{"id":111302,"date":"2015-04-25T06:23:58","date_gmt":"2015-04-25T06:23:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=111302"},"modified":"2015-04-25T06:30:37","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T06:30:37","slug":"armenia-marks-centenary-of-mass-killings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/04\/armenia-marks-centenary-of-mass-killings\/","title":{"rendered":"Armenia marks centenary of mass killings"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ceremonies have been held in Armenia and around the world to mark the centenary of the start of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks.<\/p>\n
The presidents of France and Russia joined other leaders for the memorial in the Armenian capital, Yerevan.<\/p>\n
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died, a figure disputed by Turkey.<\/p>\n
Turkey strongly objects to the use of the term genocide to describe the killings and the issue has soured relations between the nations.<\/p>\n
Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people. It says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.<\/p>\n
A memorial service was held in Turkey on Friday and its prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said the country would “share the pain” of Armenians. But he reiterated Turkey’s stance that the killings were not genocide.<\/p>\n
Turkey also hosted ceremonies on Friday to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gallipoli.<\/p>\n
However, the actual fighting there began on 25 April, and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has accused Turkey of “trying to divert world attention” from the Yerevan commemorations.<\/p>\n
‘Never again’<\/strong><\/p>\n After a flower-laying ceremony in Yerevan, Mr Sargsyan addressed the guests, saying: “I am grateful to all those who are here to once again confirm your commitment to human values, to say that nothing is forgotten, that after 100 years we remember.”<\/p>\n In his address, French President Francois Hollande said: “We will never forget the tragedies that your people have endured.”<\/p>\n France has been a strong advocate of recognising the killings as genocide and President Hollande has pushed for a law to punish genocide denial.<\/p>\n Russian President Vladimir Putin described the killings as “one of the most tragic disasters in the history of humankind” which “shook the whole world”.<\/p>\n “There cannot be any justification for mass murder of people,” he said. “Today we mourn together with the Armenian people.”<\/p>\n Commemorations in Yerevan drew to a close with a candlelit procession. People carried flowers to the city’s memorial late into the evening.<\/p>\n The purple forget-me-not is the symbol of the centenary. It can be seen everywhere in Yerevan: from window shops and windscreen stickers, to lapel pins that many are proudly wearing.<\/p>\n There is also a centenary slogan which reads “I remember and demand”.<\/p>\n But what is it that the Armenians are demanding? I asked some of the people in Yerevan’s Mashtotz Avenue.<\/p>\n “We demand fairness from the world community, that’s it,” said Sergey Martirossyan, “but for me personally it won’t make any difference. What we actually need in Armenia is for the government to take serious steps towards economic growth.”<\/p>\n ‘I remember and demand’<\/strong><\/p>\n Friday marks the 100th anniversary of the day the Ottoman Turkey authorities arrested several hundred Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, most of whom were later killed.<\/p>\n Armenians regard this as the beginning of the Ottoman policy of mass extermination of Christian Armenians suspected of supporting Russia, the Ottoman Empire’s World War One enemy.<\/p>\n