Springfield remembers Armenian Genocide with flag-raising ceremony

Chmshkian Vicken
WWLP
April 24 2026

Springfield remembers Armenian Genocide with flag-raising ceremony

by: Corina Wallenta

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – An Armenian flag-raising ceremony took place at Springfield City Hall, honoring the lives lost in the Armenian Genocide.
Springfield plants Liberty Elm to mark U.S. 250th birthday

Mayor Domenic Sarno presided over the event. Mayor Sarno also declared the day as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the city of Springfield. Members of Saint Mark Armenian Church and the local Armenian community attended the ceremony.

Mayor Sarno detailed the history of the Armenian Genocide during the event. He drew comparisons between the genocide and subsequent atrocities that have occurred in recent human history.

“Today and for the rest of the days we honor the memory of all the victims and the courage of the survivors reaffirming our commitment to recognize the truth of history in a vital step in preventing future atrocities in genocide wherever they occur,” Sarno said.


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Arciero joins Armenian community in Westford in genocide commemoration

Boshkezenian Garik
Westford
April 24 2026
  • April 24, 2026
  • – By Alex Svenson

WESTFORD CENTER — Members of the Armenian community gathered on the Westford Town Common on Friday to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day with the town’s annual flag-raising ceremony.

The event, held at 4 p.m., marked the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, honoring the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. Community members, local officials and representatives from regional Armenian organizations attended the ceremony.

The program featured remarks from local leaders, including a speaker who reflected on the historical significance of the genocide and its lasting impact on Armenian communities worldwide. Attendees stood in observance as the Armenian flag was raised alongside the American flag, symbolizing remembrance, resilience and unity.

Organized with support from the Armenian National Committee of Merrimack Valley, the ceremony aimed to educate the public and preserve the memory of those who perished. Participants emphasized the importance of acknowledging historical injustices and ensuring that future generations understand the consequences of hatred and violence.

Many attendees described the gathering as both solemn and meaningful, noting the importance of coming together as a community to honor victims and survivors. The ceremony concluded with a call to “Remember, honor, never forget,” reinforcing the enduring message of remembrance tied to Armenian Genocide Day.

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City of Binghamton raises flag in recognition of Armenian Remembrance Day

Greg Madatian
WBNG, NY
April 25 2026

By Luke Meade

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WBNG) — Binghamton mayor Jared Kraham met with members of the local Armenian community to hold a flag raising of their flag in recognition of Armenian Remembrance Day.

Mayor Kraham says today marks the 111th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian genocide, an 8-year conflict that resulted in the mistreatment of over 1 million people.

He remarked on the strength and spirit the local Armenian community has in our area.

“Today in Binghamton, the many contributions of Armenian Americans in our community are a testimony to that spirit and that courage. Binghamton is what it is today because of our Armenian community.“ said Mayor Kraham.

Before the flag was raised the mayor declared that today will be recognized in the City of Binghamton as ‘Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day”

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The Armenian community in Varna (Bulgaria) honored the victims of the genocide

Chakhmakhchian Vatche
FAKTI, Bulgaria
April 25 2026

A silent procession was held

The Armenian community in Varna marked the 111th anniversary of the genocide of the Armenian people with a procession.

On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenians were arrested and then executed in Istanbul, BNT recalls. Thus began the massacre of more than a million and a half people, including many women and children. The procession silently started from the courtyard of the Armenian Church in Varna and reached the monument to the Armenian refugees, to remind us of what we must not forget on this day.

Arusina Papazyan: “On this day, we must not forget history, we must not forget the personal stories of many Armenians who 111 years ago experienced the horror within the borders of the Ottoman Empire.”

Hovhannes Dyulgeryan: “Let us pay tribute to all countries, including Bulgaria, that have welcomed us with open arms in the most difficult moments of our existence.”

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Activists in Yerevan burned a Turkish flag on the anniversary of the Armenian

Boshkezenian Garik
Caucasian knot
April 23 2026
Activists in Yerevan burned a Turkish flag on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Participants in a torchlight procession in Yerevan, dedicated to the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, burned the Turkish flag.

