SWEDISH ARMENIAN COMMUNITY HOLDS IN UPPSALA CENTRAL EVENT DEDICATED TO 91ST ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Apr 25 2006
UPPSALA, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the initiative
of the Armenian Unions Uniting Centre and the Armenian Cultural Union
of Uppsala and of the church councils, cooperating with “Hayastan”
(Armenia) All-Armenian Fund, Armenian unions and organizations, the
central event dedicated to memory of the Armenian Genocide victims was
held in Sweden this year on April 22 in Uppsala. Hundreds of sons of
Armenians and representatives of other nations paid tribute of their
respect to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. People came
by buses from far cities to participate in the memory-evening. Vachik
Karapetian, the Chairman of the Uppsala Church Council opened the
program. After standing in one minute honour of silence, Armenian and
Swedish participants of the event, representatives of political, public
organizations listened to Klas-Joran Karlson, the History Department
Professor of “Lyund” University, author of the books “From Ararat to
Nagorno Karabakh” and “History of Genocides” who touching upon in his
lecture the Armenian people’s history of the last century, under the
light of international political events, explained the phenomenon of
the genocide as well as the process of the international recognition of
the genocide, mentioning the necessity and importance of liquidating
consequences of the genocide. Ulla Hoffman, a member of the Swedish
Parliament, a representative of the Left Party who has visited
Armenia many times and contacted and became to know the Armenian
people closer, stressed in her speech the necessity of Sweden’s and
other European countries’ assisting Armenia at any price. Strictly
condemning Turkey’s denying policy, she emphasized that it would not
be possible to speak about development of Armenian-Turkish real ties
and their reconciliation, without Turkey’s recognition of the Genocide
and revewing its history. Then Helena Linder, a representative of the
Greens’ Party, a member of the Uppsala City Council and a candidate
for the Riksdag deputy made a speech. According to her, the Swedish
society must know about the Armenian Genocide as much as it knows
about the Holocaust. Michael Oskarson, a Rikstag deputy from the
Christian-Democratic party, paying tribute of his respect to the memory
of millions of martyrs, emphasized that Turkey has still a long way
to pass for making a part of the European family. As Noyan Tapan was
informed by the Armenians Unions Uniting Center of Sweden, the Uppsala
Armenian Cultural Union’s “Gayane” dancing group headed by Armine
Zakinian, soloist Arpine Zakinian, to the piano accompaniment of Lilit
Sukiasian, duduk player Haik Hakobian, reciters Nune Haroutiunian,
Ani Galstian and others participated in the artistic part of the
event. The event finished with the hymn of the Republic of Armenia.