events on Friday
commemorating the anniversary, starting with a hilltop memorial and
ending with a torch-lit march.

AUTHOR

Oge Okonkwo is an Associate at Pulse. A creative thinker and music
lover, Okonkwo holds a degree in Food Science.