As reported by the “Caucasian Knot,” every year on April 23 and 24, residents of Armenia hold events in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Thus, on April 23, 2025, activists in Yerevan organized a torchlight procession in memory of the victims of the genocide.

The events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire have been recognized as the Armenian Genocide by more than 30 countries, including Russia. Turkish authorities do not consider those events to be genocide, according to the “Caucasian Knot” report “The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.”

Thousands of participants in a torchlight procession organized by the ARF Dashnaktsutyun “Nikol Agbalyan” student union gathered today in Republic Square. The procession route led to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex, Novosti-Armenia reports.

Those gathered in Republic Square in Yerevan burned the Turkish flag. “We will not abandon our history,” said Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Supreme Body of the Dashnaktsutyun, during the rally.

Afterward, the rally participants moved along the route: Amiryan Street – Mashtots Avenue – Baghramyan Avenue – Kievyan Street – Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex. Many held flaming torches and the flags of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-designation), as well as countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide.

“Those who choose humility ultimately receive both humiliation and a new war. Those who cede part of their homeland in the hope of saving the rest give the enemy the opportunity to destroy us completely. Those who remain silent about the destruction of their own sacred sites silently become instruments in the struggle against our identity. Those who believe that identity can buy security are on the path to new exile,” News.am quoted Saghatelyan as saying.

The burning of the Turkish flag has been part of commemorative events in Yerevan on previous anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide. Thus, a year earlier, in April 2025, activists burned the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan in Republic Square.

In 2023, participants in the commemorative events told the “Caucasian Knot” stories of their ancestors who survived the genocide, whose stories are passed down in Armenian families from generation to generation.

In particular, Arakel Hovsepyan reported that his grandfather was a deacon in a church. “When the pogroms began, the priest ordered him to ring the bells. From the bell tower, he saw the Turks throw his mother and sister into a ravine. Another group of Turks locked the priest in the church and set it on fire. My grandfather jumped from the bell tower and ran home, where he saw his father and two brothers hanged,” he said.

Materials on the attitudes of various countries toward the Armenian Genocide have been collected by the “Caucasian Knot” on the thematic page “Armenian Genocide: 100 Years of Admissions and Denials”.

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Turkey’s Erdogan Speaks Of ‘WWI Hardships’ For Armenians

Yeghisabet Arthur
Eurasia Review
April 24 2026

Turkey’s Erdogan Speaks Of ‘WWI Hardships’ For Armenians

 April 25, 2026  
By PanARMENIAN

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a message marking April 24, again stated that “Armenians of the Ottoman Empire lost their lives under the difficult conditions of World War I.”

In a condolence letter addressed to Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Sahak Mashalian, Erdogan wrote that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was accompanied by clashes, movements of armed groups, terrorism, and epidemics, during which Armenians, along with other peoples, suffered deeply, RFE/RL reports.

Erdogan’s message was read during a church service held at an Armenian church in Istanbul.

“We prefer agreement over conflict,” the Turkish president wrote.

He did not address the process of normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.

“We continue to act and strive together with all our citizens and friends, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation, with the aim of reaching more desirable days based on peace, prosperity, and brotherhood,” he noted.

Official Ankara continues to deny and does not recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

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Armenians marking WWI massacres disapprove of thaw with Turkey

Emil Lazarian
MSN
April 25 2026
Story by AFP

As Armenians marked 111 years since the mass killing of their people under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, some in Yerevan expressed anger at normalising ties with Turkey without concessions.

Armenia and Turkey have moved towards a reset in recent years, after decades of hostility over the World War I-era massacres and Ankara’s support for Azerbaijan in its long-running conflict with Yerevan.

Both sides have taken steps towards opening their land border after more than three decades, while Turkey’s flag-carrying airline launched direct flights to Yerevan last month.

“The borders must be opened, but everything has its time. Even without taking the genocide into account, we only just emerged from a war. There’s no need to rush,” said Azat Aleksanyan, a 29-year-old programmer in Yerevan.

