With the April 24, the national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide approaching, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute urged all Armenians and friends of Armenia around the world to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the tragedy on Facebook.
The public post on the museum-institute’s Facebook page reads:
"The citizens of the Republic of Armenia and Armenians all over the world will commemorate the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Along with Armenians, friends of the Armenian people from all corners of the world will also commemorate the anniversary. For a long time, the Armenian Genocide has moved beyond the boundaries of ethnic memory, not being views as a crime committed against Armenians and a purely Armenian tragedy any longer. It is a universal tragedy, one of the greatest crimes committed against the humanity. A crime, the international recognition and condemnation of which, as well as the elimination of repercussions, are part of the struggle for justice.
Regardless of the epidemiological situation in the country on April 24, regardless of whether the restrictions on the movements of people will be in force on the day due to health and safety concerns, we call for remembering and paying homage to the Armenian Genocide victims, survivors and resistors using the opportunities provided by the Internet.
To this end, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute calls to citizens of Armenia, all our compatriots and friends of the Armenian people to replace their Facebook profile pictures on April 24 with photos of their relatives who fell victim to or survived the Genocide in a frame designed for the purpose. In the absence of photos, write their names and surnames and their brief stories. In case you have no Genocide victim or survivor relative, upload photos of Western Armenian intellectuals who were victims of the Genocide, public and political figures, freedom fighters, private soldiers and commanders. Place photos of the treasures of Western Armenia’s cultural heritage, share images of Western Armenian available to you, adding the simple hashtag #IRemember in Eastern or Western Armenian.
One century has passed since the crime against humanity and civilization in 1915-1923, but its consequences are still there. Armenian people remember their grandparents who fell victim to the Genocide, the dozens of heroes of self-defense battles, the resistors who stood for the right to life, the survivors, who formed the basis not only for the Armenian Diaspora, but also for almost half of today's population of Armenia. They remember the churches and monasteries created over millennia, but now left homeless and ruined, towns and villages, districts and houses, trees and their grandmothers’ stories on fruit flavors, dances, songs and the sweetness of the dialect being forgotten. They remember the prominent representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia: writers, doctors, journalists, art workers, architects, artists, multi-skilled craftsmen, merchants and farmers. They remember those who saved orphans and missionaries, great humanists and benefactors. They remember them with pride and tender emotion.
A century has passed since the Genocide. It's a long time. Times have changed. Currently, the young Republic of Armenia is thirty years old. The time has come to revalue and redefine some realities. During the harsh years of the Genocide, the Armenian people fought not only with weapons but also with spirit. Thousands upon thousands did not betray their religion and language, relatives and friends. Even if they were forced to change their lifestyle, they returned to their roots at the earliest opportunity. Thousands of people simply did not have the opportunity to do so, but the spirit and memory of Armenianness lived in them throughout their lives. People fought and become heroes not only on the battlefield, but also in the daily struggle for survival. Parents saved their children, the little saved the old, neighbors saved each other, strangers saved each other. They shared a piece of bread in a desert or in an orphanage. There have been exceptional examples of family solidarity and mutual assistance, reaching out each other in difficult moments during the Genocide, worth writing novels and poems about.
Therefore, we must continue to properly value the manifestations of moral and dignified behavior, and remember with respect and pride both the victims, resistors and survivors of the Armenian Genocide.”