YEREVAN, Armenia — Tens of thousands of Armenians marched through the capital on Friday to commemorate the 94th anniversary of the start of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, many calling on Turkey to recognize the slayings as genocide.
Armenia and Turkey said Thursday they are close to restoring full relations and reopening their border after 15 years. But neither side has indicated how they might resolve the dispute over the killings.
Throngs marched through Yerevan, with torches and candles to mark the anniversary of the rounding-up of a few hundred Armenian intellectuals in what was then known as Constantinople — present-day Istanbul — by Ottoman authorities.
Their arrest was followed by the military’s forced evacuation of Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian population.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks in what was then the Ottoman Empire, while Turkey says the killings occurred at a time of civil conflict and that the casualty figures are inflated. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Friday’s procession began with a burning of Turkish flags, and many carried placards blaming Turkey for spilling the "blood of millions” and calling on Ankara to acknowledge the killings as genocide. It ended in central Yerevan at a monument to the victims of the killings, and a liturgy was served at churches.
"Crimes against humanity don’t expire in the memory of nations,” Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said. "Recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide … is a matter of restoring historic justice.”
by the associated press
Armenia and Turkey said Thursday they are close to restoring full relations and reopening their border after 15 years. But neither side has indicated how they might resolve the dispute over the killings.
Throngs marched through Yerevan, with torches and candles to mark the anniversary of the rounding-up of a few hundred Armenian intellectuals in what was then known as Constantinople — present-day Istanbul — by Ottoman authorities.
Their arrest was followed by the military’s forced evacuation of Armenians from their homes in actions that spiraled into the mass slaughter of the Armenian population.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Turks in what was then the Ottoman Empire, while Turkey says the killings occurred at a time of civil conflict and that the casualty figures are inflated. Scholars widely view the event as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Friday’s procession began with a burning of Turkish flags, and many carried placards blaming Turkey for spilling the "blood of millions” and calling on Ankara to acknowledge the killings as genocide. It ended in central Yerevan at a monument to the victims of the killings, and a liturgy was served at churches.
"Crimes against humanity don’t expire in the memory of nations,” Armenian President Serge Sarkisian said. "Recognition and condemnation of the Armenian genocide … is a matter of restoring historic justice.”
by the associated press