At a rally in the capital on Thursday, hundreds of young people carried torches in commemoration of the 1915 massacres, which Armenia and more than two dozen countries have recognised as a genocide — a charge Turkey firmly rejects.

“I think every country should recognise this, because it’s very important,” said Vrej Kiledjian, a 21-year-old IT technician taking part in the rally.

He was against opening the border.

“It is not very efficient for Armenia. Not for the economy, but for the people,” said Kiledjian.

Armenia has fought two major wars with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan since the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

A 2023 Azerbaijani offensive led to an exodus of ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties, and their land border has remained closed since 1993.

But the two sides have signalled interest in warming ties in recent years.

In 2021, the two countries appointed special envoys to explore a path toward reconciliation.

Relations have further thawed since Azerbaijan and Armenia inked a US-brokered peace agreement last year, although many points of contention remain, including Azerbaijan’s imprisonment of ethnic Armenian separatists.

– ‘We want peace’ –

Artur Avanesyan, a 55-year-old Armenian veteran and a key figure in billionaire opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan’s election campaign, spoke to AFP from the Armenian Genocide Memorial complex, known as Tsitsernakaberd.

“Three million Armenians live in Armenia today, another 10 million abroad, in various countries. And today, they are united by one grief: the grief of genocide,” he said on Thursday.

“This has not been forgotten and will never be forgotten. Today, we want peace, we want a stable, just, and strong peace,” he added.

He also called for the return of Armenian separatists jailed in Azerbaijan.

“Without the return of these patriotic people, it is impossible to establish a just peace,” he said.

After he spoke, dozens of schoolchildren came to lay flowers at the monument, built into a hillside overlooking the capital.

Armenia has long sought international recognition that the mass killings under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 amounted to a genocide, saying 1.5 million people died.

Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of World War I. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

Araksya Zakaryan, a 40-year-old dentist walking in Yerevan with her two daughters said “the pain remains”.

“Of course, we remember and will remember. I hope that one day this issue will also be resolved and people will regret their actions or the actions of their ancestors.”

cad/pdw



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Batumi 2026: Bulgaria and Armenia power to gold

Arsine Chaltikian
Inside the Games
April 25 2026

Batumi 2026: Bulgaria and Armenia power to gold

Karlos Nasar stepped on the platform on Friday at the European Weightlifting Championships in Georgia once again to assert his dominance, while youngster Emma Poghosyan claimed her first senior title.

In the men’s 94 kg category, Nasar reinforced his status as one of the sport’s most explosive talents. The Bulgarian secured the snatch gold with a successful lift of 176 kg, finishing just ahead of Armenia’s Ara Aghanyan, who took silver with 175 kg. Turkiye’s Hakan Şükrü Kurnaz was third with 166 kg.

Nasar demonstrated his ambition by calling for a world-record weight of 183 kg on his third attempt, though the lift went unsuccessful.

He was equally clinical in the clean & jerk, opening with 210 kg to immediately secure the discipline gold and the overall crown. With the absolute title secured, he loaded a massive 223 kg for a world-record attempt. While he fell short of completing the lift, his total of 386 kg earned him the European title.

Aghanyan claimed Armenia’s fourth silver in total with a result of 381 kg, while France’s Romain Imadouchene took the bronze with 370 kg. The French also won silver in the clean & jerk.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/batumi-2026-bulgaria-and-armenia-power-to-gold

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Kim Kardashian Armenian Genocide Tribute 2026

Andranik Taslakhchian
HOLR Magazine
April 25 2026

Kim Kardashian Pays Tribute to Armenian Genocide Victims

April 25, 2026: Kim Kardashian shared a deeply personal and emotional message honoring the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives during the Armenian Genocide.

In her post, Kardashian reflected not only on the historical tragedy but also on her own identity, emphasizing how being Armenian has shaped her worldview and personal values. The message quickly resonated across social media, drawing attention for its sincerity and depth.

HOLR has the latest news on why this tribute is meaningful and how it continues to spark global conversation.

