Armenian premier addresses message on anniversary of genocide

YEREVAN, April 24. /ARKA/. RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan addressed a message to the Armenian people on the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

In his message the RA Premier states that April 24 is one of the days when all the Armenians bow their heads to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The crime masterminded and perpetrated by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire was the annihilation of the Armenian people. Over 1.5mln Armenians fell victim to that heinous crime. Hundreds of thousands of old people, women and children were forcibly displaced, says the RA Premier’s message.

This day all the Armenians pay homage to the innocent victims’ memory and re-examine the most important lessons of the past.

“We cannot live a prosperous and secure life if we are disunited. We will not be able to prevent great disasters if we have no strong statehood, and we neither can and nor must forget our history as a nation. We must move forward, we must unite round national ideas, build up a strong democratic state, do everything possible and impossible for Armenia’s security, prosperity and development – for our country’s future,” says RA Premier’s message.
 
The Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 was the first genocide in the 20th century organized and systematically committed by the government of Young Turks. The admission of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is of fundamental importance for the Armenian nation, as the Genocide was aimed at putting an end to the Armenian Cause.

The day of massacre of the best representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia, April 24, is a symbolic day of commemoration pf the victims. The policy of destroying Armenians in their historical homeland was launched in the 1990s of the 19th century. During World War I, about 1,500,000 Armenians were killed, 350,000 fled to the Caucasus and Europe. As a result, the Armenian population of Turkey was reduced from 2,000,000 early in the 20th century to 150,000.

On April 24, 1915, eight hundred well-known representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia – scientists, writers, teachers, doctors, clergymen and public figures – fell victim to torturous killing in Turkey.

The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by a number of countries (Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania), and Parliaments. –0--