Armenia commemorates mass killings anniversary under quarantine

Channel News Asia

 

 

 

A view shows the illuminated Tsitsernakaberd memorial during an event commemorating victims of the 1915 mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in Yerevan, Armenia, on Apr 23, 2020. (Photo: Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure/File Photo via REUTERS)

25 Apr 2020 07:45AM

 

YEREVAN: Armenians have used text messages and mobile phone flashlights to mark the 105th anniversary of mass killings in the Ottoman Empire, dropping their usual march because of coronavirus restrictions.

 

Yerevan, which describes the 1915 killings of Armenians in what is now Turkey as genocide, has traditionally held annual torchlight processions to a hilltop memorial.

 

That description and commemorations around the world have enraged Turkey, which denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide, and disputes the figures.

Armenia's government said it was calling on citizens not to go out on Friday, but instead to send text messages to be projected onto the pillars of the memorial.

On Thursday night, in the build-up to the anniversary, it asked people to turn off lights in their houses and light a candle or shine their mobile phone flashlights towards the memorial.

Streets and public squares also went dark as church bells rang out.