A Personal Connection to Heritage

Kim Kardashian has long been vocal about her Armenian roots, often using her platform to raise awareness about Armenian history and culture. In this latest post, she once again highlighted the importance of that connection.

She shared that her heritage is not just a background detail—it is a defining part of who she is. From the way she was raised to how she understands the world, her Armenian identity plays a central role.

One of the most impactful moments she referenced was her visit to Armenia with her family. That experience, she noted, deepened her connection to her roots in a way that continues to influence her daily life.

For readers, this adds emotional depth to the story. It transforms the message from a general tribute into a personal reflection grounded in lived experience.

Honoring the Lives Lost

The Armenian Genocide remains one of the most significant and painful chapters in history, and remembrance plays a crucial role in honoring those who were affected.

Kardashian’s post acknowledges the scale of the tragedy while also focusing on the importance of keeping those memories alive. By naming the loss and recognizing its impact, she contributes to ongoing efforts to ensure that the voices of the victims are not forgotten.

HOLR breaks down the story here: remembrance is not just about looking back—it’s about ensuring that history is acknowledged and understood in the present.

A Message of Empathy and Global Awareness

Beyond honoring the past, Kardashian extended her message to include those who are currently suffering around the world. She expressed hope that lives are protected, voices are heard, and pain is not ignored.

This broader perspective connects the historical event to present-day realities, emphasizing the importance of empathy and awareness.

For readers, this is a key element of the post. It shows how remembrance can also inspire compassion and action in the present.

Why This Post Is Resonating Worldwide

Kim Kardashian’s influence ensures that her message reaches a global audience. However, the impact of this post goes beyond visibility. It resonates because it is rooted in authenticity and personal connection.

Audiences are responding to:

  • The emotional sincerity of her words
  • The acknowledgment of history
  • The call for empathy and awareness

HOLR has the latest news: posts like this demonstrate how public figures can use their platforms to amplify important conversations.

The Role of Public Figures in Historical Remembrance

In today’s digital age, public figures play a significant role in shaping how history is remembered and discussed. By sharing her perspective, Kim Kardashian contributes to a broader dialogue about the Armenian Genocide and its lasting impact.

Her message also highlights the importance of representation. For members of the Armenian community, seeing their history acknowledged on a global stage can be deeply meaningful.

For readers, this underscores the value of using influence responsibly—to educate, to honor, and to connect.

A Reflection on Identity and Legacy

Kardashian’s post ultimately centers on identity—how heritage shapes individuals and how that connection carries forward through generations.

By sharing her experience, she reinforces the idea that understanding one’s roots can provide a deeper sense of purpose and perspective.

This reflection adds a universal element to the story. While the historical context is specific, the theme of identity is something many readers can relate to.

Why This Story Matters Right Now

In a fast-moving digital world, moments of reflection and remembrance hold particular significance. Kim Kardashian’s tribute serves as a reminder of the importance of acknowledging history while also looking toward the future with empathy and awareness.

For readers, the takeaway is clear: remembrance is not just about the past—it’s about honoring lives, preserving truth, and fostering understanding.

HOLR breaks down the story here: this post is more than a message—it’s a moment of connection, reflection, and global awareness.

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Lavrov responded with an anecdote about the Armenian radio to a question about

Yeghisabet Arthur
Eurasia Daily
April 25 2026
Lavrov responded with an anecdote about the Armenian radio to a question about the art of diplomacy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, answering a question about the art of Russian diplomacy, told an anecdote about the Armenian radio.

The Foreign Minister used the opportunity to show off his wit during his interview with the Public Television of Russia.

“Armenian radio was asked: “What is diplomacy?“They replied that there are several options, but the most decent one is: diplomacy is the art of sending a person to the right address, but to do it in such a way that he looks forward to the trip. This can also be included in the arsenal of methods of diplomacy,” Lavrov said.

He added that in fact, the primary task of diplomacy is to defend national interests while respecting the interests of worthy partners.

As reported by EADaily, earlier Sergey Lavrov said that Western countries had declared war on Russia, in which the Kiev regime was on Ukraine is being used as a geopolitical battering ram.

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